Who Entered the Better Schools? The Socioeconomic Status of Chinese Families and the Impact on the Students’ School Choice

• In Event: What Chinese Students Really Know and Can Do: Evidence Beyond the Data From PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009

Abstract

Few studies in China have emphasized the importance of the SES of student family (Sirin, 2005). As the discrepancies between the rich and the poor get larger with the growth of the economy, SES plays an even bigger role in obtaining learning and educational resources (Rouse & Barrow, 2006). China provides a good example of this phenomenon: School choice gradually has become a salient issue in Chinese education as China’s economy continues to grow. Families that show more concern about school choice are often those with relatively high SES levels. This paper addresses the following questions: (1) Is SES an important factor for student performance in China? (2) Does SES influence educational equality via the mechanism of school choice?
This study investigated three relationships: (1) The relationship between family SES and achievement scores, (2) the relationship between family SES and school type, and (3) the relationship between school type and achievement scores. Approximately 5,000 students from three different ranks of schools (better, ordinary and poor,) were sampled from the eastern, central and western regions of China, respectively. Student SES level was measured by variables such as home ownership and the educational levels of parents. Student achievement scores on mathematics and general problem solving served as outcome variables. This study addressed the following questions: (1) Are students with higher family SES level more likely to enter better schools than those with lower family SES level? (2) Are there any differences between students with different family SES levels in terms of achievement scores? (3) If so, are the scores for those with high family SES generally higher or lower, more homogenous or heterogeneous?

Authors

• Weiguo Pang, East China Normal Uniiversity

• Yaling Sun, Yunnan Normal University

• Haiyan Zhu, Yunnan University