Operationalizing Students’ Socioeconomic Standing Across Education Systems: Evidence From a Large-Scale Assessment

• In Event: A Diversified or Homogenized Landscape in Cross-Cultural Education Systems?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is three-fold: 1.) To examine the structure and measurement of the SES instruments from large-scale assessment; 2.) To verify the index of SES across education settings; and 3.) To quantify the validity of the SES index items.
Student background questionnaire from an international large-scale assessment is examined for the development of the scale. Technical aspect on the complex sampling design of the assessment and correlated indicators that are explain for student's socioeconomic status were thoroughly examined as well as the relationship between SES and academic achievement .

The relationship between family background and educational results is the focus of a wide range of international researches and studies, based on the evidence of the impact of family background on the school achievement (e.g. Blanden and Gregg, 2004; Caro et al., 2009; Sirin, 2005). The Coleman Report (Coleman, 1966), as early as 1966, concluded that one of the main determinants of academic performance was the family background, measured as socioeconomic status of students (SES). The study emphasized that the characteristics of families and their social situation were the factors that explain the differences in the educational attainment of students. Some consequences of or ways to overcome this gap have been identified by several studies. For example, the relationship between SES and student selection into different tracks (e.g., Boaler et al. 2000; Malamud and Pop-Eleches 2011; Ammermueller 2013), or which school factors can promote the academic success in poor students or schools (e.g. Borman and Rachuba, Laura, 2001; Barth, P. et al., 1999; Jacobson, 2011; Rumberger and Palardy, 2005)]

In this study, the SES scale is defined as latent index of parents education, parents occupation and book resources. Structural relationships between the SES indicators are simultaneously evaluated as a second-order factor of structural equation modeling. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was first carried out. Model-data fit indices are examined and reported for the evaluation the operationalized SES scale.

This study uses the overall sample from the International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS) conducted in 2009. The survey assessed 140,000 eight-grade students in 38 countries. Five levels of parental education are examined, and parents’ highest occupational standing is derived from the International Standard Classification of Occupation (ISCO).

Result is reported across education systems. The distribution of SES seems to be consistent with current literature on SES. Total SES distribution with a mean of. .24 and a standard deviation of .96. The SES means and standard deviations for all are close to the total mean and total standard deviation except for Lithuania (mean=.18, sd=.47) and Russian Federation (mean=.14, sd=.66) that these countries showed students are clustered closely at lower SESs. United Arab Emirates (Dubai) (mean = .26, sd=.76) and Canada (Ontario) (mean=.25, sd=.77) have higher SES equalities among their students.

The internal structural or relationship between the SES indicators is examined as latent variable modeling that established to a stronger construction of SES scale. A cross-countries analysis allows for discovering the deviations in SES between different education systems.

Author

• Deana Desa, IEA Data Processing and Research Center