Does Tracking Matter? Tracking and the Educational Expectations of Immigrant Children in Europe

• In Event: Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Effects of Organizational Structures

Abstract

Existing studies argue that more rigid tracking is associated with decreased educational expectations, as defined by whether students expect to complete a four-year degree (Lee, 2014; McDaniel, 2010). Researchers have not yet examined, however, whether the negative effect of tracking is conditional on the immigrant background of students. I investigate this conditional relationship using data on the educational expectations of immigrant students in 9 immigration countries in Europe. I find that while increased levels of tracking are not associated with lower educational expectations for non-immigrant students, increased levels of tracking are associated with lower education expectations for immigrant students. While immigrants generally have higher educational expectations than non-immigrants, this gap is reduced as tracking within a country increases.

Author

• Volha Chykina, The Pennsylvania State University