Determinants of Student Achievement: Examining Within-school and Non-school Factors in Finland and Sweden

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 21. Measures and Determinants of Student Achievement

Abstract

What factors explain why some students learn more and other students learn less? Over the last fifty years, research on educational achievement and inequalities has generally reached one of two contradictory conclusions: schools have the power to perpetuate learning disparities, or most of the variation in children’s educational success can be attributed to their non-school environments, including, their family structure, neighborhood quality, and poverty status.
International test performances offers a unique opportunity for better understanding whether within school processes or non-school environments best explain student learning. Using the case studies of Finland and Sweden, I examine determinants of the variation in academic performance.

Author

• Alicia Croft, The Ohio State University