GONSKI INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION - UNSW - Sydneypasi_sahlberg

Evidence from research and international good practice

“EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN SCHOOLS”Valletta, MALTA

11th May 2018

IMPROVING QUALITY AND EQUITY IN EDUCATION

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS:• Strong administrative leadership.• High expectations.• An orderly atmosphere.• Basic skills acquisition as the school’s

primary purpose.• Capacity to divert school energy and

resources to advance the school’sbasic purpose.

• Frequent monitoring of pupilprogress.

A short history of equity in education

P I S

A

“equity in education means that all children are treated equally in school.”

STAND UP IF YOU AGREE THAT…

“Equity in schooling means ensuring that differences in educational outcomes are not

the result of differences in wealth, income, power or possessions.”

- Review of Funding for Schooling (2011)

Equity in education has two dimensions: Equity as inclusion means ensuring that all students reach at least a basic minimum level of skills. Equity as fairness implies that personal or socio-economic circumstances, such as gender, ethnic origin or family background are not obstacles to educational success.

- OECD (2011)

Equity in education is the means to achieving equality. It intends to provide the best opportunities for all students to achieve their full potential and act to address instances of disadvantage which restrict educational achievement.

- UNESCO (2015)

What is equity in education?

FinnishED Leadership (2018)

Resource allocation

Girls vs. Boys

Resilient students

Variability between and within schools

How can equity in education be measured?

Family background vs. Achievement

International data

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Hon

g Ko

ng…

Sing

apor

e

Japa

n

Esto

nia

Chin

ese

Taip

ei

Chin

a

Finl

and

Kore

a

Spai

n

Cana

da

Port

ugal

Uni

ted

King

dom

Latv

ia

Slov

enia

Pola

nd

Ger

man

y

Aus

tral

ia

Uni

ted

Stat

es

Net

herl

ands

New

Zea

land

Irel

and

OEC

D a

vera

ge

Switz

erla

nd

Den

mar

k

Belg

ium

Fran

ce

Ital

y

Nor

way

Aus

tria

Russ

ia

Czec

h Re

publ

ic

Swed

en

Croa

tia

Lith

uani

a

Turk

ey

Mal

ta

Luxe

mbo

urg

Hun

gary

Thai

land

Gre

ece

Slov

ak R

epub

lic

Icel

and

Isra

el

Chile

Uru

guay

Mex

ico

Colo

mbi

a

Indo

nesi

a

Braz

il

Percentage of resilient students

OECD, 2016

Girls vs. boys: Reading performance

-50

-45

-40

-35

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

Finl

and

526

Slov

enia

50

5Ic

elan

d 4

82Ko

rea

517

Norw

ay

513

Swed

en

500

Lithu

ania

47

2Gr

eece

46

7Sl

ovak

Rep

ublic

45

3Ne

w Z

eala

nd

509

Aust

ralia

50

3M

alay

sia

431

Thai

land

40

9Po

land

50

6Fr

ance

49

9Ho

ng K

ong

(Chi

na)

527

Esto

nia

519

Turk

ey

428

OEC

D av

erag

e 4

93Cr

oatia

48

7Ca

nada

52

7Ru

ssia

49

5Cz

ech

Repu

blic

487

Switz

erla

nd

492

Chin

ese

Taip

ei

497

Hung

ary

470

Neth

erla

nds

503

Indo

nesia

39

7Ur

ugua

y 4

37Br

azil

407

Israe

l 4

79De

nmar

k 5

00Un

ited

King

dom

49

8Lu

xem

bour

g 4

81Ge

rman

y 5

09Sp

ain

496

Sing

apor

e 5

35Au

stria

48

5Un

ited

Stat

es

497

Port

ugal

49

8B-

S-J-G

(Chi

na)

494

Italy

48

5Be

lgiu

m

499

Mex

ico

423

Colo

mbi

a 4

25Ja

pan

516

Irela

nd

521

Chile

45

9

Scor

e po

int d

iffer

ence

OECD, 2016

USA

Poland

New Zealand

Greece

UK

Estonia

Finland

Slovak Rep.

Luxembourg

Germany

Austria

Czech Rep.

France

Japan

Turkey

Sweden

Hungary

Australia

Israel

Canada

Ireland

Chile

Belgium

Netherlands

Spain

Denmark

Switzerland

IcelandSlovenia

Portugal

Norway

Mexico

Korea

Italy

R² = 0,33

350

400

450

500

550

600

650

-0,500,511,5

Mat

hem

atic

s p

erfo

rman

ce (

sco

re p

oin

ts)

Equity in resource allocation(index-point difference)Eq

uity

in re

sour

ce a

lloca

tion

refe

rs to

the

diff

eren

ce in

the

inde

x of

qu

ality

of s

choo

ls' e

duca

tiona

l res

ourc

es b

etw

een

soci

o-ec

onom

ical

ly a

dvan

tage

d an

d di

sadv

anta

ged

scho

ol.

Allocation of educational resources vs. mathematics performanceBefore accounting for per capita GDP

OECD, 2013

110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Iceland 93Finland 103Norway 103

Spain 86Ireland 88

Latvia 75Denmark 91

Poland 92Canada 95

Russia 76Estonia 88

Macao (China) 74Mexico 57

Sweden 117United States 108

New Zealand 121Indonesia 52

Dominican Republic 59Portugal 94

Hong Kong (China) 72Thailand 69

Colombia 72United Kingdom 111

Australia 117Korea 101

OECD average 100Lithuania 92

Chile 83Greece 94Croatia 89

Brazil 89Turkey 70

Luxembourg 112Chinese Taipei 111

Italy 93Singapore 120

Switzerland 110Japan 97

Czech Republic 101Israel 126

Austria 106United Arab Emirates 110

Malta 154Slovak Republic 109

Germany 110Slovenia 101Belgium 112

Hungary 104B-S-J-G (China) 119

Netherlands 114Within-school variation Between-school variation

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

Varia

tion

in sc

ienc

e pe

rfor

man

ce

with

in a

nd b

etw

een

scho

ols

OECD, 2016

• Singapore

OECD, 2016Weakness of the relationship between student achievement and family background (ESCS Index)

Stud

ent a

chie

vem

ent i

n re

adin

g, m

athe

mat

ics

and

scie

nce

(PIS

A)

EQUITY OF OUTCOMES

• China

STU

DEN

T A

CHIE

VEM

ENT • Hong Kong

Equity vs. quality of educational outcomes

What have we learned?

“The highest-performing education systems across the OECD countries are those that combine quality with equity.”

OECD, 2011

Adopt and implement “positive discrimination” policies.

1

Limit standardized assessments to absolute necessary minimum.

2

3Respond pro-actively to special

educational needs in every school.

4Offer all students different ways

to succeed in school.

5Don’t ask: “How good is Johnny?”Ask: “How is Johnny good?”

Conclusion

“We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us.”

STAND UP IF YOU AGREE THAT…

“We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need to do that. Whether or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.”

-Ron Edmonds in 1979

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Thank you!