The recent PISA mathematics results delivered disappointing news for the United States of America (USA). These results underscored the education system's continuing inequalities. An important question concerns to what extent and to which part of the educational system do these sources of inequality occur? In this paper we use PISA 2012 data merged…

Background: A variety of studies point to a deterioration of educational equity in Sweden and increasing school segregation with respect to achievement and socioeconomic composition. Some schools are resilient to socioeconomic disadvantages in their student body and demonstrate high levels of achievement. However, little attention has been given…

In recent years, Sweden has been struggling with issues of educational inequity as the influence of students' socioeconomic status on their academic achievements has amplified. Nonetheless, academically resilient students who demonstrate high achievement despite socioeconomic disadvantages offer hope for a more equitable future. Previous research…

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant disruption in schooling worldwide. This paper uses global test score data to estimate learning losses. It models the effect of school closures on achievement by predicting the deviation of the most recent results from a linear trend using data from all rounds of the Programme for International Student…

Background: Research has shown that teacher feedback is critical for student learning and well-being (Siegle & McCoach, 2007; Wisniewski et al., 2020). However, teachers often provide more positive feedback to students from high socioeconomic backgrounds than to those from low socioeconomic backgrounds (Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2000; Tobisch &…

This chapter offers an integrated review and discussion of the major advances in theory and practice in the area of literacy, with particular focus on the work since 2014 onward. For the purposes of this review, it approaches Literacy as the ability to read and write. For reading, the chapter highlights theoretical advances that expand the view of…

We examine the disparities in educational outcomes for high-income countries as they are reported by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), with a specific emphasis on a more nuanced exploration of SES-based achievement gaps. To explore differences in the educational inequality and disadvantages associated with SES-based…

The aim of this study was to investigate the status of equal opportunity in education and employment in Saudi Arabia. Analyses of existing data show that the country has made a remarkable progress in educational enrollment at all levels (K-12 and higher education). However, challenges remain in terms of academic achievement for males,…

This paper offers a conceptual framework that combines Sen's concept of capability and Bourdieu's forms of capital to understand the generative mechanisms of educational advantage or disadvantage. The paper illustrates some ways that the Sen-Bourdieu framework can be applied to understand the Programme for International Student Assessment 2015…

A student's performance in school is influenced by personal characteristics, but also, amongst other influences, by those of his or her schoolmates. Schoolmates can motivate and help each other overcome learning difficulties; but they can also disrupt instruction, require disproportionate attention from teachers, and be a source of anxiety. The…

Many education systems seek to create an open, diverse and tolerant society, as education can play a significant role in countering racial, ethnic and national prejudice among children and adolescents. Education for living in an interconnected and diverse world could also contribute to forming generations of citizens who care about global and…

Australia and New Zealand have participated in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment since 2000. Reading literacy was the main focus of the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2000, and at that time both countries' students generally performed well above the…

While the existence of a class, gender, or ethnic gap in educational attainment is well documented for many societies, how the practice of grade retention contributes to these patterns of educational inequality has been inadequately addressed. Given that grade retention is commonly practised in Macao, Macao is used as a case for illustration.…

This article compares the way the United States deals with its low-income gifted students with the methods Finland, Japan, and Singapore implement for these pupils. Four components of gifted education were used to compare these nations: the methods for identifying gifted students, each country's gifted education policy, the educational…

This article compares the way the United States deals with its low-income gifted students with the methods Finland, Japan, and Singapore implement for these pupils. Four components of gifted education were used to compare these nations: the methods for identifying gifted students, each country's gifted education policy, the educational…