Large-scale international achievement studies such as PISA have been widely used to study how educational inequality compares across countries. Yet the various different biases that may affect these estimates are often not considered or are poorly understood. In this paper we draw upon the total survey error framework to provide a case study of…

To assess the meaningfulness of an intervention effect on students' achievement, researchers may apply empirical benchmarks as standards for comparisons, involving normative expectations for students' academic growth as well as performance gaps between weak and average schools or policy-relevant groups (e.g., male and female students, students…

Since 2015, increased numbers of newly immigrated schoolchildren in Europe have resulted in divergent, often ad hoc measures to provide for their education. Because the basis of classroom learning is information found in written texts, the development of grade-level reading skills is of central importance. However, little is known about immigrant…

Gender differences in reading and math have been reported for many years. Girls outperform boys in reading (representing a school domain stereotyped as female); boys often perform slightly better in math (a stereotypical male domain). Research has so far investigated the contribution of domain-specific academic self-concepts and interests as well…

Does schooling equalize achievement disparities among students with and without a migrant background? This question remains largely unanswered in sociology. We hypothesized that children of migrants would benefit more from schooling, thereby making schools engines of educational integration. Our study tests this hypothesis in the context of German…

Turkish-origin migrants on average show lower academic performance than Germans. This achievement gap cannot be fully explained by socio-economic differences between the groups. Negative competence stereotypes about Turkish-origin students predict the causal attributions that German preservice teachers make for migrants' academic underperformance.…

The phenomenon of digital differentiation, or stark variations in ability to access Internet hardware and/or infrastructure, has been a feature of provision since its early days. This article explores the impact of digital differentiation on two groups of young people, in England and Germany. It is based on fieldwork that took place during the…

Based on Honneth's recognition theory, this study aimed at investigating whether students with a migration background reported receiving less recognition from teachers than students without a migration background. Also, we explored whether such a difference contributed to explaining the disparity between the groups in reading achievement. To…

The current study evaluates effects of teaching factors and extended day programs regarding both average achievement and socioeconomic achievement gaps. Analyses are based on data from the National Educational Panel Study in Germany. The sample comprises 1523 students in 120 classes in 71 secondary schools. The investigation period covers fifth…

The Matthew Effect has been one of the best known principles in adult education, implying that the ones who have more formal education at earlier phases of life participate more in education in adulthood. This qualitative research explores how the Matthew Effect works under migration, focusing on the experiences of the Turkish immigrants in…

Background: After elementary school, students in Germany are separated into different school tracks (i.e., school types) with the aim of creating homogeneous student groups in secondary school. Consequently, the development of students' reading achievement diverges across school types. Findings on this achievement gap have been criticized as…

The aim of this report is threefold. Its first section provides an overall sketch of the situation across Europe and the underlying mechanisms for the differences in European countries. The second section focuses on the heterogeneities within each country. It examines the disparities among students in order to understand which of those correlate…

Knowledge about one's own cognitive processes is the basis for the monitoring and regulation of learning processes for effective reading comprehension. Taking verbal cognitive ability into account, the present study aimed to examine the developmental trajectories of reading comprehension and declarative metacognitive knowledge and their…

In times of climate change, worldwide diseases, and the question of sustainable energy, scientific literacy has never been more important. The acquisition of scientific literacy starts in early childhood and depends on children's experiences in learning environments such as the parental home and kindergarten. The Starting Cohort 2 of the German…

This paper provides a critical review of indicators that can be used to measure equity in educational outcomes. These indicators are evaluated using different criteria. Further, analysis on how the sample structure affects equity measurements is undertaken. Analyses are based on theoretical reasoning and empirical data from the German National…