Examining educational inequalities

Periodical
Large-scale Assessments in Education
Volume
9
Year
2021
Issue number
5
Relates to study/studies
TIMSS 2011
TIMSS 2015

Examining educational inequalities

Insights in the context of improved mathematics performance on national and international assessments at primary level in Ireland

Abstract

Evaluations of effectiveness of educational reforms are often based on the level of improvement in student performance from one cycle of a particular assessment to the next. However, improvements in overall performance do not necessarily translate to improved equality. Indeed, improvements that favour certain subgroups of students can exacerbate educational performance gaps and thus, inequality. This research examines changes in equality of mathematics achievement and subgroup performance differences in Irish primary school students over time. Ireland constitutes an interesting case study due to the introduction of a new National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy in 2011, the initial implementation of which has been linked to significant improvements in student mathematics performance. This paper aims to investigate whether these improvements have been accompanied by improvements in equality.