Tracking

In a study on tracking in the school system, we find that inequality of student achievement increases more strongly between primary and secondary school if students are tracked into different types of schools earlier on. At the same time, early tracking is not related to higher achievement levels. Analyses of international student tests also show that later educational achievement is more closely associated with family background, the earlier students are tracked. Similar results emerge in a comparison of German states.

Here you can find a short non-technical overview on this topic.

Research papers:

Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence across Countries (with E.A. Hanushek). Economic Journal 116 (510): C63-C76, 2006

Education Policy and Equality of Opportunity (with G. Schütz and H.W. Ursprung). Kyklos 61 (2): 279-308, 2008

The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement. Journal of Economic Perspectives 30 (3): 3-31, 2016

Institutional Determinants of School Efficiency and Equity: German States as a Microcosm for OECD Countries. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik / Journal of Economics and Statistics 230 (2): 234-270, 2010

Non-technical contribution:

International Evidence on School Tracking: A Review. CESifo DICE Report - Journal for Institutional Comparisons 7 (1): 26-34, 2009

Material available only in German

Newspaper articles:

Die entscheidende Säule. Wirtschaftswoche Global, No. 2, 24.6.2013, pp. 110-111

Two contributions about our research results:

Spätes Aussieben lohnt sich. Sonntagsökonom in der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung vom 25.3.2007 über meine Forschung zum dreigliedrigen Schulsystem

Das große Einmaleins der Ungerechtigkeit. "Wissenswert"-Beitrag im Handelsblatt vom 21.11.2005 über unsere Forschung zum Effekt der Mehrgliedrigkeit auf die Ungleichheit der Schülerleistungen

Non-technical contributions:

Mehrgliedrigkeit des Schulsystems und Chancengleichheit im internationalen Vergleich. Erziehung und Unterricht (Österreichische Pädagogische Zeitschrift) 158 (7-8): 509-517, 2008

Beeinflusst Bildungsselektion Bildungsergebnisse und Ungleichheit? Internationale und nationale Evidenz. In: M. Held, G. Kubon-Gilke, R. Sturn (eds.), Jahrbuch Normative und institutionelle Grundfragen der Ökonomik, Band 8: Bildungsökonomie in der Wissensgesellschaft, Marburg: Metropolis, 147-167, 2009