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  • © 2019

Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes

Cross-National Trends, Policies, and Practices

  • Examines the pressing challenge of addressing socioeconomic inequality in contemporary schools
  • Outlines achievement gaps within student populations across a range of international jurisdictions
  • Describes policies and practices used to address inequalities in student outcomes
  • Provides cross-national analyses of the effectiveness of policy responses adopted to close achievement gaps

Part of the book series: Education Policy & Social Inequality (EPSI, volume 4)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xx
  2. Socioeconomic Inequality in Education Systems

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes Across Education Systems

      • John Jerrim, Louis Volante, Don A. Klinger, Sylke V. Schnepf
      Pages 3-16
    3. The Impact of Education Policies on Socioeconomic Inequality in Student Achievement: A Review of Comparative Studies

      • Rolf Strietholt, Jan-Eric Gustafsson, Nina Hogrebe, Victoria Rolfe, Monica Rosén, Isa Steinmann et al.
      Pages 17-38
  3. National Profiles

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 39-39
    2. Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes in English Schools

      • Jake Anders, Morag Henderson
      Pages 41-62
    3. Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes in German Schools

      • Horst Entorf, Maddalena Davoli
      Pages 63-79
    4. Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes in Italy

      • Nicola Pensiero, Orazio Giancola, Carlo Barone
      Pages 81-94
    5. Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes in the Netherlands

      • Jaap Scheerens, Anneke Timmermans, Greetje van der Werf
      Pages 111-132
    6. Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes in Finnish Schools

      • Katariina Salmela-Aro, Anna K. Chmielewski
      Pages 153-168
    7. Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes in Australia

      • Philip Parker, Jiesi Guo, Taren Sanders
      Pages 189-204
  4. Cross-Cultural Trends

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 205-205
    2. Cross-National Trends in Addressing Socioeconomic Inequality in Education

      • Sylke V. Schnepf, Don A. Klinger, Louis Volante, John Jerrim
      Pages 207-223
  5. Correction to: Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes

    • Louis Volante, Sylke V. Schnepf, John Jerrim, Don A. Klinger
    Pages C1-C1

About this book

This book examines socioeconomic inequality and student outcomes across various Western industrialized nations and the varying success they have had in addressing achievement gaps in lower socioeconomic status student populations. It presents the national profiles of countries with notable achievement gaps within the respective school-aged student populations, explains the trajectory of achievement results in relation to both national and international large-scale assessment measures, and discusses how relevant education policies have evolved within their national contexts. Most importantly, the national profiles investigate the effectiveness of policy responses that have been adopted to close the achievement gap in lower socioeconomic status student populations. This book provides a cross-national analysis of policy approaches designed to address socioeconomic inequality.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Faculty of Education, Brock University, Hamilton, Canada

    Louis Volante

  • European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy

    Sylke V. Schnepf

  • UCL Institute of Education, London, UK

    John Jerrim

  • University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Don A. Klinger

About the editors

Louis Volante (Ph.D.) is a Professor of Education at Brock University and a Professorial Fellow at UNU-MERIT / Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. Professor Volante is also the President of the Canadian Educational Researchers' Association (CERA). His research focuses on education and public policy analysis; international assessments and the politics of education reform; metrics, performance monitoring, and education governance; migrant integration policies and education outcomes; and social inequality in education. 


Sylke Viola Schnepf (Ph.D.) is a Senior Researcher in the Unit on ‘Monitoring, Indicators & Impact Evaluation’ at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy. She is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labour IZA (Bonn, Germany). Her main research focuses on social inequalities and fairness especially in the field of education. Sylke works also on topics related to counterfactual impact evaluation and survey design.


John Jerrim (Ph.D.) is a Professor of Educational and Social Statistics at the Institute of Education, University College London. Professor Jerrim’s research interests include the economics of education, access to higher education, intergenerational mobility, cross-national comparisons and educational inequalities. John was the recipient of an ESRC Research Scholarship 2006-2010 and awarded the prize as the ‘most promising Ph.D. student in the quantitative social sciences’ at the University of Southampton. In October 2011 he was awarded a prestigious ESRC post-doctoral fellowship to continue his research into the educational and labour market expectations of adolescents and young adults. Since then he has won the inaugural ESRC Early Career Outstanding Impact award.


Don A. Klinger (Ph.D.) is Pro Vice-Chancellor of Education at the University of Waikato. His research explores measurement practices, the evolving conceptions of formative and summative assessment, the uses of classroom assessment to inform teaching and learning, and the potential of large-scale assessments and databases to direct educational policy. As a former president of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE/SCEE), Don works to build connections amongst academic and professional communities.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access