Abstract
This paper focuses on ability grouping in middle school as an important mechanism enabling students with privileged social backgrounds to increase their likelihood of enrollment in the most selective and prestigious high school programs, thus paving the way to higher academic degrees and more lucrative occupations. Using data from Israeli national standardized tests administered in primary and middle schools and matriculation data from the end of high school, we demonstrate the crucial role played by middle school ability grouping in transforming socioeconomic advantage into educational advantage. We thus contribute to a growing body of research that aims at enhancing our understanding of mechanisms of educational tracking in comprehensive systems that rely on complex and nuanced types of formal and informal within-school curricular differentiation.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 100627 |
Journal | Research in Social Stratification and Mobility |
Volume | 76 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors wish to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors of the special issue for their helpful comments. The research was supported by grant no. 220/17 from the Israel Science Foundation .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Ability grouping
- Curriculum differentiation
- Israel
- Middle school