The great slope. Increasing performance gaps between pupils in developed and underdeveloped small regions

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the spatial correlates of educational/learning achievement in the domestic education system. The research question is whether the development of districts is related to the competency scores in public education and to the overall scores of those admitted to higher education. The hypothesis assumes that the higher the development of the district, the better the educational/learning performance. Thus, education/learning outcomes move downwards from developed to less developed districts.  

The analysis presented in this paper, looking at the spatial trends in competency test scores, finds that district averages of both reading comprehension and mathematics scores are closely correlated with the complex development index of districts. The correlation shows a significant slope, with young people in more developed districts scoring better than those in less developed districts. Moreover, the slope increases in steepness from class to class. On the other hand, it is also quite clear that this slope has increased over the last half decade. This steep slope is also evident in the case of scores in higher education entrance examinations, where the slope has also increased over the last half decade.

The paper concludes by pointing out that the lessons of these results are important for education policy to learn, as they show that education policy in the past has failed to address the territorial disparities in the education system, to the extent that they have increased.