Residential segregation, school contexts, and educational inequalities

Thesis

In this dissertation, I explore how schools contribute to learning inequalities along socioeconomic and ethnic lines. Chapter 1 introduces a novel theoretical model that reconciles conflicting empirical findings in the literature on schools and inequality by distinguishing between quantitative and qualitative school effects. The key prediction of the model is that improvements in school quality yield larger positive returns for children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Using a quasi-experimental approach that leverages variation in school quality, induced by unanticipated school district changes in Denmark, I find support for this hypothesis. This implies that improvements in school quality have an equalizing effect on learning inequalities. Chapter 2 focuses on the role of teachers in shaping children's academic performance. I document a strong pattern of teacher-student sorting and facilitate causal evidence on the effect of teacher qualifications on students' test score performance by leveraging variation in teacher changes induced by parental leave spells. I document sizeable teacher effects on students' test score performance and show that teacher-induced learning inequalities are mainly driven by teachers' strategic sorting behavior. Chapter 3 examines the role of ethnic segregation by focusing on Muslim schools in Denmark, as a case study of broader integration issues. Using a natural experiment design, I show that Muslim school attendance positively impacts Muslim children's test score performance, relative to their performance in public schools. This result highlights that assimilationist policies may come at the cost of other desirable policy outcomes.

Authors: Hassan, SAJ

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-jbjnqw9ag
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: school choice; education; immigration; teachers; inequality
• Subjects: Quantitative research; Muslim students; Education; Teacher-student relationships; Educational equalization