Rich Land, Poor Schools

This chapter shifts attention from differences among families to those among schools in terms of resources dedicated to teaching and learning these two subjects. It shows nations vary in how much resource inequality among schools their system produces; such educational inequality can have severe negative consequences for the school achievement of poor and disadvantaged students. The chapter uses two indicators of social and economic disadvantage: low education of the student&s;s mother and living in a single-parent home. Many national systems intentionally sort children into different kinds of schools, sometimes leading to differences in secondary credentials and rights vis-a-vis higher education. The chapter describes two questions about how savage inequalities look from a global perspective. First, are American disadvantaged students comparatively more at risk of educational failure than similarly disadvantaged students in other wealthy nations? Second, what is the consequence of educational performance among disadvantaged students for the overall international educational competitiveness of the nation?