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Article

Open Access

Between-Class Ability Grouping, Cram Schooling, and Student Academic Achievement in Taiwan

Author(s)

Jeng Liu, Cheng-Hsiang Yang

Full-Text PDF Download XML 1261 Views

DOI:10.17265/2159-5526/2016.05.005

Affiliation(s)

Tunghai University, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Taiwan government has been executing the educational reform programs for more than two decades. However, the so-called between-class ability grouping which is prohibited by Taiwan government is still found in many places; and Taiwan’s cram schools are even more popular and diversified than before. The authors argue that, in addition to individual’s socio-economic background, regional characteristics and school attributes also play important roles. Bringing these two factors back in, the causal relationships among ability grouping, cram schooling, and student academic achievement can be analyzed more accurately. Using data from Taiwan Education Panel Survey, the authors’ empirical results show that, first of all, in more urbanized area, between-class ability grouping is less popular but cram school participation is wider spread these years. Secondly, the effects of family backgrounds on students’ cram school participation are not as critical as they were before. Thirdly, between-class ability grouping and students’ performance are positively associated but the internal mechanism still needs further investigation.

KEYWORDS

Academic achievement, regional characteristics, school attributes, between-class ability grouping, cram schooling

Cite this paper

Sociology Study, May 2016, Vol. 6, No. 5, 335-341

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