2. School segregation and the performance of immigrant and native pupils
Giorgio Brunello
(EENEE)

3. Score differences between first-generation immigrants and natives (left panel) and between second-generation immigrants and natives (right panel). Selected EU countries. Average value of test scores: a) reading: 500; b) math: years old students.
Country
FG Immigrants - Natives. Math
FG Immigrants - Natives. Reading
SG immigrants - Natives. Math
SG immigrants - Natives. Reading
Austria
-61.8
-56.0
-58.4
-47.7
Belgium
-83.3
-78.4
-68.9
-55.3
Czech Rep.
-19.2
-20.3
-39.7
-19.7
Germany
-73.2
-77.3
-51.7
-41.1
Denmark
-80.3
-77.1
-61.0
-49.6
Spain
-55.5
-48.3
-34.7
-46.9
Finland
-97.9
-115.7
-70.3
-64.2
France
-83.6
-93.0
-59.3
-54.4 UK
-7.4
-12.5
-17.5
-9.2
Hungary
14.8
-6.3
44.7
32.7
Ireland
-3.7
-12.1
0.8
-7.6
Italy
-54.9
-74.3
-29.8
-39.6
Netherlands
-60.4
-59.5
-56.9
-54.5
Norway
-55.6
-68.0
-38.5
-31.0
Sweden
-80.0
-96.2
-45.1
-39.3
Source: PISA 2012

4. Heterogeneity across Europe
Gap lowest in the UK and Ireland
Gap for second generation immigrants lower than for first generation

5. Parental background matters for the gap
After conditioning on parental education and occupation, the relative situation of the children of immigrants improves everywhere, except for Finland and Portugal
The gap falls substantially in France
It shrinks by 25-50% in Nordic countries and by % in Central European countries (see Dustmann, Frattini and Lanzara, 2012)
Beside parental background, the quality of schools (and peers) and the language spoken at home help in explaining the observed gap

6. Figure 3.4: difference in the percentage of students with more than 100 books at home between natives and immigrants (x-axis) and difference in Math average test score between natives and immigrants (y-axis), by country. OECD area.

7. School stratification
The distribution of immigrants across schools is not homogeneous
School stratification or segregation: immigrants tend to attend schools in less affluent neighbourhoods where many disadvantaged natives also go
These schools often have fewer resources, less qualified teachers and a higher share of peers who perform poorly

9. Does a higher share of immigrants affect school performance?
Many parents believe that it does: flight of natives from schools with many immigrants
In principle, there are both pluses and minuses from concentrating immigrants in schools
Pluses may include: easier to recognize learning problems and address them
Minuses may include: fewer interactions with natives, more disruption, inefficient use of teachers time

10. What the evidence says
The empirical evidence for Europe suggests that the effect of the share on immigrants on the performance of natives is negative but small
The effect tends to be negative and larger for immigrants
Negative effects appear to be larger above a threshold share of immigrants, although there is little consensus on the value of the threshold
Native flight also higher above thresholds

11. The Effects of the Share of Immigrants in the Class or School on the Performance of Natives and Immigrants. European Studies
Authors
Estimated effect
Estimated Effects
Szulkin and Jonsson (2007)
Immigrant concentration on school grades in Sweden
Natives: negative effects
Non-natives: negative effects
Jensen and Rasmussen (2011)
Immigrant concentration on PISA test scores. Denmark
Andersen, S and Thomsen, M. (2011)
Immigrant concentration on school grades
Immigrants: negative effects
Brunello and Rocco (2013)
Immigrant concentration on natives’ PISA test scores.
Natives: small negative effects.
Geay et al. (2013)
Immigrant concentration on the test scores of native English speakers in England.
Natives: no sizable negative effects
Ohinata and Van Ours (2013)
Immigrant concentration on PIRLS and TIMSS test scores
Hardoy and Schøne (2013)
Immigrant concentration in Norway upper secondary schools on dropout rates of natives
Ballatore et al. (2014)
Immigrant concentration on test scores. Italy
Natives: substantial adverse effects
Schneeweis (2015)
Immigrant concentration in Austrian primary schools on repetition in primary and secondary schools and track attendance after primary education.

12. Redistribution: equity and efficiency
Redistributing immigrant pupils from high share to low share schools reduces inequality of outcomes
Redistribution is efficient only when the performance gain accruing to high share schools is higher than the performance loss for low share schools.
Evidence points to likelihood of efficiency gains.

13. Policies in place Lotteries for school choice (ex: UK)
Bussing (ex: Denmark, France)
Additional financial resources to high share schools (ex: Switzerland)
Parental information: (ex: Netherlands)
Ceilings to the share of immigrants: (ex: Italy)

14. Do these policies work?
Evidence suggests that bussing policies and the provision of additional resources improves the performance of immigrants
Scarcity of serious evaluations and of costs/benefits studies – especially in Europe - makes it difficult to reach conclusions on which policy works and on best practices

15. More details on this Forthcoming EENEE analytical report
“School segregation of immigrants and its effects on educational outcomes in Europe”, by Giorgio Brunello and Maria De Paola