Research projects

This research project aims to generate timely evidence about the educational equity in Spain and OECD countries. Specifically, it aims to develop a composite indicator that allows to reflect the level of equity of educational systems based on a single criterion, without losing its multidimensional nature and considering the different priorities and heterogeneities of educational systems. This synthetic indicator will make it possible to provide a global and fair comparison of the performance, in terms of educational equity, of the different OECD countries (and regions) that have participated in the latest editions of the most relevant international large-scale assessments (PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS).

To do this, first we have selected the most relevant indicators to include in the empirical analysis. Based upon this, in the last year, we have worked on the development of the methodology for their aggregation, based on the conditional extension of the "Benefit of the Doubt" (BoD) model, to adapt it to the priorities and heterogeneous characteristics of the different OECD countries that participated in the latest wave of the PISA 2018 program. We considered in the estimation three relevant dimensions of equity: inclusion, equality of opportunities and segregation. The results reveal the 3 dimensions are complementary, being the equality of opportunities the dimension with the largest room for improvement in most countries. Differences across educational systems are substantive. Regions from Canada and Spain and the Nordic countries outperforms in terms of equity, while least developed countries are the most unequitable. The results have been presented in 4 international and national conferences. Currently, we are working on the writing of the first article. In addition, we have started working on the second article, which aims to provide evidence about the level of equity for primary education in the OCDE countries by using the latest TIMSS/PIRLS waves.