The inequalities in school choice in Spain in accordance to PISA data

Abstract

In Spain as in other European countries, policies on school choice have been implemented in tandem with the channelling of public resources into private education. Given the application of public money to private schooling, the primary objective of this paper is to analyse the extent to which Spanish families enjoy equality in their ability to exercise school choice. To do so, the analysis focuses on the factors that affect school choice in Spain using data from the 2003 and 2006 PISA evaluations. Specifically, the influence of personal, family, geographic, motivational and educational policy factors are all considered in the context of deciding whether to attend a public or private school. The results reveal a broad similarity across the factors driving the selection of private schools which either receive some public funding (known as 'concerted') or independent, showing a greater proportion of families from better socioeconomic, educational and cultural backgrounds in these types of schools. In addition, the geographic distribution of schools has an effect on school selection. Given that concerted schools form part of the public educational offering (because of the state funding they receive), the state has the ability to take a wide range of actions to promote greater equality of choice in the case of public and concerted schools. In this respect, a series of measures are set out regarding student selection, the distribution of information and the geographic distribution of schools.

Education policy and school segregation of migrant students in Catalonia: the politics of non-decision-making

“…In this way, local governments often find themselves in the dilemma of potentially applying (or being partly responsible) the provisions set by legislation on schooling, and meeting the demands of the population sectors which make themselves heard and which are trying to avoid that the schools their children attend have a high proportion of migrant pupils. As recent studies on school choice in Spain and Catalonia have shown, there are significant disparities in school choice patterns between native residents and immigrant families and the presence of a significant number of migrants in schools acts as an important factor in those choice patterns Escardíbul and Villarroya 2009). …”

Crisis de oportunidad para los jóvenes con escasos estudios en España (2005-2014)

“…El estudio de Fernández y Muñiz (2012), con base empírica, a partir de la explotación del Estudio del Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas -CIS (2006), demuestra que el argumento básico para las familias no es una mayor calidad educativa, sino que la demanda está en función de las características socioeconómicas del alumnado en las escuelas concertadas, significativamente distintas a las de los centros públicos. A pesar de que el acceso a los centros concertados sea similar formalmente a los públicos, en los primeros se concentran familias con ingresos medios y altos y niveles de estudios elevados (Escardibul & Villarroya, 2009), así como de origen nacional (Salinas & Santín, 2012). Este fenómeno produce que España sea uno de los países de la OECD con mayor concentración de alumnado con el mismo origen social en los colegios, así como el país en el que el tipo de centro (público o privado) influye más en la segregación social (Jenkins, Micklewright, & Schnepf, 2006).…”

International briefing 22: training and development in Spain

“…In 2008 there were 7.2 million pupils in non-university studies, 36.4 per cent of whom were in private centers (around 80 per cent in private, publicly funded or 'concerted' schools). Thus, Spain is one of the countries with the highest percentage of students in private centers, especially because of the 'concerted' schools (Escardíbul & Villarroya, 2009). Moreover, there were 1.4 million university students (10 per cent in private institutions).…”