Accounting for School Sector Differences in University Entrance Performance

Abstract

School-sector differences in student performance are often viewed as largely reflecting the intake characteristics of students and having littie to do with differences in the provision of teaching and learning between school sectors. The contrary view is that school-sector differences show that non-government schools 'add value' to student performance through their delivery of the curriculum. This paper analyses tertiary performance (ENTER scores) among students who participated in the 2003 PISA study. It examines the extent to which school-sector differences are accounted for by students' socio-economic background, prior achievement, and various aspects of student learning. It concludes tha..