Schooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorLam, David
dc.contributor.authorArdington, Cally
dc.contributor.authorLeibbrandt, Murray
dc.date2012-11-02T08:27:57Z
dc.date2012-11-02T08:27:57Z
dc.date2011
dc.date.accessioned2015-05-28T10:04:58Z
dc.date.available2015-05-28T10:04:58Z
dc.date.issued2015-05-28
dc.descriptionThis paper analyzes the large racial differences in progress through secondary school in South Africa. Using recently collected longitudinal data we find that grade advancement is strongly associated with scores on a baseline literacy and numeracy test. In grades 8-11 the effect of these scores on grade progression is much stronger for white and coloured students than for African students, while there is no racial difference in the impact of the scores on passing the nationally standardized grade 12 matriculation exam. We develop a stochastic model of grade repetition that generates predictions consistent with these results. The model predicts that a larger stochastic component in the link between learning and measured performance will generate higher enrollment, higher failure rates, and a weaker link between ability and grade progression. The results suggest that grade progression in African schools is poorly linked to actual ability and learning. The results point to the importance of considering the stochastic component of grade repetition in analyzing school systems with high failure rates.
dc.identifierhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387810000490
dc.identifier.apacitationLam, D., Ardington, C., & Leibbrandt, M. (2015). Schooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12979en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationLam, David, Cally Ardington, and Murray Leibbrandt "Schooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa." (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12979en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationLam, D., Ardington, C. & Leibbrandt, M. 2015. Schooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12979en_ZA
dc.identifier.risTY - Journal Article DA - 2015-05-28 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Education KW - South Africa KW - Grade repetition KW - Grade progression KW - Matric LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Schooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa TI - Schooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12979 ER -en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/12979
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationLam D, Ardington C, Leibbrandt M. Schooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa. 2015; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12979.en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherJournal of Development Economics
dc.publisher.departmentSALDRUen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Commerceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectEducation
dc.subjectSouth Africa
dc.subjectGrade repetition
dc.subjectGrade progression
dc.subjectMatric
dc.titleSchooling as a lottery: Racial differences in school advancement in urban South Africa
dc.typeJournal Article
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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