OECD Review on Migrant Education
OECD Review on Migrant
Education - Draft
handbook for policy
makers
27 October 2009
History and economic factors
affecting migrant education policy
• Common pattern: increasing & more mixed
migration
• The effect of the crisis on the pattern and
implications for migrant education
• Changing immigration policies
• Other contextual factors affecting migrant
education
Education outcomes: evidence
and policy implication
• Facts about education outcomes of
immigrant students
- performance, participation, and access to quality education
• Major factors linked to education outcomes
• Policy implication
Performance – secondary education
• marked performance differences in reading between
native and immigrant students at age 15 in many countries
Score
Native students
Second-generation immigrant students
First generation immigrant students
OECD average performance in reading
600
550
500
450
400
Roughly
equivalent to
one year of
schooling
Performance – primary education
• Differences in average reading performance in primary
education (less pronounced than those of secondary education)
Score
600
550
500
450
400
Native students
Second-generation immigrant students
First generation immigrant students
International average
• Immigrant students are an academically diverse group: both top
performing and low performing immigrant students. BUT
• A larger share of 1st-generation with very low reading skills than
their native and 2nd-generation peers
Native
500
450
Proficiency
level 1
400
350
300
250
200
Second generation
First generation
Participation
• 1st-generation immigrants are less likely to attend preschool
compared to their native and 2nd-generation immigrant peers.
Native students
%
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Second generation immigrant students
First generation immigrant students
• In some countries both native and immigrant students repeat a
grade, while in other countries this practice is rare. BUT
• Immigrant students are more likely to repeat a grade in primary
or lower secondary education than native students.
%
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Native students (primary)
Native students (secondary)
Immigrant students (primary)
Immigrant students (secondary)
Access to quality education
• In most OECD countries, immigrant students are more likely to
attend schools in big cities than native students.
%
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Native
Second generation immigrants
First generation immigrants
• Immigrant students attend schools with higher levels of
concentration of immigrant students than their native peers.
Native
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Second generation immigrants
First generation immigrants
• In majority of countries, immigrant students are more likely to
attend schools with low average SES than their native peers.
Index
points
1.0
0.8
Native
Second generation immigrants
First generation immigrants
More advantaged school average socio economic composition
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1.0
Less advantaged school average socio economic composition
Major student-level factors
• Low SES backgrounds and speaking a different language at home
largely explain the performance gap between the two groups.
Score point
difference
20
Performance difference in reading
Accounting for students' socio - economic background
Accounting for students' socio - economic background and language spoken at home
Immigrant students have HIGHER reading
score than native students
0
-20
-40
-60
-80
Immigrant students have LOWER reading
score than native students
-100
• Additional student factors: availability of educational resources at
home, reading at home at a young age, and participating in ECEC
Major school- /system-level factors
• Schools with low proportions of immigrant students
• Schools with students from more advantaged SES
backgrounds
• Schools offering more hours of language learning in
regular lessons
• Accountability measures
- informing parents of the student performance results
against some standards
- making achievement data available in public and tracking
the achievement data over time
Policy implications
• Preparing school leaders and teachers for diverse
student groups
• Language learning at an early age/more opportunity
to learn language in regular school lessons
• Supporting students from low SES backgrounds
• Flexible learning opportunities for adult immigrants
• Encouraging family support for their child’s
education
• Increasing compensatory education support outside
regular school time
• Managing school composition and concentration
• Effective use of student performance data
Cross-cutting issues affecting
implementation
• Setting clear objectives of migrant education
within the broader goals of education system
• Applying lessons from research to policy and
practice
• Finding the right balance:
universal and targeted measures
• Building capacity and facilitating implementation
Questions to the GNE
• Is the structure clear? Are the most
important issues addressed? Is anything
missing?
• Can you identify additional national
research to add to the discussion of the
facts /factors?
• Do you have additional issues affecting
implementation of migrant education
policies in your country?
Chapter 2: School level policies
• Policies to ensure
– Migrant education strategies are well implemented at
the school level
– School leaders and teachers are adequately equipped
to meet diverse learner needs
• Key policy challenges
– Provide research-based and coherent language
support across the system
– Train teachers for diversity
– Support school leaders in developing diversity policies
– Support parental and community engagement
Language support
• Issues: Inconsistent language support
– Little coherence of language support across grade
levels
– Lack of focus on academic language
– A deficit-oriented approach to language teaching
• Policy options
– Develop materials for diagnostic testing
– Ensure stimulation at an early age and follow-up at
the primary and secondary level
– Provide curricula for consistent language support
across grade levels
– Value and validate mother tongue proficiency
Teaching and learning
environments
• Issues: Teachers’ awareness & competencies
– Teacher inexperience & attrition
– Low teacher expectations
– Lack of diagnostic competences
– Insufficient preparation & training for diversity
• Policy options
– Recruit more teachers with a migrant background /
flexible recognition of foreign qualifications
– Train teachers for diversity: focus on formative
assessment, differentiated instruction, second language
support
School leadership and wholeschool policies
• Issues: Getting the whole school on board
– Lack of guidelines and training for school leaders on
diversity issues
– Little whole-school coordination in migrant education
– Schools often quite isolated from parents, local
communities, other schools and social service providers
• Policy options
– Strengthen leadership through guidelines & training
– Encourage evaluation of projects & sharing of
successful practice between schools
– Support cooperation of schools with their environment
Parental & community involvement
• Issues: Supporting students’ broader environment
– SES and migrant background have a strong impact on
student performance in school
– Some school systems expect high levels of parental
support with homework and educational choices
– Some migrant parents lack the language & educational
background to provide this support
• Policy options
– Support immigrant parents and communities to
become involved
– Capitalise on parental and community resources
– Provide additional learning opportunities where
students can get help with homework
Questions to the GNE
• Is the structure clear? Are the most
important issues addressed? Is anything
missing?
• Can you identify additional national
research to add to the discussion of policy
issues?
• Do you have additional examples of
promising policy initiatives in your
country?
Chapter 3: System level policies
• Policies to ensure
– Consistent offer of educational support
– At all levels of education
• Key policy challenges
– Manage variation in ed. support provision
– Develop an effective funding strategy
– Monitor and evaluate system capacity
– Manage the concentration of immigrant
students in some schools
Managing variations
• Issues: National goals and local reality
– Unequal distribution - schools and regions
– Immigrant students are heterogeneous group
– Varied commitment among leaders
• Policy options
– Establish a legal and financial framework
– Find out what works and share this
– Provide incentives to improve
Funding strategy
• Issues: Equity and adequacy of funding
– Determining target group
– Prioritising level of education
– Distributing extra funding
– Monitoring use of extra funding
• Policy options
– Develop funding strategy with clear criteria
– Use funding strategically to engage partners
– Evaluate use and cost effectiveness
Monitoring and evaluation
• Issues: Feedback on student, school and
system performance
– Lack of evidence on outcomes for immigrants
– Need to identify effective policies / practices
– Lack of tools and training for assessment
• Policy options
– Strengthen school capacity in assessment
– Centrally monitor quality and equity
– Improve data quality and coverage
Concentration
• Issues: Complex relationship with
educational experiences
– Need for social interaction v. targeted support
– School admittance/ system selection policies
– Parental choice and (self-) segregation
• Policy options
– Improve quality in high-concentration schools
– Inform and support parental school choice
– Manage school composition with partners
Questions to the GNE
• Is the structure clear? Are the most
important issues addressed? Is anything
missing?
• Can you identify additional national
research to add to the discussion of policy
issues?
• Do you have additional examples of
promising policy initiatives in your
country?