Measuring Inequality in Children’s Education in Rich Countries

There is growing recognition among international organizations, scholars and policymakers that
education systems must produce equitable outcomes, but there is far less consensus on what
this means in practice. This paper analyses differences in inequality of outcome and inequality
of opportunity in educational achievement among primary and secondary schoolchildren across
38 countries of the European Union (EU) and/or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD). The analysis focuses on reading achievement, drawing on data from the
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA). We use several measures to operationalize the two concepts of inequality in
education. Our results show that inequality of outcome does not necessarily go hand in hand with
inequality of opportunity. These two concepts lead to measures that produce very different country
rankings. We argue that information on both inequality of outcome and inequality of opportunity is
necessary for a better understanding of equity in children’s education.