DICE The Development of Inequalities in Child Educational Achievement: A Six Country Study

Applicants Professorin Dr. Renske Keizer; Professor Dr. Thorsten Schneider; Dr. Anne Solaz; Dr. Elizabeth Washbrook; Professorin Dr. Sabine Weinert
Subject Area Empirical Social Research
Term from 2018 to 2022
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 396832565
 

Project Description

This project aims to advance our understanding of disparities in child development by parental socioeconomic status (SES). It leverages rich cohort and administrative data from six countries - France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States – embedding them in a harmonized framework. The project moves beyond cross-sectional and single country snapshots by studying the question of how inequalities develop over time (ages 3 to 16), what factors may influence inequalities and how national context may strengthen or buffer these processes. Child development is conceptualised broadly, to include cognitive, social/emotional and health outcomes, recognizing the interplay of multiple spheres of development in childhood. The specific aims of the project are: 1) to provide new evidence on the extent and sources of inequalities in early childhood and at the start of school, in particular on the role of parenting/home environment and preschool; 2) to describe trajectories of child development, and identify factors such as parental involvement and parent-school interactions that reduce/increase inequalities as children move through primary school; and 3) to describe inequalities at the start of secondary school and analyze trajectories of development, and factors such as school type and tracking that reduce/increase inequalities, as children move through secondary school; allowing throughout for heterogeneous effects across the ability distribution.
DFG Programme Research Grants
International Connection France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA
Co-Investigator Professorin Dr. Jane Waldfogel