Schools and inequality: A Correlational Analysis of Public and Private School Students’ Reading Achievement

The Ministry of National Education and training has made several attempts to develop schools. Reducing the gap between quality education and their realistic and effective implementation remains unsuccessful. Conscious of these dysfunctions, the Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research has posited a new strategic plan, the strategic vision 2015-2010, to establish a new School set on three major pillars: equity and equality of opportunities, education quality for all and the promotion of individuals and society. The premise of such initiative is to eradicate the existing social and educational disparities and ensure social mobility. In this connection, the present study examines the extent to which educational opportunities vary across public and private schools in ways that might create school sector differences in students’ reading achievement. Based on a correlational research design, this analysis relates the distribution of various school-related learning opportunities and students’ access to these opportunities with their reading comprehension achievement. The data is collected by means of a reading comprehension test administered to a number of 248 students (135 public and 113 private students) in their second year baccalaureate and through context questionnaires. The questionnaires collect school principals and teachers’ reports about school socioeconomic intake, availability and accessibility to a school library, school safety and disciplinary measures and school-parents collaboration. The reading comprehension achievement test evaluates the students’ level of interaction with the text based on four reading comprehension processes. The results indicate that the inequitable distribution of educational opportunities between public and private schools are related to disparities in students reading achievement. Practical implications for improved equality of learning opportunities between the two school types and increased reading attainments are discussed