Educational achievements of migrant schoolchildren in Moscow

This article examines how migrant background influences educational outcomes of schoolchildren in Moscow and its oblast (region). We use logit regressions for panel data, over the years 2010 to 2013, taken from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE). As dependent variable we use educational progress approached by school grades as reported by parents or adult relatives. In addition, our econometric specification includes control variables such as socioeconomic status, type of school, health issues, gender, and age, to test the impact of migration status on the probability of being classified as a successful or unsuccessful student. The findings suggest that there is no difference between migrant and native schoolchildren, that is, migration background does not influence the educational achievements of pupils. On the other hand, as we expected, socioeconomic status has a negative impact on the probability of being classified an unsuccessful student. Boys have lower probabilities than girls of being classified as excellent students. Attendance of public regular schools negatively affects the probability of being an excellent student, health issues do not significantly affect the academic performance, while older students are low-performing. (author's abstract