The Effect of National/Private Junior High School Attendance on Educational Expectations and Academic Self-Concept in Japan

DOI Web Site Web Site 1 References

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 国・私立中学への進学が進学期待と自己効力感に及ぼす影響
  • 国・私立中学への進学が進学期待と自己効力感に及ぼす影響 : 傾向スコアを用いた分析
  • クニ ・ シリツ チュウガク エ ノ シンガク ガ シンガク キタイ ト ジコ コウリョクカン ニ オヨボス エイキョウ : ケイコウ スコア オ モチイタ ブンセキ
  • ――傾向スコアを用いた分析――

Search this article

Abstract

<p>In the past decades, the proportion of students who attend national/private junior high schools has increased in Japan, currently reaching about 8 %. Japanese scholars in the field of sociology of education have often explained such an increase in terms of students’ socioeconomic background. Previous research has revealed that factors such as parental education, occupation, family income, area of residence, and students’ academic ability are related to attendance at national/ private junior high schools. However, few studies in Japan have examined the effect of national/private junior high school attendance on students’ academic outcomes, except for a few that examined the effect on educational attainment. This study examined the effect of national/private junior high school attendance on students’ educational expectations and academic self-concept in Japan using propensity score matching as the methodology.<br><br>This study used the 8 th grade student data from TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2011 data in Japan. In order to eliminate selection bias, I used propensity score matching based on the counterfactual approach. Using one-to-one nearest-neighbor matching without replacement (with a caliper set to a quarter of the standard deviation of a propensity score), I matched students who attend national/private junior high schools with comparable students who attend public junior high schools. By comparing the estimated treatment effects before and after matching, I discussed how the results are robust depending on the estimation strategies. In addition to comparing simple means after matching, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was applied after matching to obtain the doubly robust estimator. To examine the heterogeneity of the national/private school effect, interaction terms were included in the OLS models.<br><br>A summary of the findings is as follows. Advancement to a national/private junior high school makes it easier for students’ educational expectations to increase when compared to students with similar characteristics attending a public junior high school. Specifically, it is easier for students of lower SES to experience this increase in educational expectations. Furthermore, advancement to a national/private junior high school makes it easier for students’ academic self-efficacy to decrease compared to students with similar characteristics attending a public junior high school. Among the students in national/private junior high schools, those with comparatively high academic achievements are more likely to experience a decrease in their academic self-efficacy.<br><br>The fact that national/private school students, especially those with lower socioeconomic status, raise their educational expectations may be explained by the instructional and interpersonal effects of national/private junior high schools in Japan. As the literature on tracking suggests, higher academic tracks (in this case, national/private junior high schools) may provide richer instructional opportunities and peer resources that are otherwise not obtainable in public junior high schools. In contrast, students in higher between-school tracks (in this case, national/private junior high schools) may suffer from a decline in academic self-concept due to comparison with their high-achieving immediate peers. These results together suggest that national/private junior high schools in Japan have both positive and negative academic impacts, and that these effects may differ by student characteristics, especially favoring students of lower socioeconomic status.</p>

Journal

References(1)*help

See more

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top