Effects of School Types on Educational Attainment: Great Britain and the U.S. Compared.

In an extensive body of research, Kerckhoff (1990, 1993, 2000) has established the importance of cumulative effects of educational tracking systems in Britain and the United States. Strong evidence indicates that those in academic programs or curriculums attain higher levels of education over the life course than those not in those programs. This paper considers this issue further by considering how personal resources and family decisions may mediate this process over time. Using the National Child Development Study in Britain and the High School and Beyond study in the U.S., I demonstrate how parental aspirations for the child and the child?s own reading for pleasure reduce the differences in outcomes by track in both countries. Early marriage and childbearing also reduce the differences between curriculum groups in the U.S. For educational attainment through the years of early adulthood, in Britain tracking effects are primarily indirect, through test scores at age 16. In the U.S., tracking effects are direct and cumulative through the end of the young adult years I conclude that while there are many similarities between Britain and the U.S., and both systems appear more like Turner?s (1960) ?contest? rather than ?sponsored,? there is more openness in the United States educational system, primarily due to the large numbers of students who are able to study academic curriculums, and to the lasting effect this has. Because in Britain, later educational attainment is closely tied to age 16 test scores, students must excel early in life to be assured of later gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]