Socioeconomic Gradients in Eastern European Countries: Evidence from PIRLS 2006

This article analyses educational inequalities related to socioeconomic status (SES) in 12 Eastern European countries that participated in the International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006. Economies and educational systems of these countries have undergone critical transformations since the fall of communism. The authors' analyses, using data collected almost 20 years after this period, help explain how these transformations affected the equity and quality of educational outcomes in the region. For each country, overall inequalities as well as inequalities between schools and within schools are estimated with regression models and represented graphically with socioeconomic gradient lines. A possible trade-off between equity and quality of outcomes is explored, identifying countries that have been relatively successful at attaining both educational goals. The extent to which the school SES explains achievement gaps between rural and urban schools is analysed. The results point to country groupings that are reasonably consistent with regional classifications of educational systems postulated in the literature.