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Integration and Inequality in Educational Institutions pp 45–69Cite as

The School Performance of the Russian-Speaking Minority in Linguistically Divided Educational Systems: A Comparison of Estonia and Latvia

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Abstract

It is often supposed that the lower educational performance of ethnic minority students is related with language difficulties. The linguistically divided school systems in Estonia and Latvia enable to research the achievement of minority children who are studying in their mother tongue and explore how mathematical performance is related with individual social background, achievement motives and school context in such educational systems. The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 data is used to analyse mathematical performance of Russian-speaking and majority students. The results of multilevel analysis indicate that linguistically divided school systems in Estonia and Latvia have rather different outcomes. Latvian case shows that minority students experience no significant disadvantages irrespective of whether they attend Russian-medium or Latvianmedium schools. In Estonia, students who attend Russian-medium schools have lower performance than other students. This is partly explained by socio-economic composition of Russian-medium schools, indicating that children undergo difficulties due to their parental disadvantages. Additional reasons might be related to learning environments in these schools. However, Russian-speaking students in Estonian-medium schools also seem to lag behind majority students. Thus, the opportunity to study in the mother tongue might have only minor influence on educational achievement, while the school or learning context seem to be decisive factors.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    PISA 2006 data show that in Estonia, parental occupational position is higher for Russian-speakers in Estonian-medium schools than in Russian-medium schools, whereas no such difference is found in Latvia (analysis not presented here).

  2. 2.

    Pupils were asked what language they speak at home most of the time, with the option to select only one language. Thus, it is impossible to identify bilingual families.

  3. 3.

    PISA coding of parental education does not allow separation into the vocational and the general track of secondary education in Estonia and Latvia.

  4. 4.

    Latvian PISA data indicates that the average test score of pupils in Riga and other urban areas is much higher compared to the test scores of pupils from rural areas. However, these regional disparities are largely conditioned by family background (Geske et al. 2006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of International and Social Studies Department of Social Stratification, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonian

    Kristina Lindemann

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  1. Kristina Lindemann
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Correspondence to Kristina Lindemann .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. of Empirical & Applied Sociology, University of Bremen, Wiener Strasse/Celsiustrasse FVG, Bremen, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    Michael Windzio

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Lindemann, K. (2013). The School Performance of the Russian-Speaking Minority in Linguistically Divided Educational Systems: A Comparison of Estonia and Latvia. In: Windzio, M. (eds) Integration and Inequality in Educational Institutions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6119-3_3

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