The school type effect on students' academic performance in Indonesia

2020년 8월

서울대학교 대학원

협동과정 글로벌교육협력 전공

박수영(Suyoung Park)

This study aims to draw policy implications by examining the school type

effect on students' academic performance in Indonesia. Research focused on

the contributing role of private schools in educational development and

providing educational opportunities. The 2018 data of the program for

international student assessment (PISA) was used for analysis, and a

propensity score matching (PSM) method was employed to control for

preexisting differences between students who attend a private school and their

public school counterparts. Then, multilevel model analysis was conducted.

Extant literature generally recognizes that, in Indonesia, the quality of

education provided by private schools was lower than that of public schools.

This disparity leads to low achievement of students attending private schools.

The study results partly proved this concern. In the multilevel analysis, there

were significant school sector differences, even after controlling for student

background characteristics. That is, private schools had a negative impact on

students' reading literacy scores. Further analysis was carried out to prove if

differences exist in academic achievement between government-dependent

and independent private schools, a distinction defined by the degree of

financial assistance received from the government. The results suggested

variation in the effect of private schools based on their types. On one hand,

the impact of school types on academic performance was not statistically

significant for private government-dependent schools. The results suggest the

importance of schooling, as attending certain types of schools does not affect

a student's reading literacy scores. However, the characteristics of the school

itself have a more significant impact. On the other hand, students in

independent private schools showed significantly lower reading literacy

scores than students attending public schools. The study results showed that

the impact on a student's reading scores varies depending on the type of

private school they attend. The difference in reading scores between types of

schools was influenced by students' background characteristics. However, a

substantial part of the difference was explained by school-related factors.

Therefore, this finding suggests the need for careful consideration of the role

and quantitative expansion of private schools.

This study contributes to providing empirical evidence about the school

type effect in Indonesia. In particular, it fills a gap in existing literature by

suggesting different outcomes according to the subtype of private school. It

also suggests policy implications for educational development in Indonesia.

The study concludes by suggesting areas for further research regarding school

type effect and school choice, and it suggests data suitable for Indonesia’s

context and qualitative research methodologies that can contribute to

educational development.