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Does cram schooling matter?Who goes to cram schools?Evidence from Taiwan

Instructor: Teresa Tsu

Presenter: Ula Huang

Date: 2014/10/20

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Citation

Jeng Liu， Does cram schooing matter? Who goes to cram schools? Evidence from Taiwan， International Journal of Educational Development; v32 p46-52 2012

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ContentIntroductionLiterature reviewData and methodEmpirical resultsConclusion and discussionReflection

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IntroductionBackgroundPurpose of ResearchResearch Question

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BackgroundWhat is cram school?

provide supplementary

test-preparation

raise student performance

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Purpose of Research

To investigate the effect of cram schooling on students’ academic performance

To test whether the opportunity of cram school participation reflect specific patterns of stratification.

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Research QuestionWhy have Taiwan’s cram schools developed as they have?

Do cram schools help in the academic improvement of school children?

Whose children go to cram schools?

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Literature ReviewThe Taiwanese setting

9 Year National Compulsory Education was approved in 1968

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The current popularity and diversification

of Taiwan’s cram schools can be attributed

to two prevalent arguments.

Literature Review

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Literature ReviewPopulation change

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Literature ReviewEducational reform

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Deep rooted credentialism and academic

cram school

all pursuits except studying are of little value

(Wang and Lin,1998;Tam and Hsu,2002 )

Literature Review

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Deep rooted credentialism and academic

cram school

educational background is the most important standard in evaluating a person’s social level

(Hwang,1994;Chang,1996 )

Literature Review

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The transfer and accumulation of cultural

capital via non academic cram schools

Cultural capital (Bourdieu,1984;Bourdieu and Passeron, 1977)

Higher educational level of parents want their

children to attend artistic or other non-academic

cram schools

Literature Review

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Data and methods

Data collected 70% random sample in the Taiwan Education

Panel Survey of 2001 (TEPS hereafter)

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Data and methodsParticipants 7th grade students

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Empirical resultsBasic statistics

72% of junior high school students attend academic cram school

6.24h per week

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Does cram schooling enhance learning

performance?

General score increases 6.3% Math score increases 6.7%

Empirical results

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Who goes to academic cram school?

the effects of family background on students’ cram school participation are not critical.

Empirical results

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Conclusion and discussion Finding

Educational expectations keep on rising

Cram schools do help in the academic improvement of schoolchildren.

Children from all kinds of families go to cram schools.

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Conclusion and discussion

Suggestions for further research

Doesn’t address the fact that higher income families might use different methods to ensure their children do well in school.

The issue related to the supply side of cram schools should be studied in the future.

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ReflectionTo be a teacher, do not effect by cultural capital.

To be parents, do not ignore the feeling of children when you try to “help” them perform well in school.