The Effects of Cram Schooling on the Ethnic Learning Achievement Gap: Evidence from Elementary School Students in Taiwan

Abstract

For the last three decades, many studies have found an obvious achievement gap between non-minority students and minority students, which was mainly associated with a lower socioeconomic status and a deficiency of family learning resources, such as learning after school, of minority students. In many countries, cram schooling is the most commonly extra learning activity which is believed by students and their parents to have positive effects on learning achievement. However, there are few empirical studies to explore the relationships between cram schooling and the learning achievement gap of different ethnic students. This study used 630 fifth-grade students in Taiwan as samples and carried out a hierarchical regression analysis to discover the effects of cram schooling on the ethnic learning achievement gap of Taiwan’s young children. The results showed that cram schooling participation has non-linear effects, first ascending and then descending, on students’ learning achievement. In addition, those students who participated in privately tutored classes with higher fees charged demonstrated better learning achievement, but students enrolling in after-school programs in cram schools might not show the same outcomes. Further analysis indicated that minority children had fewer and poorer cram schooling resources than non-minority children. In addition, most minority children have lower socioeconomic status, giving them less opportunity to participate in cram schooling activities and after-class programs in schools, so their learning achievement was significantly lower than non-minority children.