In most PISA-participating countries and economies, the average socio-economic background of students who attend privately managed schools is more advantaged than that of those who attend public schools. Yet in some countries, there is little difference in the socio-economic profiles between public and private schools. Why? An analysis of PISA results finds that while the prevalence of privately managed schools in a country is not related to socio-economic stratification within a school system, the level of public funding to privately managed schools is: the higher the proportion of public funding allocated to privately managed schools, the smaller the socio-economic divide between publicly and privately managed schools. This report also shows that those countries with narrow socio-economic stratification in their education systems not only maximise equity and social cohesion, but also perform well in the PISA survey.

Executive Summary
Introduction
Reader’s guide
Chapter 1. Management and Funding
-Management of schools
-Funding for schools
Chapter 2. Aspects of Socio-economic Stratification
-How socio-economic stratification varies across countries
-Socio-economic stratification and overall performance
-Some system characteristics and socio-economic stratification
-Socio-economic stratification before and after accounting for public funding
Chapter 3. School Vouchers and Stratification
-School vouchers
-Various voucher systems and socio-economic stratification
-Chapter 4. Other School Characteristics Related to Stratification
-School-admittance criteria
-Parental choice for better education
-Conclusion and Policy Implications
Country Box A. A brief history of public and private involvement in schools in Ireland
Country Box B. A brief history of public and private involvement in schools in Chile
Country Box C. A brief history of public and private involvement in schools in the Netherlands
Annex A. Technical Background
-Annex A1. Construction of reading scales and indices from the student, school and parent context questionnaires
-Annex A2. Technical notes on preliminary multilevel regression analysis for performance
-Annex A3. Standard errors, significance tests and subgroup comparisons
Annex B Data tables