Two Types of Stringency of Selection in Education

Abstract

One of the tasks of education is to determine which student gets which diploma. In order to do so, schools select students on characteristics like intelligence, motivation, or father's status. The stringency of this selection contains consists of two components: first the minimal level required to pass a level of education (location of the cut-off value), and second the strength with which this level is enforced (enforcement of the cut-off value). The stringency of selection has often been studied using the Discrete Time Logistic model, but only the results regarding the enforcement were interpreted. This paper shows how to get information regarding the location of the cut-off value from this model. It shows that, in the Discrete Time Logistic model, the functional form of trends in location and enforcement of the cut-off point are related, and illustrates this with data concerning selection on father's status from the Netherlands for birthcohorts 1880-1975.

Full text

Two Types of Stringency of Selection in Education