Do Schools Widen Social Inequalities? Clasroom segregation in Peru

Abstract: This paper studies how the practice carried out by some schools of sorting students among classrooms based on their shown academic performance and other characteristics (gender and ethnicity) affects student outcomes and intensifies educational gaps. This practice is identified through non-parametric tests that indicate systematic differences between classrooms and through school’s self-report by principals. A hierarchical linear model is used to identify the effects of the practice at the school level and the effects of the environment at the classroom level on Student Census Evaluation results. The results suggest that the practice of sorting negatively affects the results of students in less advantaged classrooms and positively affects students in advantaged classrooms; the overall result being negative. However, it is not possible to affirm that the practice widens educational inequalities for women and students with a non-Hispanic mother tongue.