Family Background, School System and Academic Achievement in Germany and in Japan

Abstract

This paper investigates why the effect of family background on student’s educational achievement is so different in Germany and in Japan in spite of their similarity over a huge variance of student performance scores in the PISA 2003 study. We intend to clarify the factors which produce the difference and the similarity simultaneously. For this purpose, we analyzed the PISA 2003 data of both countries. The strong tracking system with early stage selection and with grade retention in Germany, and the entrance examination system in Japan contribute to produce the difference and similarity of student’s test performance in the two countries. In addition, we found that the role of the mother in the family, connecting family background and student performance, differs according to each school system.