This article studies socioeconomic inequalities in educational attainment in 21 European countries for cohorts born between 1925 and 1989, and asks the question whether reforms to track students later in the school career have reduced inequalities. Country fixed effects models show that inequalities by parental occupational class were reduced after policies were implemented that separated children for different school careers at a later age (i.e., postponed between-school tracking). The association between parents’ education and children’s attainment is hardly affected by reforms to later tracking. The results remained after taking into account the political climate preceding reforms, and were also highly robust to the selection of countries. A reduction of inequality was achieved through a loss of attainment by the children of advantaged backgrounds. Political implications and the relevance of these findings for American debates are discussed.

中文翻译：

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教育程度的早期追踪和社会不平等：21 个欧洲国家的教育改革

本文研究了 21 个欧洲国家在 1925 年至 1989 年之间出生的人群在教育程度方面的社会经济不平等，并提出了一个问题，即在学校生涯后期跟踪学生的改革是否减少了不平等。国家固定效应模型显示，在实施将儿童在较晚年龄分开从事不同学校职业的政策（即推迟校际跟踪）后，父母职业阶层的不平等减少了。父母受教育程度与孩子成绩之间的关联几乎不受后期跟踪改革的影响。考虑到改革前的政治气候，结果仍然存在，并且对国家的选择也非常稳健。有优势背景的孩子在学习成绩上有所下降，从而减少了不平等。讨论了这些发现对美国辩论的政治影响和相关性。