Mesurer et comparer l'équité des systèmes éducatifs en Europe
Using data from international surveys, quantitative indicators have been developed to describe how education systems treat the young generations under their responsibility and how they perfom their task (Baye, Demeuse, Monseur & Goffin, 2006; European Group for Research on Equity in Education systems, 2005; OCDE, 2005). While initial research in this area concentrated mainly on the efficiency of education systems, an interest in equity gradually developed, based at first on existing documents such as the OECD's Education at a Glance, and then followed by specific documents (Baye, 2005; Gibson & Meuret, 1995; Hutmacher, Cochrane & Bottani, 2001). Starting with the concept of equal access, such as the right for everyone to attend school regardless of origin, and moving on to equal treatment consisting in an identical service being offered to all, modern society is increasingly demanding with respect to school in terms of equality of performance and achievements. Thus, in most European countries, schools are expected to produce students with equal performance levels at the end of a given stage of education, at least in terms of basic skill acquisition, and a minimum level in the skills considered essential for life. This should obviously not prevent an increasing number of them from extending their time at school to a greater or lesser degree beyond compulsory education. In the following text, we only deal with the education received by all during the period of compulsory education, which should be of equal benefit to everyone in terms of life skills (OECD, 1999, 2003), even if some of the data used to analyse performance at this level are derived from higher education data. ; Les données issues des enquêtes internationales ont permis de réaliser des indicateurs quantitatifs qui décrivent la manière dont les systèmes éducatifs traitent la jeune génération dont ils ont la charge et la manière dont ils s'acquittent de cette tâche (Baye, Demeuse, Monseur et Goffin, 2006 ; European Group for Research on ...