School and classroom diversity effects on cognitive and non-cognitive student outcomes

Abstract

Studies on school and classroom heterogeneity in terms of students’ socioeconomic and ethnic-cultural backgrounds generally show small but positive effects. This means that students in mixed schools and classrooms perform somewhat better on achievement tests and have more positive intergroup attitudes. Although methodologically research on diversity effects has undergone major progress, mainly due to the application of multi-level regression analysis, relations between school and classroom diversity and student outcomes are often difficult to interpret. One reason for this is the negligence of relevant teacher and contextual characteristics that may be of importance for the establishment of positive diversity effects. This article provides some theoretical and empirical insights in school and classroom diversity research and discusses teachers’ role with respect to school and classroom composition effects on student outcomes.