Chapter 3. Primary School Skill Development: from First to Sixth Grade the development of the SES language achievement gap align with those of Van Huizen (2018), who reports that 48% of the SES language achievement gap at the end of primary school was already established by preschool. In contrast, we find that approximately 55% and 66% of the gaps in reading and spelling, respectively, were already present by second grade. These differences are consistent with expectations, as we analyze disparities in second grade, whereas Van Huizen (2018) focuses on preschool gaps. Additionally, our study incorporates covariates and school fixed effects not included in Van Huizen’s analysis, which potentially allows a more precise estimate of the SES relationship. In line with Van Huizen (2018), we also find that the widening SES gap is primarily driven by high-SES students pulling ahead. For the SES achievement gap in math, we contribute new insights by focusing specifically on math skills rather than a composite measure of quantitative skills, as has been done in previous studies. Our findings contrast with those of Skopek and Passaretta (2018), who report that 69% (or 73% with additional covariates) of the SES achievement gap at age 11 was already established in preschool. In comparison, we estimate that 57% of the math achievement gap had already formed by second grade. These differences can be attributed to variations in settings, the use of school fixed effects, different covariate controls, and, importantly, our focus on math skills. Finally, regarding migration background, our findings align with those of Skopek and Passaretta (2018) and Van Huizen (2018), both of whom conclude that the native-migrant achievement gap, favoring natives, narrows during schooling. By the end of primary education, we observe a reversal, with migrants outperforming natives.17 17While this result is not explicitly described in Van Huizen (2018), it is not substantially different from his findings, as he also observes a similar trend, although it 74
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