Hartmut Esser
The model of ability tracking – Theoretical expectations and empirical findings on how educational systems impact on educational success and inequality

Hardly any country displays no educational inequalities based on social (and ethnic) origin. Results of sociological research on inequality in general, international comparative studies, and some systematic comparisons of national studies indicate that there are, nonetheless, clear differences between countries (see e.g. Shavit and Blossfeld 1993; Erikson and Jonsson 1996; Kao and Thompson 2003; Müller and Kogan 2010, p. 252ff.). From the very beginning, hypotheses on the causes of these cross-national differences have pointed to the different kinds of educational systems and their effects.