Trends on educational inequalities over time and successful interventions that contribute to reverse them

Project Information

REVERS-ED

Grant agreement ID: 101132470

DOI

10.3030/101132470

EC signature date 13 May 2024

Start date 1 June 2024

End date 31 May 2027

Funded under

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Total cost

€ 2 575 606,25

EU contribution

€ 2 575 606,25

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - REVERS-ED (Trends on educational inequalities over time and successful interventions that contribute to reverse them)

Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The REVERS-ED project aims at identifying trends in educational inequalities in Europe and, most importantly, providing scientific evidence of effective interventions that compensate for and reverse such inequalities over time. Educational inequalities that persist throughout history particularly affect vulnerable groups, including students from ethnic minorities, migrant background or disabilities, among others, but the scientific literature has demonstrated that there are effective interventions and actions that have been successful in improving vulnerable students’ education, overcoming deterministic analyses related to the educational trajectories of children and young people in vulnerable situations. The project focuses on longitudinal analyses to study the long-term impacts of such interventions in promoting successful trajectories of vulnerable students and reversing inequalities. The project's results are expected to address the problems and needs of diverse contexts by identifying successful educational actions that have been transferred to various contexts and empirically demonstrating the long-term beneficial results of these actions. Effective interventions can then be translated into policies and replicated to advance towards more inclusive educational systems with better learning outcomes for all, thus enabling a significant scale of the project’s results, which are expected to have a great impact on reducing educational inequalities in different European countries.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

WP1
The scientific foundations of the project were consolidated through a structured synthesis of scientific literature on educational inequalities and, in particular, on interventions with evidence of success in compensating and reversing them. This work also included an analysis of methodological approaches — with special attention to longitudinal techniques — used to study trends and changes over time.

WP2
An extensive identification and mapping of national and international longitudinal datasets on learning outcomes and sociodemographic variables was conducted. The consortium identified disparities in data availability, accessibility, and interoperability across countries. To mitigate limitations in national data access, international datasets such as PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS were incorporated. Agreements and authorizations with administrations and schools were established to facilitate access to school-level longitudinal data, laying the groundwork for subsequent empirical WPs.

WP3
The final definition of cohorts was conducted and data preparation advanced to analyze trends in educational outcomes and inequalities over time. Challenges related to cross-national comparability were addressed using common classification criteria (e.g. ISCED). The main statistical analyses are ongoing and will be completed in the next reporting phase.

WP4
In parallel with WP3, preparatory work advanced for the sub-study focused on students who achieved successful educational outcomes despite disadvantage. The work oriented the analysis towards identifying components associated with educational success and their relationship with interventions. This WP also remains ongoing.

WP5
Progress was made in identifying and selecting the sample of schools implementing Successful Educational Actions (SEAs) and in securing access to longitudinal school-level data (educational results, sociodemographic composition, and implemented actions). During this period, the empirical foundation was prepared for the mixed-methods longitudinal study examining trends in improvement and the reversal of inequalities associated with the implementation of SEAs. Analyses of this WP are ongoing.

WP6
This WP begins in the second reporting period.

WP7
Initial integration of findings from earlier WPs (especially WP1 and WP2) began in order to formulate proposals for improving longitudinal data collection and analysis, and to progressively identify conditions facilitating the transferability of effective interventions into more educational systems and policy contexts. The work at this stage has focused on consolidating methodological foundations and identifying gaps in existing data infrastructures. Further work from this WP is ongoing.

WP9
The ethical governance structure of the project was established, including the creation of the Ethics Committee and the definition of shared ethical standards guiding research involving human participants across the consortium.

WP10
The project's coordination, management, data management procedures, and governance structures were implemented. Mechanisms ensuring inclusion of diverse voices and the integration of the gender dimension were also established.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

REVERS-ED advances beyond the state of the art as defined in the Grant Agreement by operationalizing its dual approach: (1) longitudinal analysis of educational inequalities using existing large-scale data, and (2) in-depth study of effective interventions that compensate and reverse these inequalities. While previous research has extensively documented the persistence of educational inequalities, there is a need to overcome deterministic analyses and to provide evidence on the longitudinal impacts of effective interventions capable of reversing inequality trajectories.
The way in which the GA was defined, most deliverables and results from the project will be delivered in the second reporting period. The work conducted and the deliverables submitted during the first reporting period sets the stage for the results and impacts that are expected to be achieved during the second period and beyond.