Fact: The national school systems with the highest test scores also have the least variation in test scores among subgroups (by race and income). In other words, the best systems are also the most equitable.
What's harder to prove, but seems to be the case, is that equity is not merely a by-product of excellence, but a deliberate focus on equity can be a factor that leads to excellence (This argument made re: Finland).
Now to begin with, Singapore doesn't have the same problems of racial and income segregation that the U.S. has because of national housing policies. Most Singaporeans live in government flats, and the government mandates that apartment buildings have a racial composition matching Singapore and they ensure that apartments of various value are all in the same building. So when they draw kids into neighborhood schools, they end up with diverse schools. Central planning FTW.
Even still, how do you ensure that students from different backgrounds, with different academic dispositions all have opportunities to get an education that prepares them for life and work?
I've just spent a few hours with Anthony Michael, the Master Teacher for History at the Academy of Singapore Teachers, and he gave me an overview of Singapore's school system. One of their major interventions over the last few years has been improving vocational education facilities.
After lower secondary school, Singapore students can follow one of three tracks: Institutes of Technical Education, Polytechnics, and Junior Colleges. The ITE schools prepared students for jobs like in hospitality and biotech industry lab positions. ITE used to stand for "It's the End," since it was where low performing students had their education terminate. Polytechnics-- three year institutions--prepared students for a variety of opportunities such as business management and finance. Junior Colleges prepared students for universities. In the last decade, Singapore has put a major focus on the ITEs and Polytechnics--Andrew says the facilities at the ITEs are now as nice as the university facilities. More over, much as Finland has done, there are growing opportunities to transition from track to track. Top students from high schools often choose to go to the Polytechnics. Top students in the ITEs can go on to the Polytechnics... top students from the Polytechnics can enter University with the standing of a second year.
Andrew said that he was quite moved by how the prime minister described these changes: moving from a system with a peak of excellence to peaks of excellence.
Creating a more equitable educational system doesn't necessarily mean preparing every student for a four-year college experience, but it does mean preparing every student for meaningful post secondary training and ensuring that pathways are open to move from vocational training into pre-collegiate work and vice versa.
Folks at Harvard have been working on this with the Pathways to Prosperity project. We have a long way to go in the United States, but places like Singapore and Finland provide a vision of how we can not only have terrific academic success among college bound students, but meaningful educational experience for students pursuing multiple entry points into the labor market and civic life.