The Impacts of Building Elite High Schools for Students from Disadvantaged Areas

Across the globe, students living in disadvantaged areas (rural, impoverished, remote) and from disadvantaged backgrounds (low income) are less likely than their advantaged counterparts to go to higher levels of schooling. In general, disadvantaged students repeat grades more, drop out more, and on average perform less well academically. They thus face serious challenges in taking advantage of education, an important channel for social mobility, as a means to help them and their households improve their long-term economic well-being. Recognizing this, policy makers and researchers in developing countries have implemented a variety of interventions to improve the educational outcomes of disadvantaged students.