Effects of Ethnically Segregated Learning Settings in the United States and Germany

In the United States and in many European countries, urban schools are characterized by relatively high rates of students from disadvantaged families, nondominant groups, ¹ and homes in which the language spoken is not the language of instruction in schools. Because many youth in urban schools attain below-average scores on standardized achievement tests (Lippman, Burns, & McArthur, 2004), research on institutional determinants of student achievement has explored whether the composition of the student body in these schools affects achievement.