Educational disparities across regions: A multilevel analysis for Italy and Spain

In this paper, a multilevel analysis is applied to the OECD-PISA2006 data with the aim to compare factors affecting students’ achievement across Italy and Spain. The findings show that both countries are affected by strong internal regional heterogeneity, where some regions have achievement scores well above the OECD mean and other are placed among the worst performers in the OECD area. Although regional governments are more autonomous about educational policy-making in Spain, regional indicators exert a higher influence on educational results in Italy where educational system is strictly regulated by the national government.