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Shadow Education and Academic Success in Republic of Korea

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Book cover Korean Education in Changing Economic and Demographic Contexts

Part of the book series: Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects ((EDAP,volume 23))

Abstract

This study examines the effects of different types of shadow education on academic achievement, using data from a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of South Korean seventh graders. To control for pre-existing differences between students who used a particular type of shadow education and those who did not, the study employed a series of statistical models including propensity score matching techniques. Results show that the use of a particular type of shadow education (i.e., preparatory cram school) made a small difference in achievement gains in math, whereas other forms (i.e., individual tutoring, correspondence courses, on-line tutoring services, and Educational Broadcasting System [EBS]) made little difference. Limitations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.

Earlier versions of this manuscript were presented at the workshop for The Contours of Korean Education: Educational Challenges of Recent Economic and Demographic Changes, August 3, 2009, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and at the fifth conference of the Korean Education Longitudinal Survey, October 20, 2011, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The author thanks Jere R. Behrman, Robin Sakamoto, and Hee-sam Kim for their helpful comments on earlier drafts. The author also thanks Adrienne Henck for her editorial suggestions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For shadow education, I drew on the first and second follow-up parent surveys because the ways which parents were asked about shadow education were somewhat different between the base-year and the two follow-up surveys.

  2. 2.

    I also examined the effects of shadow education by including all types of shadow education simultaneously and found similar results reported in this study.

  3. 3.

    I also examined the interaction of parental education, family income, and previous achievement with each type of shadow education but found no significant interaction effects. The results from interaction effects are available upon request from the author.

  4. 4.

    I replicated propensity score analyses with different caliper sizes and found few differences among/between/in the findings reported in this study. The results from propensity score analyses with different caliper sizes are available upon request from the author.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education Policy Studies, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Soo-yong Byun

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  1. Soo-yong Byun
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Correspondence to Soo-yong Byun .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Hyunjoon Park

  2. Department of Education, Korea University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

    Kyung-keun Kim

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Byun, Sy. (2014). Shadow Education and Academic Success in Republic of Korea. In: Park, H., Kim, Kk. (eds) Korean Education in Changing Economic and Demographic Contexts. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 23. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-27-7_3

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