School Credentials: A Matter of Educational Sector, School and Urban Locality’s Socio-Economic Contexts

Based on an ecological approach, the study examines the types of matriculation credentials that students achieved in four social contexts defined by the socio-economic status (SES) of the schools and the urban localities in which they are situated while comparing between Jewish and Arab educational sectors in Israel. About 23,726, 12th grade students from 453 schools located in 66 large urban localities were analyzed using hierarchical multilevel models. In the Jewish education, students obtained higher credentials in high-SES schools located in high-SES localities (congruent schools); whereas in the Israeli-Arab education, students obtained the highest credentials in high-SES schools located in low-SES localities (enclave schools). The findings are discussed in view of the exposure to “context vulnerability” and Israeli-Arab segregation.