Fast‐Tracks in Mathematics
Accelerated Learning, Self‐Selection or Teacher Bias?
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23308554 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Øyvind N Wiborg (0000-0001-6826-609X, University of Oslo), Karl Ingar Kittelsen Røberg (0000-0002-8734-6527, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University), Håvard Helland (0000-0002-1231-1434, Metropolitan University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1468-4446.70159 |
| PMID | 42502173 |
| OpenAlex | W7171099217 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
This study examines high‐achieving students in Norwegian lower secondary schools who follow accelerated learning trajectories in mathematics, so‐called fast‐tracks. It asks whether and how fast‐tracks improve high‐achieving students' learning and performance. The analyses rely on high‐quality administrative register data from Norway covering all students who graduated from 2010 to 2017. The results show that fast‐track students outperform regular students in mathematics. They are overrepresented with top school grades, so effects are often underestimated using standard methods. To address ceiling effects in grades, we apply Tobit regression and a novel use of correlated‐random effects (Mundlak model), embedding fixed‐effects and instrumental‐variable approaches within nonlinear Tobit models. The results suggest that (1) the fast‐tracks improve the students' learning, and (2) the students are selected and self‐selected, based on prior performance and background characteristics. When comparing teacher‐set grades versus exam grades set by anonymous, randomly assigned examiners, the results suggest that (3) teachers give fast‐track students even better grades than regular students. One plausible explanation is that teachers perceive or label fast‐track students as more talented than other students. The findings, in particular, suggest that Norwegian teachers compensate disadvantaged fast‐track students who originate from homes with limited parental educational resources.
Ceiling (cloud) · Disadvantage · Disadvantaged · Norwegian · Set (abstract data type) · Tobit model · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Global Educational Reforms and Inequalities · School Choice and Performance
Fixed Effects Regression Models
Pygmalion effects in the classroom
Peer Effects, Teacher Incentives, and the Impact of Tracking
Education policy and the heritability of educational attainment
Within and between Estimates in Random-Effects Models
Using design thinking to improve psychological interventions
Discrimination in grading
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Social Inequality Across the Generations
Teacher Expectations and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Mind-sets matter
Who chooses fast-track programs in mathematics? The role of class origin, ethnicity, and gender among Norwegian lower-secondary students
Pygmalion in the classroom
Understanding Interaction Models
Explaining Educational Differentials
Maximally Maintained Inequality
Compensatory Advantage as a Mechanism of Educational Inequality
Reinforcing at the Top or Compensating at the Bottom? Family Background and Academic Performance in Germany, Norway, and the United States
Previous School Results and Social Background
Class and Cultural Capital--The Case of Class Inequality in Educational Performance
Effectively Maintained Inequality
How teachers form educational expectations for students
Cultural capital, teacher bias, and educational success
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |