TY  - JOUR
AB  - Does direct integration into native schools or temporary placement in separate schools better promote the education and cultural assimilation of refugee children? In the Netherlands, primary-school-aged refugee children are placed in either integrated or separated schools depending on their randomly assigned municipality. By contrast, all secondary-school-aged arrivals are initially separated. We exploit this institutional setting in two-way fixed-effects models with age-at-arrival and municipality fixed effects. Using rich administrative data, we find that integrated schooling reduces educational attainment at age 18, particularly for children of lower-educated parents. At the same time, integrated schooling increases cultural assimilation, measured by hormonal-contraceptive usage among teenage women, particularly for children from non-Muslim-majority countries. A distinctive feature of separated schooling that may account for its positive educational effect is that it allows employing teachers specialized in native-language teaching for non-native speakers.
AU  - Pavese, Caterina
AU  - Meulen, Simon ter
AU  - Woessmann, Ludger 
PY  - 2026
ST  - Integrated vs. Separated Schooling for Refugee Children: Long-Term Effects on Education and Assimilation
TI  - Integrated vs. Separated Schooling for Refugee Children: Long-Term Effects on Education and Assimilation
UR  - http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1614
ER  -