Are high-resource schools associated with lower inequality in educational outcomes? Evidence from academic and socio-emotional outcomes across 31 economies

Ensuring equitable quality education is central to sustainable development in education. One common assumption is that attending high-resource schools is related to better educational outcomes for students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and helps mitigate SES-based disparities in educational settings. However, evidence remains limited regarding the relationship between school resources and students’ outcomes in academic achievement and socio-emotional learning. This study thus examines whether attending high-resource schools is associated with fewer socioeconomic gaps in students’ academic achievement and socio-emotional skills. We analyzed data from 15-year-old students across 31 economies using hierarchical linear modelling. Results showed that among low-SES students, attendance at higher-resource schools was associated with higher academic achievement but was not significantly related to any socio-emotional skills. Meanwhile, within high-resource schools, higher-SES students consistently demonstrated stronger academic and socio-emotional outcomes. Hierarchical moderation analyses further indicated that school resources were not associated with smaller SES disparities in most socio-emotional outcomes and were associated with larger disparities in academic achievement. These findings suggest that resource-intensive schooling alone may be insufficient to promote equitable and sustainable development in education. Greater attention is needed to how educational systems and policy frameworks can more effectively support inclusive academic and socio-emotional development across socioeconomic groups.