Recent achievement test results show that Turkish students have been performing poorly compared to
students from other countries. Using science literacy results from the PISA 2006 survey, we aim to
measure the determinants of student achievement in Turkey within the education production function
framework. We find that program types have large effects on student achievement. Since many students
are allocated across program types as a result of a centralized exam, we try to control for past academic
achievement and also for differences in the average socioeconomic background of students in a given
school. The results indicate that students cluster in schools according to their socioeconomic
background, and previous academic record is important, however, the effects of program types persist.
Policies to augment socioeconomic background, such as conditional cash transfers and lifelong learning
programs that prioritize parents will increase educational outpu