Students from less fortunate families and in less advantaged schools often perform worse than their more advantaged peers. The Australian Labor Government (2007–2013) initiated the “Building the Education Revolution” to establish a more effective and just education system, reaching a meaningful consensus on the development of active and informed citizens across all Australian states and territories. Using nationally representative data, this study examines how student background, school context, and school composition are associated with civic knowledge, whether students from low-status families are particularly disadvantaged in schools with more advantaged peers (big-fish-little-pond effect), and whether and how these associations have changed between 2007 and 2013. The results of multiple-group multilevel linear regression models suggest that student background and school characteristics are associated with civic knowledge, and that school characteristics moderate the associations between civic knowledge and school composition. Taken together, the data provide little evidence that the disparities in civic knowledge due to socioeconomic inequalities have declined over time. These inequities are problematic as gaps in civic knowledge can affect the quality of democracy, particularly in a country where voting is mandatory. The reproduction of educational inequality remains a challenge for social and educational policy in Australia.

来自不幸家庭的学生和处于劣势学校的学生通常比处于优势地位的同学表现更差。澳大利亚工党政府（2007-2013年）发起了“建设教育革命”，以建立更有效和公正的教育体系，就澳大利亚所有州和领地积极和有见识的公民的发展达成了有意义的共识。本研究使用具有国家代表性的数据，研究了学生背景，学校背景和学校组成与公民知识之间的关系，低地位家庭的学生在同龄人中处于优势地位的学校是否特别处于劣势（大鱼小池塘效应） ，以及这些关联在2007年至2013年之间是否发生了变化以及如何发生变化。多组多级线性回归模型的结果表明，学生背景和学校特征与公民知识有关，而学校特征则缓和了公民知识与学校组成之间的联系。两者合计，这些数据几乎没有证据表明由于社会经济不平等而导致的公民知识差距随着时间的推移而下降。这些不平等是有问题的，因为公民知识的差距会影响民主的质量，特别是在一个必须投票的国家。教育不平等的再现仍然是澳大利亚社会和教育政策的挑战。并且学校的特点缓和了公民知识与学校组成之间的联系。两者合计，这些数据几乎没有证据表明由于社会经济不平等而导致的公民知识差距随着时间的推移而下降。这些不平等是有问题的，因为公民知识的差距会影响民主的质量，特别是在一个必须投票的国家。教育不平等的再现仍然是澳大利亚社会和教育政策的挑战。并且学校的特点缓和了公民知识与学校组成之间的联系。两者合计，这些数据几乎没有证据表明由于社会经济不平等而导致的公民知识差距随着时间的推移而下降。这些不平等是有问题的，因为公民知识的差距会影响民主的质量，特别是在一个必须投票的国家。教育不平等的再现仍然是澳大利亚社会和教育政策的挑战。