Objective: Educational inequality has emerged as one of the most pressing challenges of the twenty-first century and continues to be a major concern for governments and educational policymakers worldwide. In Iran, Khorasan Razavi Province, owing to its distinctive demographic, cultural, and geographical characteristics, exhibits diverse manifestations of educational inequality. Against this backdrop, the present study aimed to design and validate a comprehensive model for reducing educational inequality within the framework of Iran's Seventh National Development Plan, with a particular focus on Khorasan Razavi Province.
Materials and Methods: This applied study employed a sequential mixed-methods design. In the first phase, an initial conceptual model was developed using Grounded Theory based on semi-structured interviews with subject-matter experts. In the second phase, the proposed model was empirically validated through a researcher-developed questionnaire and statistical analyses. The qualitative sample consisted of 12 participants, including teachers, school principals, senior officials of the Ministry of Education, officials from the Planning and Budget Organization, and scholars specializing in educational equity, who were selected through criterion-based purposive sampling. The quantitative population comprised 2,516,986 individuals across primary and lower secondary education. Using disproportionate stratified random sampling, a sample of 384 participants, including teachers, school principals, and parents, was selected. To ensure the rigor of the qualitative findings, trustworthiness was established through researcher self-review, peer debriefing, and member checking via electronic correspondence. In the quantitative phase, the researcher-developed questionnaire was assessed for content validity using the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and the Content Validity Index (CVI). Construct reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and Composite Reliability (CR). The reliability coefficients for the latent constructs of causal conditions, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, strategies, and outcomes were 0.962, 0.973, 0.946, 0.966, and 0.957, respectively, indicating excellent internal consistency and measurement reliability. Qualitative data were analyzed through the processes of open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA 2024, whereas quantitative data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4.
Discussion and Conclusion: The qualitative findings yielded 630 open codes, 31 axial categories, and 5 selective categories, culminating in the development of a paradigm model for reducing educational inequality within the framework of Iran's Seventh National Development Plan in Khorasan Razavi Province. The proposed model comprised five major dimensions: causal conditions (six categories: educational policies, program implementation structure, school management, education financing, organizational leadership, and privatization); contextual conditions (eight categories: intra-sectoral performance, family socioeconomic status, family engagement and advocacy, bureaucracy, school culture, human resource management, educational facilities, and cultural diversity); intervening conditions (seven categories: instructional processes, conflicts of interest, information technology, civic participation, the performance of the Planning and Budget Organization at the national and provincial levels, environmental conditions, and school-building philanthropists); strategies (six categories: reforming educational system management, redesigning educational governance, strengthening coordination among provincial development institutions, enhancing family engagement, advancing school digitalization, and expanding and institutionalizing private-sector social responsibility in education); and outcomes (four categories: reforming the school education system, developing spatially responsive policies to ensure equitable educational opportunities across different regions of the province, directing provincial financial resources toward expanding educational opportunities, and strengthening collaborative participation among families, government, and the private sector in promoting educational opportunities). The quantitative findings further supported the validity of the proposed model. All factor loadings exceeded the recommended threshold of 0.40, while the indicators of convergent validity, discriminant validity, Cronbach's alpha, and Composite Reliability (CR) confirmed the adequacy of the measurement model. Structural model assessment demonstrated a satisfactory model fit (SRMR = 0.067). The endogenous constructs of strategies and outcomes exhibited substantial explanatory power (R² = 0.75 and 0.68, respectively) and satisfactory predictive relevance (Q² = 0.47 and 0.46, respectively). Collectively, these findings provide robust empirical support for the validity of the proposed model in explaining and reducing educational inequality within the context of the Seventh National Development Plan in Khorasan Razavi Province. The findings indicate that reducing educational inequality in Khorasan Razavi Province requires a comprehensive and multidimensional approach centered on educational policy reform, strengthened educational governance, broader social participation, and the equitable allocation of educational resources. The effectiveness of the proposed model depends on sustained collaboration among government agencies, the education system, the private sector, and families. Such a collaborative and dynamic approach is essential for improving educational quality and ensuring equitable learning opportunities for students across the province. The proposed model offers an evidence-based framework that can inform educational policymakers and planners at both the national and provincial levels, thereby contributing to the advancement of equitable and high-quality education in Iran