School integration of Syrian refugee children in Turkey

•The Turkey demographic and Health Survey reveals substantial gaps in school outcomes between native and Syrian refugee children in Turkey.•Accounting for socioeconomic variables reduces the native–refugee gap in school enrollment by half for boys and two-thirds for girls.•When we restrict the refugee children to those who arrive in Turkey at or before age eight and account for the covariates, the native–refugee gap completely vanishes for both sexes.•The timing of school dropouts coincides with the timing of labor market entry among boys.•After accounting for socioeconomic differences, refugee children are likelier never to start school, less likely to progress grade levels, and have a lower grade for age.