Abstract: Promoting the high-quality and balanced development of county-level compulsory education is an important measure to ensure educational equity and it is also an inevitable requirement for achieving educational modernization and building a strong educational nation. Digital village construction provides a significant opportunity for advancing the high-quality and balanced development of county-level compulsory education. Situated within the context of China’s digital village construction and employing the fsQCA method, this study combines 113 county-level cases. From a configurational perspective, it examines the complex mechanisms and configurational paths through which digital village construction drives the high-quality and balanced development of county-level compulsory education. The research finds that: a single element in digital village construction does not constitute a necessary condition for driving high-quality and balanced development of county-level compulsory education; there are four configurational paths that drive such development: the digital infrastructure and digital economy synergistic driving type, the digital infrastructure and digital governance synergistic driving type, the digital infrastructure and digital life synergistic driving type, and the digital economy and digital life synergistic driving type. Furthermore, there are two configurational paths that hinder high-quality and balanced development. Accordingly, the various elements of digital village construction should be synergistically integrated; the multiple interconnections and adaptive roles of elements such as digital infrastructure, digital economy, digital governance, and digital life should be fully leveraged to promote the high-quality and balanced development of county-level compulsory education.

Key words: digital village construction, county-level compulsory education, high-quality and balanced development, configuration effect