This paper discusses the implementation of federal and municipal assessment systems in Brazil, and how it has influenced the educational debate and newly shaped policies. The empirical analyses focus on public municipal schools in Rio de Janeiro and test the plausibility of the school composition effect theory. The approach combines different datasets provided by the Rio de Janeiro Educational Department: a) Prova Rio -longitudinal assessment for all public schools; b) Pupil Profile -longitudinal assessment with information on all pupils, including family profile and school placement. Evidence from different models suggests the plausibility of school-mix effect theory. Data corroborates the claim that at least part of a purported "school effect" could be explained by a particular mix of pupils. Keywords: Educational assessment. School segregation. School composition effect.
IntroductionThis papers aims to test the plausibility of the school composition effect theory or school-mix effect in Rio de Janeiro public schools 1 . Since Coleman's (1961) pioneering report there has been increasing concern about the social composition of schools and its relation to pupils' outcomes. Coleman was most interested in understanding the nature of school effectiveness and appropriateness of policies to raise school effectiveness. The studies that followed that report identified two ideal-typical positions. The first claims that school effectiveness is a function of school management and teacher performance, a Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação -PPGE-UFRJ. Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Evidence of a school composition effect in Rio de Janeiro public schools while the latter claims that social factors (social background) determine pupils' outcomes in schools (THRUPP;HIRSCH, 2006). In this respect, the social composition 2 of schools can be seen as one more factor that can determine pupils' outcomes.The study can be divided into three parts. The first part discusses, initially, the implementation of national and municipal assessment systems in Brazil and how it has influenced the educational debate and newly shaped policies in the past twenty years. The aim is not to present a detailed historical analysis, but to reveal how the availability of reliable comparable data across schools (standardized tests and educational census information) has influenced the implementation of new policies and the educational debate regarding assessment, especially in the public sector.The second part describes Rio de Janeiro public municipal system and presents the debate about school segregation. There is extensive literature about the subject, covering measurement of the overall levels, and highlighting the impact of educational policies. Previous studies have been focused on understanding the causes of segregation (especially the role of the current educational policies) and have not explored any potential impact on pupils' achievement and life chances. The third and last part presents ...