Policy Implications of Achievement Testing Using Multilevel Models: The Case of Brazilian Elementary Schools

Abstract

Large-scale educational assessment has been established as source of descriptive, evaluative and interpretative information that influence educational policies worldwide throughout the last third of the twentieth century. In the 1990s the Brazilian Ministry of Education developed the National Basic Education Assessment System (SAEB) that regularly measures management, resource and contextual school features and academic achievement in public and private institutions. In 2005, after significant piloting and review of the SAEB, a new sampling strategy was taken and Prova Brasil became the new instrument used by the Ministry to assess skills in Portuguese (reading comprehension) and Mathematics (problem solving), as well as collecting contextual information concerning the school, principal, teacher, and the students. This study aims to identify which variables are predictors of academic achievement of fifth grade students on Prova Brasil. Across a large sample of students, multilevel models tested a large number of variables relevant to student achievement. This approach uncovered critical variables not commonly seen as significant in light of other achievement determinants, including student habits, teacher ethnicity, and school technological resources. As such, this approach demonstrates the value of MLM to appropriately nuanced educational policies that reflect critical influences on student achievement. Its implications for wider application for psychology studies that may have relevant impacts for policy are also discussed.

Escala Multidimensional de Satisfação de Vida para Crianças: Revisão e Normas

“…Similarmente, Schonert-Reichl et al (2015) apontaram a necessidade de controlar o efeito de sexo na implementação de uma intervenção baseada em mindfullness para aprimoramento de desenvolvimento socioemocional e cognitivo de estudantes do ensino fundamental.Apesar das contribuições deste estudo, cabe apontar uma limitação no que diz respeito à composição da amostra com crianças provenientes de apenas um estado do Brasil. Além disso, por ser uma compilação de dados de pesquisas anteriores, não foi possível acessar o tipo de escola de alguns participantes, uma variável que é considerada importante devido às suas diferenças econômicas e contextuais(Menezes et al, 2016). Ademais, é importante realizar outros estudos para a elaboração de normas da EMSVC com amostras de outros estados que abranjam a realidade socioeconômica e cultural do país.Este estudo contribui para o aprimoramento da escala e fornece as normas por sexo e ano escolar para uso clínico e de pesquisa da EMSVC, um instrumento útil para a investigação de um dos componentes do bem-estar em crianças e pré-adolescentes.…”

Oral Health Literacy, Sense of Coherence and Associations With Poor School Performance

“…The dependent variable was self‐assessment of school performance in Portuguese and Mathematics, which were used as a proxy measure of academic performance by asking the following question: “How do you assess your school performance in … this semester?” The answers options were “below average” and “average or above average.” Those who reported “average or above average” for both disciplines were considered to have better school performance. Students' performance in Portuguese and Math are key indicators of academic achievement used by the Brazilian Ministry of Education to monitor learning progress in public and private schools 32 …”

“…Students' performance in Portuguese and Math are key indicators of academic achievement used by the Brazilian Ministry of Education to monitor learning progress in public and private schools. 32 Explanatory variables were selected to explore the effects of oral health factors on school performance based on an adapted version of the model used by Kaewkamnerdpong and Krisdapong (Figure 1). The primary explanatory variable was OHL, measured using the validated short-form HeLD-14.…”

Psychometric validation of the audio-guided rBVQ instrument for bullying evaluation among students

“…Although on the rise, internal assessments by the Brazilian Ministry of Education show inequalities in reading proficiency between public and private schools, as well as other socioeconomic factors, including ethnic and racial issues (INEP, 2018(INEP, , 2019Menezes et al, 2016). In international evaluations such as the Program for International Student Assessment -PISA, which assesses how prepared young people are to act as citizens in contemporary society, Brazil performs below the average of the 35 countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2019).…”