Analysis of distribution of Opportunity to Learn mathematics in Brazilian education

Author(s)

Ariane Faria dos Santos

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Educação (FE/SBD)
• Defense date: 2017-09-11

Examining board members

Sandra Maria Zákia Lian Sousa; Martin Carnoy; Paula Baptista Jorge Louzano

• Advisor: Sandra Maria Zákia Lian Sousa

Abstract

This paper aims to conduct an empirical study that allows to understand the distribution of learning opportunities for 5th and 9th grade students from different socioeconomic, ethnic-racial and resident groups in different Brazilian states. The theoretical framework of research is based on i) the concept of Opportunity to Learn (OTL) and ii) the discussion concerning the role of intra and extra-school factors in students\' learning. From this analysis, it was concluded that the factors that most influence students\' learning are i) observable characteristics of teachers; ii) teachers committed to a learning environment; iii) teachers with high expectations and iv) teachers classroom management and pedagogical approach in mathematics. Therefore, based on the importance of these OTL factors, this paper uses SAEB 2015 data and develops two models: i) multivariate regression to understand the correlation of OTL factors and student proficiency in SAEB 2015 and ii) logit model, to calculate the probability of 5th and 9th grade students from different socioeconomic, ethnic-racial, and Brazilian states having access to the opportunity to learn mathematics. The results of the multivariate regression indicate that, by controlling the personal characteristics of the students, there is a positive correlation between the OTL factors and the mathematics proficiency in both the 5th EF and the 9th EF. In addition, among all OTL factors analyzed, the magnitude of the coefficient is higher in the case of \"teachers declare that they teach more than 80% of the curriculum\" and \"teachers declare that they believe that almost all of them students will enter the university\". The results of the logit model for each OTL factor analyzed show different challenges for Brazilian education. The factors of the category \"observable teacher characteristics\" are not a great challenge because either the probability of access is high for all subgroups of students or when the probability is not so high, there is practically no inequality between socioeconomic levels and groups ethnic-racial relations. On the other hand, the factors of the category \"teachers with high expectations\" are challenging both in terms of increasing access probability and decreasing inequality. In the category \"teachers committed to a learning environment\" is necessary to reduce the inequalities between the subgroups of students and increase the probability of access for all subpopulations, even the most privileged ones. Finally, in the category \"classroom management and pedagogical approach in mathematics\" is necessary to increase the probability of access to factors that increase OTL and decrease the probability of access to factors that decrease OTL for all socioeconomic levels, including for the most privileged students. Therefore, it is essential to invest in educational policies that focus their actions on OTL factors, mainly those directly related to the classroom, in order to increase the learning opportunities of Brazilian students and reduce the existing inequalities among subpopulations of students. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/20498-6 - Seeking for the right to a quality education in Brazil: investigation of criteria and elements for quality development and its distribution in the country
• Grantee: Ariane Faria dos Santos
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master