1. School-based Management and Academic Achievement in Brazil: An Analysis of State-level Data Paul S. Losch Thesis Defense January 11, 2002

2. Five Major Findings Three of these come from background research. Two come from statistical analysis.

3. 1. There is a new philosophy guiding education policy in Brazil today. Performance and Accountability

4. 1. There is a new philosophy guiding education policy in Brazil today. Performance and Accountability Central Standards, Local Control

5. 1. There is a new philosophy guiding education policy in Brazil today. Performance and Accountability Central Standards, Local Control Changes in Law: LDB of 1996

6. 1. There is a new philosophy guiding education policy in Brazil today. Performance and Accountability Central Standards, Local Control Changes in Law: LDB of 1996 Changes in Practice: 1980s to date

7. 2. Educational inequalities persist in Brazil, despite recent advances.

8. States and Regions of Brazil

9. 2. Educational inequalities persist in Brazil, despite recent advances. Literacy

10. Evolution of Literacy, 1970-1996

11. 2. Educational inequalities persist in Brazil, despite recent advances. Literacy Enrollment/Attendance

12. Percentage of Pop. Age 7 to 14 Attending School, 1996

13. 2. Educational inequalities persist in Brazil, despite recent advances. Literacy Enrollment/Attendance Academic Achievement

14. Mean Scores on 4 th Grade SAEB Exams: High, Medium and Low Achievers (’95,’97,’99)

15. Correlation Between 8 th Grade and 4 th Grade Mean Scores for States (1995)

16. 3. School-based management is a concept much discussed but little defined.

17. Translation: “Get to know your child’s second home. April 24. National Day of the Family at School.” Ministry of Education, 2001. Federal Government’s Emphasis on Participation

18. 3. School-based management is a concept much discussed but little defined. Basic principles:

19. 3. School-based management is a concept much discussed but little defined. Basic principles: 1) Autonomy

20. 3. School-based management is a concept much discussed but little defined. Basic principles: 1) Autonomy 2) Participation.

21. 3. School-based management is a concept much discussed but little defined. Basic principles: 1) Autonomy 2) Participation. Change: Institutional

22. 3. School-based management is a concept much discussed but little defined. Basic principles: 1) Autonomy 2) Participation. Change: Institutional Or Behavioral?

23. 3. School-based management is a concept much discussed but little defined. Basic principles: 1) Autonomy 2) Participation. Change: Institutional Or Behavioral? Aims: Economic Rationalization

24. 3. School-based management is a concept much discussed but little defined. Basic principles: 1) Autonomy 2) Participation. Change: Institutional Or Behavioral? Aims: Economic Rationalization or Political Consciousness-raising?

25. Economic Rationalization: Initially the demand for more democratic, participatory and decentralized management was almost an end in itself, and was basically a demand by teachers and other educational experts. By the end of the 1980’s demand for reforms in the management process came to be seen as a requirement for improving the efficiency and quality of the educational system, besides embracing an ever-wider range of the population. (Paes de Barros and Mendonça 1998: 79)

26. Social change: There is a vast literature challenging the narrowness of the economist’s vision of school- based management that reduces it to an administrative activity. From different points of view, an attempt is made to rescue the uniqueness of the school as an institution, and the importance of understanding school-based management in terms of its pedagogical aims. In the field of research into school administration – where “administration” is defined as the rational utilization of resources to achieve specified ends --, it becomes necessary to make the educational objectives permeate the means by which they are achieved. (Krawczyk, 1999: 117)

27. Three Background Findings There is a new philosophy guiding education policy in Brazil today. Educational inequalities persist in Brazil, despite recent advances. School-based management is a concept much discussed, but little defined.

28. Data Analysis Universe: 26 States

29. Data Analysis Universe: 26 States Sources: INEP, IBGE, UNDP

30. Data Analysis Universe: 26 States Sources: INEP, IBGE, UNDP SAEB/95: over 24,000 4 th graders at 879 schools and 29,000 8 th graders at 870 schools.

31. Data Analysis Universe: 26 States Sources: INEP, IBGE, UNDP SAEB/95: over 24,000 4 th graders at 879 schools and 29,000 8 th graders at 870 schools. Education Production Function: Using past experience, scores can be predicted on the basis of home and school conditions.

32. 4. Academic achievement is determined by a complex group of interrelated home and school factors. Correlation between achievement and home conditions.

33. Fourth Grade Correlation Matrix

34. Eighth Grade Correlation Matrix

35. 4. Academic achievement is determined by a complex group of interrelated home and school factors. Correlation between achievement and home conditions. Correlation between achievement and school conditions

36. Fourth Grade Correlation Matrix

37. Eighth Grade Correlation Matrix

38. 4. Academic achievement is determined by a complex group of interrelated home and school factors. Correlation between achievement and home conditions. Correlation between achievement and school conditions Correlation between home and school conditions.

39. Fourth Grade Correlation Matrix

40. Eighth Grade Correlation Matrix

41. 5. SBM and high levels of academic achievement appear to result from the same conditions. In the 4 th grade data, there is a correlation between SBM and academic achievement.

42. Fourth Grade Correlation Matrix

43. Scatterplot: Mean Score and Percentage of Students in Schools with Active School Councils (4th Grade 1995)

44. Eighth Grade Correlation Matrix

45. Scatterplot: Mean Score and Percentage of Students in Schools with Active School Councils (8 th Grade 1995)

46. 5. SBM and high levels of academic achievement appear to result from the same conditions. In the 4 th grade data, there is a correlation between SBM and academic achievement. After controlling for home and school factors, SBM appears to have no independent power to explain or predict academic achievement.

47. Regression 4 th Grade (Unweighted) Table 4.1 - NOTASAEB4 Regressed on PCTUNIV4 and COMPU4. (Unstandardized Coefficients) Independent Variables Model 1 Model 2 Constant174.742**170.768** PCTUNIV4.519**.415** COMPU4.373* Adjusted R square.464.564 ** = P <.01 *= P <.05

48. Regression 4 th Grade (Weighted) Table 4.2 - NOTASAEB4 Regressed on PCTUNIV4. (Unstandardized Coefficients), weighted by 4 th grade sample size) Independent VariablesModel 1 Constant174.883** PCTUNIV4.546** ______________________ Adjusted R square.549 ** = P <.01

49. Fourth Grade Correlation Matrix

50. Regression 8 th Grade (Unweighted) Table 4.3 NOTASAEB8 Regressed on LITERACY and PCTUNIV8. (Unstandardized Coefficients, Unweighted) Independent VariablesModel 1 Model 2 Constant 144.254**150.380** LITERACY 1.229**.957** PCTUNIV8.262* Adjusted R square.647.774 ** = P <.01 * = P <.05

51. Regression 8 th Grade (Weighted) Table 4.4 - NOTASAEB8 Regressed on PCTUNIV8 and COMPU8. (Unstandardized Coefficients, Weighted by 8 th grade Sample Size) Independent VariablesModel 1 Model 2 Constant137.370** 145.605** LITERACY 1.339** 1.052** PCTUNIV8.231** Adjusted R square.722.801 ** = P<.01

52. Eighth Grade Correlation Matrix

53. 5. SBM and high levels of academic achievement appear to result from the same conditions. In the 4 th grade data, there is a correlation between SBM and academic achievement. After controlling for home and school factors, SBM appears to have no independent power to explain or predict academic achievement. Relationship between socioeconomic levels and participation: implications for effect of decentralization on reducing inequality?

54. Two Findings From Data Analysis Academic achievement is determined by a complex group of interrelated home and school factors. The adoption of SBM and high academic achievement appear to result from the same conditions.

55. Five Main Findings There is a new philosophy guiding education policy in Brazil today. Educational inequalities persist in Brazil, despite recent advances. School-based management is a concept much discussed, but little defined. Academic achievement is determined by a complex group of interrelated home and school factors. The adoption of SBM and high academic achievement appear to result from the same conditions.

56. Synthesis of Findings Despite its importance in current educational thinking in Brazil, school-based management does not appear to have a significant effect on the interstate variance of academic achievement. The long-term effects of increased decentralization on educational inequality are not clear.

57. Synthesis of Findings Despite its importance in current educational thinking in Brazil, school-based management does not appear to have a significant effect on the interstate variance of academic achievement. The long-term effects of increased decentralization on educational inequality are not clear. Where the population is better-educated and better-off, there tend to be more resources available in the schools, there tends to be greater participation in school affairs by parents, and children tend to do better on standardized tests. The reverse is also true.