Assessing the Impacts of Mais Educação on Educational Outcomes: Evidence between 2007 and 2011

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

Full-Time Teachers, Students, and Curriculum: The Single-Shift Model in Rio de Janeiro

“…The results found in the existing literature do not indicate conclusive effects for the full-time school model; more time in school does not necessarily translate into student learning and performance. In Brazil particularly, more time in school with the federal program "More Education" is associated with negative effects in mathematics and Portuguese, as presented in Almeida et al (2016). Aquino and Kassouf (2011) also find that 9 th graders in full-time schools in São Paulo showed no significant differences in proficiency and pass rates in comparison to those who attended traditional schools.…”

“…Using the methodologies of propensity score matching, panel data analysis, and DID, the authors find that 9 th graders in full-time schools showed no significant differences in proficiency (using the state system of external evaluation, SARESP) and pass rates in comparison to those who attended traditional schools. 16 Pereira (2011), Mendes (2011) and Almeida et al (2016) have evaluated the federal program "More Education", responsible for supporting states and cities in their intent to increase the number of school hours to at least 7 hours a day in public elementary, middle, and high schools in the capitals, in other cities of the nine Brazilian metropolitan areas, as well as in other cities with more than 90,000 inhabitants. Pereira (2011) uses DID methodology, designating the elementary and middle schools that had participated in the program in 2009 as the treatment group and the elementary and middle schools that only joined the program in 2010 as the control group.…”

“…Mendes (2011) reaches similar conclusions about the impact on performance and pass rates using propensity score matching methodology. Almeida et al (2016) also use DID methodology with propensity score matching and find that the "More Education" program has on average no impacts on school dropout rates. Interestingly, they observe average negative impacts on mathematics test scores, which are stronger in the short term, and lower test scores in Portuguese and mathematics in schools choosing the fields of Portuguese and/or sports in the added hours.…”

Supporting Teacher Autonomy to Improve Education Outcomes : Experimental Evidence from Brazil

“…Our findings suggest that results can be achieved in a more cost effective way by exploiting the potential complementarity between non-monetary incentives and intrinsic motivation (Bowles and Polania-Reyes, 2012;Ashraf et al, 2014). However, complementing local capacity through technical assistance may be critical, as autonomy alone has had limited success in the Brazilian context (Almeida et al, 2016;Oliveira et al, 2016).…”

School Time and Crime: Incapacitation Effects in Brazil

“…Finally, this paper also connects to works on the effects of lengthening the school day on non-criminal outcomes. Almeida et al (2016) use propensity score matching to assess the impact of early stages of Mais Educação on schooling outcomes and find negative impact on Math test scores. In addition to negative effects on crime, Berthelon and Kruger (2011) find that longer school days reduced the probability poor juveniles became adolescent mothers.…”