Principal investigator: Angelo Cruz do Nascimento Varella
Article title: More Resources, Better Results? The Relationship Between Direct School Costs and Performance in High School
Article authors: Andressa Buss Rocha; Bruno Funchal;
Location of the Intervention: Holy Spirit, Brazil
Sample Size: Socioeconomic data, direct school costs, and ENEM exam results for students from 32 state schools.
Main theme: Education.
Type of Intervention: Quantitative analysis of the impact of direct school costs and other socioeconomic variables on student performance in the ENEM test.
Main Variable of Interest: Performance on the ENEM test in "Language and Codes" and "Mathematics"
Evaluation Method: Others
Policy Problem
Academic literature has, for several decades, indicated a positive relationship between the provision of quality education and social benefits, such as better salaries, increased productivity, and reduced social inequality. In Brazil, the concern with providing quality public education began with the 1988 Federal Constitution, in an attempt to allocate a minimum amount to the financing of national education. This public policy was expanded in 1998 with the implementation of the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and the Enhancement of the Teaching Profession (Fundef), and renamed in 2006 as the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and the Enhancement of the Teaching Profession (Fundeb).
However, higher levels of investment are not synonymous with quality. One of the greatest contemporary challenges in national education is maintaining an efficient system that allocates resources optimally and generates results for students. It is also necessary to consider other aspects that influence individual and collective development within the educational system, such as social inequalities, so that they can be addressed in a way that complements investments in education.
Evaluation Context
Recently in Brazil, Constitutional Amendment No. 95 (EC 95, 2016), also known as the Public Spending Cap Amendment, presented a challenge to education funding, as scholars argue that the amendment could reduce the amount allocated to education in the country. However, in addition to concerns about the amount allocated to educational funding, it is also necessary to pay attention to the quality of these resources.
This statement can be exemplified by the fact that even after the expansion of basic education funding, Brazil still ranks 60th out of 76 countries in the World Ranking of Education Quality, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Thus, to investigate this set of factors, researchers use the "school effect" approach, which encompasses a range of socioeconomic and financial factors that influence student performance, especially those in the state public education system in Espírito Santo. Due to its national reach and standardization, the National High School Examination (ENEM) is used as an evaluation metric.
Policy Details
The concept of "school effect" is used in academic literature to compare the performance of students in similar socioeconomic situations. To do this, several aspects are taken into consideration, encompassing individual student characteristics, as well as the conditions of their family, their school, and society as a whole. An important metric in this type of analysis is direct school costs, which impact several of these aspects, enabling better environments and more resources. It is worth noting that these values do not include investments, being intended only for expenses that directly affect the functioning of the school, such as salaries, materials, cleaning, transportation, maintenance, and food.
To measure student performance in an equivalent manner, the ENEM test was chosen because it is an extremely useful tool, as it applies standardized national assessment metrics. Thus, it is feasible to measure the quality of education according to student performance on this test. The test, in turn, is divided into knowledge categories, from which the authors selected "Language and Codes" and "Mathematics" as the main variables of analysis. That is, as the dependent variables.
Assessment Method
Given its social importance, the research focuses on state public schools in Espírito Santo, evaluating the relationship between direct costs and the organization of these institutions in relation to student performance on the ENEM exam. The research uses data from 32 institutions based on the Espírito Santo State Department of Education (Sedu/ES) and the School Census of the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep), covering the period from 2012 to 2015.
After data collection, researchers use the "school effect" approach to measure which individual and socioeconomic characteristics of students and which direct school costs have the greatest influence on ENEM test results. To do this, researchers perform statistical analyses, estimating a mathematical model.
Results
Based on their calculations, the researchers demonstrate that 39% of student grades can be explained by the factors predicted in the "school effect" analysis. Regarding academic performance in "Language and Codes," the variables with the greatest impact on student grades were the presence of a principal at the school, which increased the average grade of this group of students by 11,3 points, as well as socioeconomic factors of the individuals and their families.
The mothers' education level, for example, had a strong impact on the results, such that if the mother never studied or did not complete the 4th grade, the student's average grade is 54,6 points lower. A similar phenomenon occurs with Black students, who, due to social inequality, scored, on average, 65,6 points less than the rest of the students. Female students, however, obtained an average performance 49,8 points higher than male students. It is noteworthy that direct costs did not yield significant results in this analysis, indicating that increasing these factors, once sufficient levels are reached, may not be useful for improving student performance in "Language and Codes".
Regarding the "Mathematics" scores, the model explained 37% of student performance on the ENEM exam, with direct cost variables proving significant in this analysis. Schools with higher spending on teacher salaries (0,0299) and principal salaries (0,0432), as well as expenses on school transportation (0,0505), water, and energy (0,0577), obtained positive results. The presence of resources from the State Program for Direct Money to Schools (PEDDE) also generated positive results, in the order of 0,0628. In other words, if the program's resources are increased by 100 reais, it is expected that the students' average "Mathematics" score will increase by 6,28 points.
Considering the characteristics of the students, individuals enrolled in evening courses had a negative result of -15,99, as did female students, who had a result of -62,24. In other words, if we only evaluate these students, the average for the "Mathematics" variable would be 62,24 points lower.
Lessons in Public Policy
The study indicates that direct education costs can have a positive impact on student performance, but the efficient allocation of resources, the proper organization of school provision, and the reduction of social inequalities are factors of similar importance. In order to improve national education, it is necessary to consider the fact that there are serious discrepancies between Brazilian schools, as well as in the realities of different students, especially in the public education system, which is a crucial tool for social development.
To guarantee improved educational performance, purpose and planning are necessary in the allocation of resources, as well as other ways to optimize financial resources, in order to prioritize equity in the treatment of students in the public school system. Furthermore, investments in education should always be accompanied by monitoring tools so that results can be evaluated and adjusted as needed.
Reference
ROCHA, Andressa Buss; FUNCHAL, Bruno. More resources, better results? The relationship between direct school costs and performance in secondary education. Revista de Administração Pública, v. 53, n. 2, p. 291-309, 2019.
