Repositório RCAAP

It is recommended, in this article, to study the influence that sports school infrastructures have on the fulfillment of the Physical Education curriculum, on the quality of the teaching process and on the learning carried out by the students. This is a qualitative research methodology that used as a data collection and production tool, the semi-structured interview. The empirical research included interviews with the five directors of municipal public schools in the final years of elementary education in the city of Armação dos Búzios-RJ. The content analysis brought us to three categories, being the category “Public Neglect”, elucidative and didactic. It is inferred that the existing learning environment (the multi-sports courts in public squares) and the school infrastructure made available to the Physical Education classes make it impossible to comply with the curriculum in its entirety, affects the contents of teaching and, therefore, the objectives are not reached.

This study investigated contributions from the Plataforma Foco Aprendizagem, which provides data on students’ performance on the assessments implemented by the state network of São Paulo, to the work of the Portuguese Language teacher and the better performance of students in the skills provided by the Matriz de Avaliação Processual, implemented in 2016. The study is interventionist, conducted in the researcher/teacher’s own practice. The theoretical reference is based on the dialogical conception of language defended by Bakhtin and on the approaches to teaching textual genres of the Language Didactics Group of the University of Geneva. Data were obtained from 6th grade classes at a school in Greater São Paulo. The results show that the use of the Plataforma contributed to the improvement of students’ performance in all predicted abilities, as well as to the teacher’s work in carrying out more individualized diagnoses and interventions.

This study aimed to present the SOLO Taxonomy as a methodological tool in educational assessment and to conduct a review of the literature about its use in educational assessment in Brazil. SOLO is a taxonomy comprised of five hierarchical levels of cognitive complexity:1) prestructural; 2) unistructural; 3) multistructural; 4) relational; and 5) extended abstract. These levels are divided into two categories of learning: surface and deep. The SOLO presents many applications: classroom assessment, large scale assessment, teacher training, item formulation, among others. The reduced number of studies confirms the little use of this taxonomy in Brazil. Thus, our study contribution is to present SOLO and its uses.

The reasons behind a child’s good performance at school are very complex. Given the multiple forms of family configuration, cases of school success in unfavorable social contexts are possible, even if statistically improbable. For this reason, this study aims to quantitatively analyze the profile of candidates who had a satisfactory performance in the Enem test despite their adverse economic and social situation. To that end, we used a database consisting of microdata from Enem 2009, which includes candidates’ answers to a socioeconomic questionnaire. Methodologically, we used statistical methods combined with theoretical framework in the field of sociology of education, such as Pierre Bourdieu and Bernard Lahire. The results suggest that candidates’ family size, taste for reading and interest in politics are factors significantly associated with a good performance in the Enem test. 

This is a qualitative-descriptive study on the diversity of the results of 4 public schools from the same teaching network: 2 schools with the highest and 2 with the lowest scores in the Avaliação Nacional da Alfabetização 2014 [Brazilian National Literacy Assessment]. The participants in the study were teachers from the literacy cycle that worked in these schools, in the 2012-2014 triennium. The instrument used for data collection consisted of a semi-structured interview focusing on their teaching processes, on teacher training and on their professional experiences. The results reveal differences regarding the emphasis on the continuity of the literacy process in cyclic education, favoring the schools with the highest performances, despite the similarities of the students’ socioeconomic level and the teachers’ experience and, above all, ongoing training. 

The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of undergraduate research scholarships on the performance of scholarship students enrolled in face-to-face courses at Brazilian federal and state universities. The senior students’ test scores on the specific component test of the Exame Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes for the years 2015 to 2017 were used as an outcome measure. To deal with the self-selection bias, the propensity score matching technique was applied. The results show a positive, significant and robust impact in favor of scholarship students, on the order of 0.21 to 0.31 standard deviations, depending on the matching algorithm and knowledge area considered. Assessing the performance of other students with different kinds of scholarships in a second control group, the results, in general, still indicate the better performance of undergraduate students with research scholarships, although the differences are smaller.

The objective of this study is to analyze how the Sistema de Seleção Unificada (Unified Selection System – Sisu) affected the choice of higher education programs at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, mainly examining the degree programs that had the greatest increase in the candidate to vacancy ratios, after the implementation of this new selection mechanism. Initially, data from the institution on competition, selectivity, and vacancy occupation of all the programs at the Viçosa, MG campus were analyzed, and then the data collected by means of questionnaires answered by students of the degree programs. The results demonstrate that the Sisu influences students’ choices, making them more strategic, and that social and educational inequalities continue to delimit the choices that are possible for each candidate.

This study aimed to verify the implications of external assessment in the assessment practices of the teaching-learning process in schools. For this qualitative study, ten teachers from two schools in the state education network of Rio de Janeiro were selected. One of the schools reached the goals established by the network and received a salary bonus for the teachers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The results reveal a rigidifying of the assessment practices and an overvaluation of the objective tests that reproduce the patterns of the external assessments. There is a predominance of quantitative over qualitative aspects and the characterization of the essentially classificatory model of school assessment.

The study aimed to investigate evidence of criterion validity of an instrument named Screening of Indicators of High Skills/Giftedness. The scale, answered by the teacher, evaluates the student’s development in five areas: general intellectual ability, specific academic abilities, leadership, creativity and artistic talent. The sample consisted of 568 participants: 213 in the control group and 355 in the criterion group. The results of factorial variance analysis and the Student t-test indicated significant differences of the means between groups, confirming the evidence investigated. Logistic regression analysis was also conducted to identify how much the score in each specific area of the scale could predict the area high skills/giftedness identified for the individual. 

The article aims to understand what factors are associated to student participation in teaching evaluations by identifying students’ profiles that are more and less likely to participate. We consider students’ individual characteristics and programs’ characteristics. The data are from the semiannual teaching evaluation from a private higher education institution between 2016 and 2018. We used multilevel logistic regression and the results indicate that both individual and program characteristics can affect the probability of student participation in teaching evaluation, i.e., being female, over 41 years old, receiving funding or scholarship, as well as being enrolled in a teacher licensure program or a full-time program are associated to higher probability of participating in teaching evaluations. 

The aim of this article is to analyze and understand the practices present in the learning assessment processes in Angola. The research was conducted with teachers and students from two secondary schools in the Cabinda province. Questionnaires, interviews, observations and document analysis were used for data collection. The research shows that, although teachers adopt more contemporary assessment concepts, summative assessments in which tests are also used as a form of discipline control predominate in their daily practice. The data show the continuity of assessment practices involving the exchange of grades for money in the surveyed schools, although these practices are on decline for different reasons. 

Failure in the Biology and Geology exam in Portugal is very high and has significant impacts on further studies. This qualitative research aimed to investigate: 1) the perceptions of teachers about the causes of failure in the exam as a function of gender; 2) opinions about the test characteristics; 3) measures to promote success. Data were collected through semi-directed interviews with 15 teachers who attribute the failure to the exam itself, its characteristics and students’ difficulties. To promote success, they suggest measures such as: reducing the subject syllabus and adapting the level of difficulty of the test to the students’ capacity. Male teachers seem to be more concerned about boys’ failure.

This paper discusses the results of a study that aimed to characterize teachers’ conceptions about assessment of students’ learning in the subject of Labor Education (9th grade). The teachers came from ten state schools in Lubango (Angola). A quantitative methodology, which included a qualitative dimension of analysis, was used it consisted of a questionnaire administered to all teachers of this subject at the end of the 2017 school year. 53 questionnaires were applied, and 34 valid ones were collected. Closed-ended questions were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis; open questions were subjected to content analysis. The results show that teachers recognize the continuous dimension of assessment and its formative function, which is in accordance with national norms and the literature. However, this does not occur with regard to the importance given to content evaluation and written tests.

This study aimed to analyze education policies and actions that were designed based on the Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica [Basic Education Development Index] (Ideb) in four municipalities in the Vitória metropolitan area: Cariacica, Serra, Vila Velha and Vitória. Our qualitative approach used documentary analysis and interviews with managers at the Education Departments. The results indicate contradictions in the implemented policies and actions. On the one hand, we found practices that seek to support the school and engage it in reflections about its results and work processes in order to drive improvements. On the other hand, these measures create more evaluations, exams ratings and rankings, thus increasing the school’s submission to external evaluation results.

This study examines associations between Australia’s regulatory ratings of quality in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) – the National Quality Standard (NQS) – and two research-based quality rating scales. The analytic sample consisted of 257 ECEC services across three Australian states. Results indicated (1) modest positive associations between NQS ratings and scale scores; (2) some specificity between NQS quality areas (educational programs and practice; relationships with children) and one research scale – the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing (SSTEW) scale; (3) variability in quality scales scores within each NQS designation; and (4) mitigation of these associations when the time-gap between ratings exceeded 24 months. Findings suggest NQS and research scales tap some common core of quality, yet capture different aspects of quality, suggesting both could be used to raise standards of quality in Australian preschools, where the research scales potentiate raising quality to even higher levels than NQS.

This study aimed to assess the impact of the Programa Universidade para Todos [University for All Program] (Prouni) on the performance of the students served by the program’s scholarships between gender (male and female) and race (blacks and whites) groups. The study used propensity score matching with microdata from Enade 2016. The descriptive analysis showed an increase in the number of full and partial scholarships provided over the years and a concentration of scholarships in the Brazil’s Southeast region. We found that being a man, black and with a family income of less than 1.5 minimum wage increases the probability of being served by the program. The results suggest that Prouni’s impact on students’ performance in private universities was significant. The Prouni increases the average performance of students receiving full scholarship, mainly for men and for blacks; moreover, in the analysis of the four undergraduate programs with the largest number of full scholarships, the greatest impact was among women. 

The article identifies schools in the final years of elementary education in Brazil, with good academic results, and that serve students from low socioeconomic levels. 329 schools were identified that met the proposed criteria (based on proficiency and dropouts) in 2015. Factors associated with the better performance of these schools were investigated through the analysis of differences-in-differences. The results show that they have lower rates of violence, more teachers belief in the students’ future potential, better discipline, more students doing homework, more correction of these tasks and less student absenteeism. There were no differences of salary, training and experience of teachers and principals between the schools that stood out and the others.

Since 2009, Physical Education questions are present at the Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio [National High School Examination] (Enem), inaugurating its participation in basic education large-scale exams. This study aims to analyze the content of these questions, since their insertion until 2019, considering the consistency between the examintent and the physical education knowledge in high school. The results point out, in the 43 questions identified, an inadequacy of the contents of Physical Education, once the questions disregard the specific skills and knowledge objects indicated by the exammatrix, in addition to the internal conflicts in the field of its curriculum reflected in the exams. Finally, we question the reliability of this compulsory exam as an assessment tool, as well as its role in encouraging changes in the curriculum field.

Teachers’ activities involve, among others, analyzing, assessing, reflecting on and improving their own classroom practice. Self-assessment may contribute to teaching and learning processes, as well as to personal development. This study presents the results of reflection about two classes where the SATS (Self-Assessment of Teaching Statement) model was applied. The use of the SATS tool was qualitatively analyzed based on the recording of two different classes at two distinct Higher Education Institutions, thus giving rise to metatexts. Based on these, the study describes the “Warm-Up”, i.e., the class’ introductory stage in which students are prepared for the day’s learning; and the “Classroom Development” itself, with particular attention to the following characteristics: teacher-student interaction, didactic strategies, timing, and the real contexts used. The results indicate the possibilities of reflection enabled by the tool on and in pedagogical practice.