Martin Carnoy, Lemann Foundation Professor
Achievement Gains and Social Inequality: An Analysis of Brazilian School Districts, 2007-2017
An enduring unresolved issue in education is whether schools and school districts are more effective in raising student achievement when students are “segregated” into schools and classrooms that are more homogeneous socially and academically or when students learn in schools and classrooms that are more heterogeneous This paper addresses the issue of whether in Brazil student social class segregation among schools within municipal school districts in the 5th grade (elementary school) and 9th grade (middle schools) is significantly related to average student test score gains in municipalities over time—this during a period (2007-17) of considerable overall increases in student achievement gains in the country as a whole. The paper also examines whether race plays a role in municipal test score gains.
