ABSTRACT
The article analyzes the school effect in Brazilian school in three dimensions: the progress in learning the Portuguese Language and Mathematics (value added); the differential effect in the contents learned (differential efficacy) having as a yardstick the knowledge of students at entry level (5 th grade); and the differential effect in the contents learned taking into account the socioeconomic level of the students (social equity). To that end, we lied a multilevel model (UF, municipality, school, student) to a longitudinal database comprised of students who took the Prova Brasil 2011, while in the 5 th grade, and the Prova Brasil 2015, while in the 9 th grade. Control variables related to the students' sociodemographic status, such as sex, color/race, employment status, and mother's literacy, were taken into account. The article presents innovative results on the effectiveness of schooling in Brazil, showing that, contrary to the international literature, the magnitude of the value added is similar to that found in developed countries. Our analysis also confirms findings of previous studies on the school performance of students according to socioeconomic level, gender and color/race.
school effect; value added; multilevel model; Prova Brazil
