About success and failure in high school in 15 years (1999 e 2014)

Abstract

The research done by Gomes (1999) in his article “Sucesso e Fracasso no Ensino Médio” pointed out problems that existed at the time in the high school level of education, such as high dropout and grade retention rates. Fifteen years later, his work is been revised to verify the current status of the Brazilian high school education as it has to answer for its challenge and hurdles from the past. Data from academic performance, high school dropout rate and grade retention rate were updated and compared with the original data from Gomes (1999). The results show a decrease in the dropout rate and an increase in the grade retention rate for almost all states in Brazil. Furthermore, the proficiency grades are lower than 15 years ago indicating that the high school students’ success might not be directly related to theirs staying in the school and that a high grade retention rate doesn’t necessarily causes better performance among high school students.

High school; Grade retention; School dropout; Evaluation