As socioeconomic status (SES) has a strong association with student achievement, the objective of this study is to analyze the indirect effect of SES on mathematics proficiency, considering as mediating variable the type of school (public or private). The database was the survey Longitudinal Study of School Generation (Geres). The same schools and students were observed for four years. The study is a representative sample of primary education students conducted in five municipalities of Brazil: Belo Horizonte, Campinas, Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador (18,000 students in 300 schools). We used the Structural Equation Modeling, along with cluster-robust standard errors method, because of the hierarchical structure of the data. The models’ variables were socio-economic status, gender, race, mathematics proficiency (considering students’ prior proficiency as control), and type of school. In four of the five models fitted, the indirect effect was significant at a level of 5% and all showed positive sign. In four models, a complete mediation occurred, where there was no direct effect, but only the indirect effect (the effect of socioeconomic status only manifested through the type of school). Despite the fact that socioeconomic status has a strong association with the achievement of the students, much of this relationship seems to happen through the type of school. Our results are in line with the Brazilian literature on the relationship between SES and school type. In this sense, it reinforces the findings of the literature on processes of selection, concentration, and segregation of the school population.

Acknowledgments: This research was supported by Fapemig Foundation (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais), process number PPM-00583-18.

Authors:
Daniel Matos, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Brazil
Erica Rodrigues, Galena, Brazil
Walter Leite, University of Florida, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Daniel Matos is a University Professor/Principal Lecturer at Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) in Brazil

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