Impacto da educação infantil sobre o desempenho escolar no ensino fundamental

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of early childhood education, child care and preschool, in the proficiency of primary school students, using as a proxy the scores of portuguese and mathematics students in the 5th and 9th grades of elementary school, available in Brazil, using data from Brazil exam 2015. For this purpose, the pairing methodology was used in the propensity scores under the hypothesis of selection by observable variables, whose purpose is to find a counterfactual. In general, the results show that attending childhood education, child care and preschool, generates positive and statistically significant effects on the portuguese and mathematics of 5th and 9th grades students. However, there were significant positive effects of preschool attendance compared to students who started school directly in elementary school. In the areas analyzes, students from the Northeast and South areas of the country present the best results of this evaluation. While the Southeast area has less impact on early childhood education, child care and preschool, however, the results do not disagree in absolute terms, nor in relative terms when compared to the results of the other areas, North and Central West. When comparing the results of urban and rural areas, it can be seen that, in the urban areas, students attending nursery and preschool had, on average, the best grades in the two subjects evaluated, than the students in rural areas, as well as in the capitals of the country, where school performance is better compared to the results of students in the interior of the country.