Diferença do desempenho educacional entre zonas rurais e urbanas: uma análise quantílica incondicional

Abstract

Brazil has a solid system for diagnosis and assessment on quality of basic education which helps to understand the differences between student performance in schools located in rural and urban areas. Prior applied literature focuses on the fact that it is not the location itself that would affect the differences in results, but the combination of other factors such as the characteristics of students, families, teachers and schools. From this perspective, the aim of this study is to evaluate whether the location in rural areas is a significant factor to explain the gap in academic performance in Brazilian municipalities from 2013 to 2017. Drawing on microdata from Prova Brasil Saeb for students enrolled in the 5th grade of elementary school, the distributive impact of the binary variable school location on academic performance will be evaluated by estimating Unconditional Quantile Regressions and the Quantile Treatment Effect. Descriptive analysis suggests the presence of distortions on math test scores, when urban-rural distinction among schools is taken into consideration, which indicates that rural students’ performance lag behind their urban peers. The analysis of the results estimated by the regression models of the treatment of quantile effects to evaluate the rural-urban gap in academic performance suggests the existence of a penalty for rural school students even when the variables established in the applied literature are controlled. Therefore, it is plausible to further investigate the evolution of a student's educational background, in order to evaluate and formulate public educational policies.