Social origin and school processes in Paraguay. Factors associated to the academic performance in reading and mathematics of third grade students

Abstract

This is a quantitative study of explanatory scope realized with information provided by The Latin American Laboratory of Evaluation of the Educational Quality (LLECE)-UNESCO with the purpose of establishing and comparing context and process factors associated with performance in the TERCE assessment of Reading and Mathematics learning by 3rd graders in school institutions of the Republic of Paraguay during the year 2013.

For this purpose, 2759 exams were analyzed together with the information of self-administered questionnaires to the student, his family, the classroom teacher and the director of 200 educational establishments.

For the estimation of the associated factors a hierarchical linear model was used that established as factors of greater association, with the performance in the Reading and Mathematics assessments,  the Cultural Capital of the student, the School Resource Materials and to a lesser extent the Class Climate. In addition, ​​reading is significantly associated with the director's management -with negative effect-, the social origin of the student and the school's habitat. Likewise, the differential incidences of the categories (high / low) of the contextual factors (social origin, cultural capital, classroom environment, habitat, dependency and material resources) among the test performances were significant (p <0.01).

The main findings of the research show two main strategies for reproducing inequalities in performance: the family and the school system. The relational dynamic in the educational process slows down for some students and promotes for others the development of school effectiveness. School processes operate on basis of these unequal social relations and reaffirm the explanation that the variability in performance is not concentrated in the school.