Standardized tests in Argentina show the impact of different inequalities

The latest results of standardized educational tests in Argentina point to a downward trend in student academic performance since these tests began to be compiled.

As alarming as this may be, we wanted to analyze in detail the extensive microdata obtained from students, families and administrators to try to find out the different factors that have led to these meager educational results and thus provide more effective guidelines for educational policy.

Individual attributes and their contribution

With the results of the 2021 Learning Tests in hand, we can analyze the contribution of each attribute (individual, family, home, and school) to the educational performance of sixth grade students.

The presence of each of these components can generate distortions in the overall results after the pandemic has passed.

Gender and academic performance

In the first instance, a noticeable gender difference is observed; Regardless of the number of characteristics that are incorporated into the model, women have better performance in language but worse results in mathematics.

Being a woman compared to being a man reduces the chances of not understanding a text adapted to their age by 2.6 points, while the probability of not solving mathematical problems with repeated and explicit information increases by 5.1 points.

Although striking, these preliminary results seem to become a systematic fact, taking into account their repetition throughout the entire time window of the series analyzed (the same pattern is observed for tests from 2016 onwards). The results for language and mathematics seem to be verified with relative cognitive independence between one subject and the other.

The importance of early education

On the other hand, early education helps to maintain levels above the basic requirements by around 3.5 points for language. Also in mathematics the effect is almost similar (3.1 points).

Conversely, repeating a course increases the chances of having poor performance the following school year, mainly in language results.

The socioeconomic factor

For its part, the socioeconomic vector of the home has an undeniable influence: the most unfavorable values ​​disproportionately involve students immersed in families with fewer resources. For example, the role of overcrowding appears as a predictor of results, increasing the chances of poor results in language by 3 points and by 2.5 for mathematics.

Education is thus inserted into a multidimensional poverty curve, in which poverty reproduces conditions that prevent it from escaping.

Parents and their cultural level

Another determining aspect is related to what in the literature is called informal human capital, usually linked to the family and home environment. The longer schooling of the parents, and mainly of the mother (who to a greater extent absorbs the care of the children) has notorious effects on academic performance.

The fact that the mother has finished primary school decreases by 2.1 points the possibility of falling into the lowest levels of language compared to not having done so, while this effect reaches 3.1 points if the mother has completed secondary school .

In turn, the results go up 2.1 points in mathematics if the mother has finished primary school and receive a “coverage” of 2.8 points if the mother has completed postgraduate studies.

These effects are foreseeable after the passing of the pandemic and the consequent increase in time at home. Some circumstances that have caused a greater impact of the informal channel compared to previous years.

Study and work: economy of time

It would not be surprising to think that a student (especially at an early age) who must absorb productive tasks in the labor market has worse performance in school, since they would have less time available for educational purposes.

Although the results reinforce this hypothesis, a full understanding requires a comprehensive analysis of time use. Not only work compresses attention in studies, but also having to take care of tasks, housework and even farming jobs (especially important in some regions of the interior of the country).

For example, those students who frequently take care of a sibling or other relative have a probability of performing worse by 1.8 percentage points than those who do not.

On the other hand, those students who assiduously carry out domestic chores show a probability of falling in the two lowest levels at 2.4 points for language and 1.8 points for mathematics.

In turn, students who spend a large part of their time doing cultivation tasks increase their chances of falling into the low levels of the tests by around 4.5 points for both language and mathematics.

Soft skills

“Soft” skills not linked to specific technical content play a leading role in these standardized tests. The ability to get along with peers influences between 2 and 3 points in the probabilities of having a good academic performance, showing a correspondence between cognitive and non-cognitive dimensions.

It could be added almost indissolubly to the school environment and classroom climate: having been teased or witnessing insults or aggression in the classroom appear as predictors of low performance, and are even enhanced with their frequency.

The importance of internet access

The presence of the Internet or the existence of a computer at home were decisive in the results, with a decrease in the probability of falling into the two lowest levels by 2 points in language.

Even the existence of a television service or even a platform of streaming reduces the probability of falling into the two lowest levels by 5.2 points and 4 points respectively, combining both the capacity for educational continuity in times of pandemic and the socioeconomic level of the household.

The pandemic exacerbated inequalities

The effect of the pandemic on the effective bonding of students was mediated by the quality of the interactions and by the importance of early return to face-to-face.

However, the truancy rates do not tell the whole story, nor can the pandemic be interpreted as the sole cause of these lackluster academic performances. They were already evident before the pandemic.

These inequalities, far from finding a path of convergence, ran into a unique and disruptive event that only exacerbated them. The detailed analysis of the available microdata is a tool for designing effective policies for its correction.

These inequalities, far from finding a path of convergence, ran into a unique and disruptive event that only exacerbated them. The detailed analysis of the available microdata is a useful tool for designing effective remediation policies.

Julian Gabriel Leone, Researcher in Economics. School of Economics, Buenos Aires’ University and Sofía Kastika, Researcher and Teacher, Buenos Aires’ University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original.