How to raise children's early literacy? The influence of family, teacher, and classroom in Northeast Brazil

Comparative Education Review

Volumn 43, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 1-35

  Fuller, Bruce ^a   Dellagnelo, Lucia ^a   Strath, Annelie ^a   Barretto Bastos, Eni Santana ^a   Holanda Maia, Maurício ^a   Lopes De Matos, Kelma Socorro ^a   Luiza Portela, Adélia ^a   Lerche Vieira, Sofia ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0033249366     PISSN: 00104086     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/447543     Document Type: Article

References (37)

1. See B. Fuller and P. Clark, "Raising School Effectiveness While Ignoring Culture?" Review of Educational Research 64, no. 1 (1994): 119-57; M. Lockheed et al., Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991); R. Harbison and E. Hanushek, Educational Performance of the Poor: Lessons from Rural Northeast Brazil (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
2. See B. Fuller and P. Clark, "Raising School Effectiveness While Ignoring Culture?" Review of Educational Research 64, no. 1 (1994): 119-57; M. Lockheed et al., Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991); R. Harbison and E. Hanushek, Educational Performance of the Poor: Lessons from Rural Northeast Brazil (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
3. See B. Fuller and P. Clark, "Raising School Effectiveness While Ignoring Culture?" Review of Educational Research 64, no. 1 (1994): 119-57; M. Lockheed et al., Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991); R. Harbison and E. Hanushek, Educational Performance of the Poor: Lessons from Rural Northeast Brazil (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
4. The "opportunity to learn" construct is now a common focus of school effectiveness studies. See L. Anderson, Increasing Teacher Effectiveness (Paris: Unesco, 1991); and H. Stevenson and J. Stigler, The Learning Gap (New York: Summit, 1992).
5. The "opportunity to learn" construct is now a common focus of school effectiveness studies. See L. Anderson, Increasing Teacher Effectiveness (Paris: Unesco, 1991); and H. Stevenson and J. Stigler, The Learning Gap (New York: Summit, 1992).
6. Harbison and Hanushek, for instance, found that in rural schools of northeast Brazil, the quality of school facilities did not help explain children's primary school achievement. This lack of relationship has been found in many other developing countries. See M. Lockheed et al.
7. See P. Glewwe, "Student Achievement and Schooling Choice in Low-Income Countries: Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Human Resources 29, no. 3 (1994): 843-64.
8. The debate among researchers around the class size issue is lively, both in developing and industrialized countries. For example, see J. Finn and C. Achilles, "Answers and Questions about Class Size: A Statewide Experiment," American Educational Research Journal (1990): 557-77; D. Card and A. Krueger, "Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States "Journal of Political Economy 100 (1992): 1-40.
9. The debate among researchers around the class size issue is lively, both in developing and industrialized countries. For example, see J. Finn and C. Achilles, "Answers and Questions about Class Size: A Statewide Experiment," American Educational Research Journal (1990): 557-77; D. Card and A. Krueger, "Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States "Journal of Political Economy 100 (1992): 1-40.
10. Fuller and Clarke; Harbison and Hanushek.
11. For a review of this evidence, see B. Fuller, "School Choice: Who Gains, Who Loses," in Issues in Science and Technology (Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1996).
12. For review, see chap. 4 in Lockheed et al. The institutionalization of simple pedagogical technologies is a worldwide problem. In the United States, education historians have documented how the introduction of classroom innovations often fails to dislodge highly embedded practices. See D. Tyack and E. Hansot, Learning Together: A History of Coeducation in American Schools (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992).
13. See L. Anderson and R. Burns, Research in Classrooms: The Study of Teachers, Teaching and Instruction (Oxford: Pergamon, 1989); B. Fuller, H. Hua, and C. Synder, "When Girls Learn More than Boys: The Influence of Time in School and Pedagogy in Botswana," Comparative Education Review 38, no. 3 (1994): 347-76.
14. See L. Anderson and R. Burns, Research in Classrooms: The Study of Teachers, Teaching and Instruction (Oxford: Pergamon, 1989); B. Fuller, H. Hua, and C. Synder, "When Girls Learn More than Boys: The Influence of Time in School and Pedagogy in Botswana," Comparative Education Review 38, no. 3 (1994): 347-76.
15. See A. Beaton, I. Mullis, M. Martin, E. Gonzalez, D. Kelly, and T. Smith, Mathematics Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (Chestnut Hill, Mass.: Boston College, 1996). These findings are descriptively consistent with earlier work on teaching practices in Japan. See, e.g., Stevenson and Stigler. The extent to which more complex teaching practices and classroom social interaction leads to higher achievement, after taking into account other home and school factors, remains not well understood.
16. See Fuller, Hua, and Synder; J. Capper, S. Nderitu, and S. Ogula, "An Evaluation of the Kisumu School Improvement Program," working paper (Aga Khan Foundation and USAID, Nairobi, 1997); M. Freedson, "Textbook Use in Rural Bilingual Classrooms: A Study in Chiapas Mexico," working paper (Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Mass., 1996); K. Hyde et al., "Village Based Schools in Mangochi: An Evaluation Report," working paper (University of Malawi, 1996); J. Muskin, "An Evaluation of Save the Children's Community Schools Project in Kolondieba Mali," working paper (Florida State University, Tallahassee, 1996).
17. See Fuller, Hua, and Synder; J. Capper, S. Nderitu, and S. Ogula, "An Evaluation of the Kisumu School Improvement Program," working paper (Aga Khan Foundation and USAID, Nairobi, 1997); M. Freedson, "Textbook Use in Rural Bilingual Classrooms: A Study in Chiapas Mexico," working paper (Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Mass., 1996); K. Hyde et al., "Village Based Schools in Mangochi: An Evaluation Report," working paper (University of Malawi, 1996); J. Muskin, "An Evaluation of Save the Children's Community Schools Project in Kolondieba Mali," working paper (Florida State University, Tallahassee, 1996).
18. See Fuller, Hua, and Synder; J. Capper, S. Nderitu, and S. Ogula, "An Evaluation of the Kisumu School Improvement Program," working paper (Aga Khan Foundation and USAID, Nairobi, 1997); M. Freedson, "Textbook Use in Rural Bilingual Classrooms: A Study in Chiapas Mexico," working paper (Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Mass., 1996); K. Hyde et al., "Village Based Schools in Mangochi: An Evaluation Report," working paper (University of Malawi, 1996); J. Muskin, "An Evaluation of Save the Children's Community Schools Project in Kolondieba Mali," working paper (Florida State University, Tallahassee, 1996).
19. See Fuller, Hua, and Synder; J. Capper, S. Nderitu, and S. Ogula, "An Evaluation of the Kisumu School Improvement Program," working paper (Aga Khan Foundation and USAID, Nairobi, 1997); M. Freedson, "Textbook Use in Rural Bilingual Classrooms: A Study in Chiapas Mexico," working paper (Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Mass., 1996); K. Hyde et al., "Village Based Schools in Mangochi: An Evaluation Report," working paper (University of Malawi, 1996); J. Muskin, "An Evaluation of Save the Children's Community Schools Project in Kolondieba Mali," working paper (Florida State University, Tallahassee, 1996).
20. See, e.g., R. Suva and I. Esposito, "Analfabetismo e sub-escolarização: Ainda um desafiõ (São Paulo, 1990); F. Reimers, ̃Education and the Consolidation of Democracy in Latin America: Innovations to Provide Basic Education with Equity,̃ government report (Cambridge, Mass., 1993).
21. See, e.g., R. Suva and I. Esposito, "Analfabetismo e sub-escolarização: Ainda um desafiõ (São Paulo, 1990); F. Reimers, ̃Education and the Consolidation of Democracy in Latin America: Innovations to Provide Basic Education with Equity,̃ government report (Cambridge, Mass., 1993).
22. The Harbison and Hanushek book (n. 1 above) represents one of the finest production function analyses that has ever been conducted. In addition, the book's reference list includes original empirical articles upon which the authors base many of their findings.
23. For example, work by North Americans on classrooms in East Asia often leads to an interpretive celebration of their teacher-centered and orderly qualities despite the fact that leading actors in different sectors of Japanese and Chinese society are highly critical of what they see as overly regimented, nondemocratic forms of schooling. On the case of Japan, see M. Sato, "The Dilemma in Managing to Teach and Learn: A Historical View of Classroom Life in Japan," in Politics and Classroom Life in International Perspective, (New York: Garland, in press). See also G. N. Mello, ed., Cidadania e competilwidade:Desafos do terceiro milenio (Citizenship and competitiveness: Challenges of the third millenium) (São Paulo: Cortez, 1994).
24. For example, work by North Americans on classrooms in East Asia often leads to an interpretive celebration of their teacher-centered and orderly qualities despite the fact that leading actors in different sectors of Japanese and Chinese society are highly critical of what they see as overly regimented, nondemocratic forms of schooling. On the case of Japan, see M. Sato, "The Dilemma in Managing to Teach and Learn: A Historical View of Classroom Life in Japan," in Politics and Classroom Life in International Perspective, (New York: Garland, in press). See also G. N. Mello, ed., Cidadania e competilwidade:Desafos do terceiro milenio (Citizenship and competitiveness: Challenges of the third millenium) (São Paulo: Cortez, 1994).
25. Phase I findings appear in Centro de Pesquisas para Educação e Cultura (CENPEC), "Education, Schooling and Community Project: Classroom Survey Substudy" (São Paulo: CENPEC, 1996).
26. K. Lopes de Matos, M. Holanda Maia, and S. Lerche Vieira, Estudo de observaçãu de salas de aula: Estado de aula (Fortaleza: University of Ceará, 1996); A. Luiza Portela and E. Barretto Basto, Conherendo o universo de ,sala de aula: Um estudo de observação em sala de aula (Salvador: University of Bahia, 1996).
27. K. Lopes de Matos, M. Holanda Maia, and S. Lerche Vieira, Estudo de observaçãu de salas de aula: Estado de aula (Fortaleza: University of Ceará, 1996); A. Luiza Portela and E. Barretto Basto, Conherendo o universo de ,sala de aula: Um estudo de observação em sala de aula (Salvador: University of Bahia, 1996).
28. The recording of activity sequences was motivated both by the phase 1 qualitative study, which suggested a normative routine that most teachers followed, and by classroom studies in other countries where micropedagogical behaviors were tracked (e.g., number and type of questions that teachers ask of children), but the more fundamental data on types of work and activities structured by the teacher remained unknown. For review, see L. Anderson, "The Classroom Environment Study: Teaching for Learning," Comparative Education Review 31 (1987): 69-87.
29. Fora review, see M. Sadker and D. Sadker, Failing at Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls (New York: Scribner, 1994).
30. This classroom observation instrument was adapted from a protocol originally developed by Jane Stallings for a study of classrooms populated by low-income children in the United States. Elements of the instrument have been used in classroom studies in southern Africa and India conducted by Prema Clarke, Bruce Fuller, Roseline Ntshingila-Khosa, Wes Synder, and their colleagues. The instrument was further modified, based on our fieldwork and pilot testing in Brazil during phase 1. The first and last segments, pertaining to the basic sequence of instructional activities, had not been used before in a developing country setting. We also added elements that recorded the presence of instructional materials made by teachers or students because of the wide interest in constructivist forms of pedagogy among Brazilian educators. We also improved the observer's ability to record behavioral data separately for male and female students.
31. Note that this sampling design introduces two sources of selection and treatment bias. First, children who leave the school during the 2-year period prior to our visit are not in the sample. Bias is introduced if these children and their families differ from those that remain. Second, children who are repeating grade 1 have been exposed longer to the teacher (all of 1995 and a portion of 1996) compared to students who were promoted to grade 2. To address this possible bias we report some achievement models that separate grade 1 from grade 2 students.
32. Most composite measures were constructed after conducting principal component analyses for related measures. For instance, several of the principal interview questions related to the size and the degree of formalization that characterized the school. A principal component analysis was conducted to assess whether these individual items were intercorrelated. In a few instances the index is simply the sum of related items, such as the summed number of work tasks assigned to children at home. For students, the ELE score is expressed simply as the total number of correct items. Work tasks at home are summed, as mentioned above. The child reported the number of books in her or his home within 3-point scales: 0, 1-5 books, more than 5 books. Indices for teachers included the sequence of discrete classroom activities that are simply reported in terms of the share of time spent on each, relative to the 60-minute period observed. The use of instructional materials during this first hour is expressed as an index of the principal material utilized, primarily student notebooks and textbooks. Materials observed, though not necessarily used in the classroom activities, are expressed as an additive index. The various teacher behaviors and corresponding student behaviors can be consolidated into indices in different ways. The method that yielded the most distinct results, in terms of their relationship to actual student literacy levels, was to run a principal components analysis and select those items that were empirically intercorrelaled. Below we will detail the character of these behavioral indices, which did, in fact, prove to be related to early literacy levels. The conceptual nature of these behavioral indices, essentially describing the teacher's pedagogical practices and way of interacting with children, differ somewhat between behavior aimed at boys vs. girls.
33. Harbison and Hanushek (n. 1 above) also found repeating students were performing at significantly lower levels, relative to primarily school students who were being promoted.
34. In the southern African context, for instance, see B. Fuller, J. Singer, and M. Keiley, "Why Do Girls Leave School in Southern Africa?" Social Foces 74 (1995): 657-82.
35. The models in table cannot be directly compared to those in table 4. The former are specified at the child level, the latter are regressions of mean ELE scores for students nested in each teacher's classroom.
36. A Bryk and S. Raudenbush, Hierarchical Linear Models (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 1992).
37. H. Kraemer, "Kappa coefficient," in Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences, ed. S. Kotz and N. Johnson (New York: Wiley, 1983).