Almeida, S., Firmino J., Mesquita, J. Hortas, M. J., Nunes, L. C. (2022). Academic performance and territorial patterns of students with an immigrant background in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Evidence at the municipal, school and class levels. Cidades, Comunidades e Territórios.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the territorial distribution of students with an immigrant background enrolled in the 3rd cycle of basic education in Portugal and on the differences in the academic performance of students enrolled in the last year of this cycle based on their birthplace and immigrant background when compared to their native peers in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. These differences are examined by estimating several linear regression models using as dependent variable three performance indicators – student’s results in the 9th grade national exams in the Maths and Portuguese Language subjects, as well as a binary indicator of a successful academic record during the 3rd cycle. The observed results confirm the hypothesis that there are significant differences in the students’ academic performance depending on their immigrant background and birthplace: (i) 2nd-generation and 1st-generation students perform worse than Native students; (ii) students from Brazil and PALOP countries have the most significant differences compared to students from Portugal. We also identify that a substantial part of these differences is already present in the end of the 2nd cycle of basic education. Furthermore, our results indicate that a considerable part of the differences is explained by factors inherent to the school and the class of the student, and not so much to the municipality, which might indicate the existence of some type of segregation experienced by these students, either at intra-municipality level (by the different schools) or intra-school level (by the different classes).
https://revistas.rcaap.pt/cct/article/view/25864
Reis, A. B. (2022). Education Policies. In J. M. Fernandes, P. C. Magalhães, A. C. Pinto (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Portuguese Politics. Oxford University Press.
Abstract: The last 45 years in Portugal witnessed a huge expansion of enrolment rates in secondary and higher education. Simultaneously, the participation in international assessments like PISA since 2000 shows an improvement in Portuguese results. Until 2015 there was a trend to extend external evaluation from secondary to lower levels of education, which contributed to stronger school accountability namely through the publication of school rankings. In 2015 some national exams were eliminated, and the future evolution is uncertain. Teachers’ training, evaluation and remuneration have probably been the main factor of dispute in the political arena regarding the educational system. The renewal of the teaching personal that will be needed in the next decade is one of the major challenges facing the educational system and will depend a lot on the redefinition of these policies.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-portuguese-politics-9780192855404?cc=pt&lang=en&
Nunes, L. C., Reis, A. B., Freitas P., Conceição, D. (2022). Teacher Turnover in Portuguese Public Schools. (Policy Brief). Centro de Economia da Educação da Nova School of Business and Economics. Retrieved from
In this Policy Brief we analyse the turnover of teachers between groups of public schools in mainland Portugal between the academic years 2008/09 and 2017/18. We also investigated whether these movements are associated with the characteristics of the groups and the composition of their teaching staff, for example, in terms of the type of contract and the level of education. In the current context of teacher shortages in Portugal, where stability is a determining factor in attracting teachers to the career, it is particularly important to know the degree of turnover of current teachers in different types of schools. This work intends to contribute to a more detailed knowledge of the turnover of teachers and, in this way, to support public policies that lead to greater stability of teachers in schools.
https://www.novasbe.unl.pt/Portals/0/KnowledgeCenters/Economics%20of%20Education/Projects/Policy%20Brief%20Rotatividade%20Docentes/Policy%20Briefing_2_Final_PT.pdf
(currently only available in Portuguese)
Nunes, L. C., Reis A. B., Freitas P., Conceição D. (2022). Educational Measures in the Current Context of Lack of Teachers. (Policy Brief). Centro de Economia da Educação da Nova School of Business and Economics.
In this Policy Brief we frame the future recruitment needs for new teachers, as well as some characteristics of the current teachers in comparison with other education systems. We also present some summary statistics on the recent evolution of the portuguese students' achievement which should be present in the moment of defining educational policies with the goal of recruiting new teachers. Finally, we list several education policies that have been presented and considered in order to mitigate the problem of lack of teachers. We also identify in the scientific literature past sudies about similar policies implemented in other education systems, pointing out the evidence of their impact on the recruitment of teachers and student achievement.
https://www.novasbe.unl.pt/Portals/0/KnowledgeCenters/Economics%20of%20Education/Projects/Policy%20Brief%20Necessidades%20Docentes/Policy%20Briefing_Midterm_Final.pdf
(currently only available in Portuguese)