Teachers\' grading patterns and student learning: evidence from São Paulo state public schools

• Autor(a) principal: Carnaúba, Fernando Amaral
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Texto Completo: http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/12/12138/tde-22022016-104726/
• topic: Avaliação da aprendizagem; Econometria; Econometrics; Item response theory; Rendimento escolar; School achievement; Standardized exams; Teoria de resposta ao item

We propose a new method for measuring teacher grading standards that is based on the Item Response Theory framework, and investigate the relationship between teacher grading standards and student learning in São Paulo State public schools in light of this new approach. We simulate a policy in which student achievement in a standardized examination (Saresp) is used as the passing grade criterion, setting a unique grading standard for each grade and subject that would substitute the current teacher-defined grading. We estimate the optimal standards that maximize student achievement under this policy, and compare them with the standards estimated for each individual teacher. Our estimates indicate that teachers currently apply standards that are, on average, more lenient than the optimal policy standards