The use of data envelopment analysis to estimate the educational efficiency of Brazilian schools

Abstract

The present article is an excerpt from a research published in the Journal Revista Ensaio: Avaliação e Políticas Públicas em Educação (2021). The present study adopted the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology, to identify the weightiest factors that are associated with student performance on large-scale assessments, amongst them, the permanent assessment system for basic education (spaece) test. The DEA Slacks-Based-Measure (SBM) model was used to estimate the relative efficiency of school units in the City of Sobral (CE), one of the most prominent Brazilian counties in the educational scenario. It was evident that the presence of libraries, computer labs, sports courts and rooms for special care in school units constitutes a significant factor associated with the high performance of students, impacting, therefore, on school efficiency.

Keywords

• data envelopment analysis
• dea slacks-based-measure model
• relative efficiency
• systems assessment
• elementary education