Longitudinal characterization of internal Portuguese students’ performance in exams at the end of secondary scholl (2006-2011)

Abstract

This article focuses on the performance of Portuguese internal secondary school students from 2006 to 2011 in national examinations. To achieve this, the analysis was founded on the differentiation of this performance by subsystem (public and private), by type of course and regions. It also studied the results for the discipline of Mathematics A. The study included records of examinations of all internal students in the six years in question that performed national exams in the 11th and 12th grade. A data base was developed in order to contain all relevant information for each record. Research methodology is quantitative with a longitudinal nature, integrating variables related to internal and external classifications. All techniques applied aimed to obtain reliable answers and that can be validated. In conclusion, regardless of the specificity of each of the dimensions considered, students have better performances in internal evaluations than the external. Over the six years there has been stability in these ratings by discipline and region, although they are different. It was found that the origin of district of students influences their performance. It was found a variability of Mathematics examinations higher than internal ratings in the discipline.