“Reading performance of chilean students : a llok at primary education and its influence on reading skills between 2012 and 2017

Abstract

This thesis advances two main questions about school trajectories and reading performance, which is not very developed for Chile. First, it seeks to identify the patterns of educational trajectory in reading achievement for Chilean students, from 2nd-grade to 8th-grade. Furthermore, second, it seeks to identify predictive factors that affect these individual educational trajectories, particularly for high and low performing students in reading. Students' cohorts who take the SIMCE reading test in 2nd grade in 2012 and then in 6th grade in 2016; and students of 4th graders in 2013 and then 8th grade in 2017. They are used, forming pseudo-panels of students in each cohort. Academic mobility matrices are constructed in a first instance, and then an ordered logistic probability regression model is applied, with which the projections of belonging to specific categories of reading performance will be identified. The study provides robust conclusions that the most relevant factor in explaining academic performance is each student's past performance. Additionally, it is characterized that student mobility towards higher reading skills falls along the student's academic trajectory. Finally, it is identified that factors such as the cultural capital of families, preferences, and reading habits of parents are good predictors of permanence in the levels of reading performance. This thesis provides reliable conclusions for students who progress in the Chilean education system expectedly. It is recognized that the main conclusions are not directly related to students who repeat the course since these students present different educational backgrounds than the students analyzed.