Patterns of privilege : school inputs in Brazil

Brazil’s Bolsa Família and its impacts on student enrollment and achievement is studied increasingly frequently, but the quality of education received by Bolsa Família recipients is often not factored in. This study uses school data and the Bolsa Família registry to map patterns of school inputs for all Brazilian students, and to discover any patterns in inputs for specifically Bolsa Família recipient students. The availability of all types of school inputs follow similar regional patterns: low quantities of materials and low quality facilities in the North and Northeast regions, and the reverse in the South and Southeast, with the most consistently high averages of all inputs found in the Central-West. High proportions of these students tend to be present in the North and Northeast, affecting their access to school inputs. These students also tended to lack infrastructure and technology inputs, which likely have a mixed impact on student performance.