Abstract

DAMIANI, Magda Floriana; DUMITH, Samuel; HORTA, Bernardo Lessa  and  GIGANTE, Denise. Infant education and educational longevity: data from a longitudinal study. Est. Aval. Educ. [online]. 2011, vol.22, n.50, pp.515-533. ISSN 0103-6831.

This paper discusses the relationship between educational longevity (defined as completion of Primary and Basic Education - Primary + Secondary) and attendance at nursery schools and preschools, in an initial sample of 1,076 members of a longitudinal study, which began in the 1980s. The subjects of this study attended nurseries and/or preschools before the promulgation of the National Education Guidelines and Bases Act (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional), in 1996, responsible for the integration of Infant Education to the Basic Educational System. Statistical analyses indicated that nursery attendance was not associated with longevity neither in Primary nor in Basic Education, unlike pre-school attendance. Even controlling the effect of family income, maternal education, the child's sex and ethnicity, the subjects who attended pre-school had 1.88 times greater chance of longevity in Primary Education and 1.66% in Basic Education, than those who did not attend Infant Education. Although available data is not capable of providing an explanation for the differences between the effects of nurseries and preschools on educational longevity, it seems plausible to think that the observed difference is primarily due to the child care culture that characterized nursery schools in the city, at the time the subjects attended them. Such a culture contrasted with that of pre-schools, where educational activities were, probably, more frequento.

Keywords : Early Childhood Education; Student Attendance; Longitudinal Studies; Statistical Data.

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