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

The present article deals with the application of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology to identify the most weighty 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, school efficiency.