A emblemática situação do 3º ciclo em matemática na rede municipal de Belo Horizonte: o caso da Escola Fernando Dias Costa

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the iconic status of the students’ low performance in Mathematics at 3rd cycle (7th to 9th grade) from the Municipal School Fernando Dias Costa (EMFDC), which belongs to municipal education network of Belo Horizonte (RME-BH), evidenced in the results of the evaluation system of the municipality - Avalia-BH – between 2009 and 2011. Based on the results presented during the survey period (three years in a row), over than 65% of pupils in 9th grade figured in the range “Below the basic level” according to the Standard Performance for Mathematics Proficiency Level in Avalia-BH. If compared with the students' proficiency of the previous cycle, the 2nd cycle (4th to 6th year) from the same school, there is a distance in comparison with results obtained, when the index “Below basic level” of the 5th grade students drops to 22,2% in 2011, considering that the pupils are practically the same. My proposal is to identify possible factors that corroborate for the students’ low performance in 3rd cycle. Assuming that the practices adopted by teachers and the actions of the management team influence school performance, we intend to investigate how much these practices and actions have affected the results, in the view of the direction, of the coordination, of the teaching, of the teachers and 3rd cycle’s students from the searched school. For the Study Case, qualitative and quantitative methods were used, through the using of semi-structured interview for the management team (director, vice and coordinators) and Mathematics’ discipline teachers, and, through the using of a question mark sheet for the students of the 3rd cycle. The main theoretical interlocutors used were the authors Heloísa Lück, Creso, Franco e Alícia Bonamino, Thelma Polon, Cínthia Almeida, Marcelo Câmara, Maurice Tardif, among others which have addressed the theme, such as: conceptions of mathematics teaching and failure in learning, dimensions of school management, effective schools, teaching practices and teacher training. Finally, the research field was confronted with theoretical contributions and, based on the observed gaps, a Plan of Action as implementation proposal was elaborated, aiming for a situation improvement of the searched school.