Children taking part in the O Círculo da Matemática do Brasil project in 2014 presented an average increase in their mathematical performance of 7.3%. The number is a result of the Mathematics Competence Index, structured on a few questions that test students’ comprehension and adapted to the first cycle of Primary School. The 7.3% return rate is high when compared to the historic performance of Brazilian students in the subject and surpasses the 5.7% reached by the project in 2013.
The most expressive results came from students from São Paulo (16.8%), Rio de Janeiro (13.9%), Brasília (12.6%), Fortaleza (6.5%), Porto Alegre (3.8%) and Belém (3.2%). Instruments for monitoring and assessing included meetings, the observation of classes and qualitative analysis, analysis of videos of classes, monitoring of reports from teachers and the application of a questionnaire at the start and end of activities. Over 6,000 interviews were conducted, with 12,000 observations.
Another indicator employed was variation, higher or lower, between the grade of the first test (applied at the start of O Círculo da Matemática do Brasil classes) and the second exam (applied at the end of the program). Brasília presented the highest variation between the two grades: 99.02%. In second place was Duque de Caxias (81.2%), followed by Belém (80.15%), Fortaleza (73.22%), Porto Alegre (63.6%) and Rio de Janeiro (60.4%).
In 2014, project participants included 7,912 students from 67 schools in Aracaju-SE, Belém-PA, Brasília-DF, Duque de Caxias-RJ, Fortaleza-CE, Porto Alegre-RS, Porto Velho-RO, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Salvador-BA and São Paulo-SP.
In 2015, the O Círculo da Matemática do Brasil classes are being taught to 5,000 students. Beyond that, 1,800 teachers will be trained and become replicators – taking The Math Circle approach to 55,000 students around the country.
