Cueto, S., Guerrero, G., León, J., Zevallos, A. y Sugimaru, C. (2010). De quinto de primaria al fin de la secundaria en seis años: un estudio longitudinal en Puno (Documento de Trabajo N° 56). Lima: GRADE; CIES.

This study reports the results of a longitudinal design in which 304 students from urban and rural areas of Puno were followed. The students included were in fifth grade of primary school in 2000 and were due to be in fifth grade of secondary school (the end of basic education) in 2006, when they were re-surveyed and re-interviewed. Seventy-six percent of the students in the original sample were re-interviewed; of the remainder, most had migrated out of Puno, according to reports from friends and relatives. 69% of those interviewed had advanced without repeating, 13% had dropped out and the rest had repeated one or more grades.

On the one hand, the results suggest that performance on a standardised mathematics test in fifth grade has a statistically significant weight in explaining performance in reading comprehension and mathematics six years later, as well as the probability of advancing to the next grade without repeating. On the other hand, dropping out of school was mainly associated with the student’s need to work.

Overall, the study suggests the need to find mechanisms to support the educational performance of students from contexts of greater poverty and/or lower performance, who are not discriminated against by the system, but whose specific needs are not met.