Difference-in-Differences beyond Ideal Conditions: Methods for Evaluating Municipal Education Policies in São Paulo

The data cover the period from 2000 to 2021 and are aggregated at the subprefecture level, the city’s main administrative units. Two primary sources are employed: Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) data for 2000 and 2010, used for an exploratory contextual analysis, and annual administrative records on elementary school dropout, approval, and repetition, used for the core DiD evaluation.

The longitudinal structure and territorial coverage of these data allow for comparisons of outcome trends between subprefectures exposed to CEUs and non-exposed areas over time, supporting the empirical strategy despite the absence of individual-level information.