Education policy in the United States: institutional changes in high-school education and their influence in Brazil

• Grant number: 15/06307-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2015
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education
• Principal Investigator: Nora Rut Krawczyk
• Grantee: Nora Rut Krawczyk
• Host Investigator: Steve Klees
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Educação (FE). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Maryland, College Park, United States

Abstract

This project aims to study the institutional changes of high school in the United States and the influences these changes exert in proposals for education reforms in Brazil. The project is part of the line of work carried out by the Grupo de Pesquisa de Políticas Públicas e Educação (GPPE - Research Group on Public Policies and Education) of the College of Education/Unicamp, which I am a member. It also embraces a set of concerns shared in the Grupo Interinstitucional Ensino Médio em Pesquisa (EMpesquisa - Inter-Institutional Group on High School Researches), which gathers researchers from several Brazilian universities. Policies implemented in the United States and disclosed in Brazil - through publications, forums, lectures, etc. - change significantly the relations involving the State, schools and communities, such as management changes in public schools (Charter Schools), changes in teaching-staff payments (variable payments as Performance Incentive) and implementation of curriculum standards (Common Core). These disclosed publications and events, held by corporate foundations and based on research studies, aim to provide evidence of the efficiency of policies. They are evaluations and papers based on research studies conceived, most of the cases, considering the scope of neoclassical economics, a reference to education policies predominant in the last 30 years. The production disclosure takes place at the same time that several of these policies are been implemented in different States of Brazil, under the guidance of private consultancy companies. Moreover, Draft Bills been discussed in the Congress might change education organization procedures, among other things. Furthermore, the definition of a National Common Basis of Curriculum for Basic Education is been discussed in the country.These measures introduce new forms of managing education, interfering in the pedagogical work and in the power relations of the educational system. They also influence on the school pathway students choose, on the working conditions for teaching staffs and on family behaviors. The justification is to turn flexible the offer and efficiency of the educational system.Since the main adopted model for the ongoing implementation (or debates) of education changes on Brazil's educational system is this current configuration proposed in the United States, it is necessary to assess the real institutional scenario of the U.S. schools. This is the proposal for my postdoctoral project as detailed in the following pages. There is much yet to understand in this field of studies in order to broaden and qualify the education debate in Brazil. (AU)