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New Research Center Aims to Improve Learning in Brazilian Schools

FGV CIPE will diagnose issues in the education sector and propose solutions based on the design, experimentation, and evaluation of public policies.

Despite having structured an education policy, invested resources, and significantly expanded access in recent decades, Brazil ranked among the 15 worst-performing countries in mathematics and science in the 2024 PISA assessment, which evaluates and compares education systems in 56 countries. Given the controversy surrounding Brazil’s investment in and universalization of basic education without achieving improvements in learning outcomes, it has become necessary to evaluate how education policies are being implemented in the country. With this focus, the Center for the Study of Educational Policy Implementation (FGV CIPE) was established at the São Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV EAESP).

Funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp), FGV CIPE will investigate the implementation processes of educational policies in the state of São Paulo, aiming to understand the existing challenges and how to address them.

Researchers will focus on five areas of study: Curriculum Policy Design; Communication and Stakeholder Engagement; School Management and Leadership; Teaching and Curriculum Policies; and Curriculum Policies and Student Educational Development.

Once the problems in these areas are diagnosed, the second phase will involve designing, testing, and evaluating modular solutions to improve curriculum implementation, with the goal of positively impacting student learning and reducing educational inequalities.

In addition to literature and document analysis, the diagnostics will be based on semi-structured interviews, field visits, and questionnaires administered to education professionals. To carry out these activities, the center relies on a multidisciplinary network of partners and affiliated researchers from universities across Brazil and abroad.

Launch of the New Research Center

FGV CIPE was officially launched on February 11 at FGV EAESP, in a public event. In the morning, a meeting was held with all researchers involved in the center, including those from the University of São Paulo (USP), Fundação Carlos Chagas (FCC), Instituto Unibanco, and the Department of Education—all partners of FGV CIPE.

According to the center’s coordinator, Gabriela Lotta, the purpose of the meeting was to plan the center’s operations and promote knowledge exchange among researchers from different areas so that the entire team could contribute and stay informed about the studies to be developed.

“The goal was to create a shared identity around the research to be conducted, while also outlining the center’s future plans,” Lotta explained. In the afternoon, the launch event featured a panel discussion.

“The aim of the discussion was to foster a collective conversation about the challenges of implementing education policies and to understand FGV CIPE’s role in bringing scientific knowledge to practice in order to improve the state of education in Brazil,” she said.

A new website for the center will be launched soon, where more information will be made available.