International Comparison

1.     Curriculum Content  

The Curriculum content in Brazil and in the USA, can be defined by the meso level of education, meaning the States and schools. However, different from the USA, Brazil has National Guidelines which should be followed by the meso and micro level.

2.     Assessment and Qualifications  

Child Education in Brazil and Early Childhood in the USA don’t have specific guidelines about assessments, but in both countries, there is a suggestion to keep track of the children development.

In Primary and Secondary education there are mandatory high-stakes tests in both countries used for checking the educational quality of schools. During the learning processes in both countries the meso and the micro level can decide which type of assessment to use to evaluate the students’ learning (INEP, 2017; Texas Education Agency,2017).

In Brazil at the Higher Education level there is also a high-stakes test to evaluate quality (INEP, 2017). And in the USA the institutions must follow guidelines from accreditation agencies. There is nothing determined in both countries concerning assessments during the courses.

Regarding qualifications, overall both countries have the same accreditations, except in Higher Education, when in the USA there are more paths determined by the type of study.

3.     National Framework

The National Framework in the USA in general is the same as in Brazil, the starting age in Child Education and in Primary are the same, for example. However, in the USA there are more path possibilities during Primary and Secondary Education and in Higher Education usually during the first few years’ courses are broader (Retrieved from http://aestudyabroad.com/us-education-system/gat/), while in Brazil they are already connected to a specific degree one is pursuing (BRASIL, 1996).

Both countries have public and private schools, but in the USA Homeschooling is also a possibility, as in Brazil this is still an illegal practice, although in the last couple years the justice system is allowing parents to homeschool their children in Brazil.

4.     Inspection  

In Brazil, all States and institutions in all educational levels that receive the government’s money must make a yearly audit to be submitted to the government (Brasil, 2011). Likewise, the same happens in the USA, however in this case independent auditors are responsible for this task.   

5.     Pedagogy and Didactics  

In terms of Child, Primary and Secondary Education in the USA and in Brazil, there are almost no guidelines concerning this topic. In the USA the teachers are told to use the best pedagogical practices and in Brazil they have recommended material and textbooks, and must create an Annual Lesson Plan that has to be approved by the school’s principal and then submitted to the State or Municipal Secretariat. Concerning Higher Education in both countries teachers are free to decide how to teach.

6.     Special Needs Education 

The main difference concerning this topic in the two countries is the inclusion of students with cognitive disabilities and high abilities in the special needs category in Brazil. Furthermore, in the USA there is an age limit to attend schools while in Brazil there is no age limit for these students.

7.     Language Minorities, Migrants, and Minority Students  

Contrary to Brazil that has only a few National guidelines concerning language minorities and minority students, the USA, in this specific case Texas, has a structured program defined by a state mandate to assure the integration of these minorities, including migrants (Texas Education Agency, 2017). The Brazilian law does not any guidelines concerning specifically migrants.

However, in Higher Education, Brazil has a quota system to ensure more equity in the access to education (BRASIL, 1996), while there is no formal law concerning this in the USA.  

8.     Professional Development  

Teachers’ professional development in the USA is regulated by a state law, while in Brazil this is a centralized national law. A specific degree is required in both countries to teach from Child Education to Secondary Education, but in Brazil it is a Secondary Education degree and in the USA an undergraduate degree (Texas Education Agency, 2017; BRASIL, 1996). Concerning Higher Education in public Universities, while in Texas the requirement is a Ph.D. degree, in Brazil most starting teaching positions only require a Master’s degree.   

9.     Institutional Development 

Comparing Institutional Development initiatives, USA’s policies No Child Left Behind Act and Race to the Top could be considered the main concerns of the country, while in Brazil the National Plan for Education includes 20 different topics that are then divided in diverse initiatives, concerning almost everything that influences education (enrollment rates, retention rates, drop-out rates, teacher education, funding, special needs education, professional education and others) (Lima,2015). It is very good that Brazil has a broad overview of what needs to be improved in its’ educational system, but also it is a big challenge to fulfill all of the goals in just 10 years, what has been causing some issues, specially concerning funding availability to tackle all of the goals defined.

10.  Institutional Forms and Structure

There are no laws in both countries concerning the size of classrooms and the number of students, but there are suggestions: in Child Education and Primary Education 11 students per teacher in the USA and in Brazil 13 students in Child Education and 22 in Primary Education. As for Secondary Education the numbers suggested are very different, 30 students in Brazil and 20 in the USA (Texas Education Agency, 2017). This is a known issue in Brazil, because since there is no inspection on this, classes in the Secondary sometimes have 60 students. Having a type of control over this, like in Texas, where you should inform the school district could be very beneficial to Brazil’s education.

11.  Allied Social Measures  

While in Texas, there is limited information about allied social measures (Texas Education Agency, 2017), in Brazil 10 different programs are in place to support education (Retrieved October 26, 2017, from http://www.fnde.gov.br/programas). This is surely due to the country’s social development situation, where basic human needs infrastructure is still not met for everyone.

12.  Funding 

As for funding, in Brazil states and municipalities must apply at least 25% of their revenue resulting from taxes in education and the national government must apply at least 18% (do Brasil, 1998). In the USA, all levels are also responsible for funding education, but there was no information concerning a fixed amount that must be invested by each level (Texas Education Agency, 2017).

13.  Governance 

Both countries give a good amount of autonomy to its’ states, municipalities and schools, however some guidelines must be followed by every level and in general the micro level and schools have to provide information regarding the measures taken in practice.

14.  Results of Recent International Assessments  

When it comes to the results of the 2015 PISA Brazil had very low scores in all 3 main areas assessed, while the USA had a low score in Math, but still close to the average score, and above the average scores in Science and Reading (Retrieved November 22, 2017, from http://uk.businessinsider.com/pisa-worldwide-ranking-of-math-science-reading-skills-2016-12?r=US&IR=T ).

15.  School Failure and Dropout Rates 

There were no data concerning school failure in the USA, while in Brazil the Failure rate in primary is 17,3% and in secondary 12%. The Dropout rates in Brazil are 4% in primary education and 6,6% in secondary (Retrieved October 26, 2017, from http://www.inep.gov.br/), while in Texas these are lower 2,4% in primary education and 1,4% in secondary (Texas Education Agency, 2017).

16.  Accountability Arrangements

In Brazil, INEP is the institution responsible for assuring educational quality in Brazil. There are evaluations in all levels to check students’ performance and an index called IDEB that is created from the evaluation scores and the failure and dropout rates (Saviani, 2010). In Texas that are 5 different Indexes that look not only at students’ performance, but also at their progress, the progress of disadvantages students and their readiness to postsecondary education (Texas Education Agency, 2017).

17.  Selection and Gatekeeping  

No explicit rules in both countries regulate students’ retention, except for the state exam taken in the USA. However, in Brazil students usually have at least 3 exams for each subject every year in which they have to succeed to continue progressing.

Regarding the access to Higher Education, Brazil has a National exam and its score is the only criteria taken into consideration to enter a public university. Some universities have their own exam too and its score is also the only criteria to enter the university. Similarly, the USA also have a National exam, SAT, and the score is taken into consideration together with the student GPA to define if the student can access the university.

References

BRASIL, L. (1996). 9394/96. Estabelece as Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional. Brasília.
BRASIL, L. (2011). 12527/11. Regula o acesso as informações. Brasília.

do Brasil, G. F. (1988). Constituição da república Federativa do Brasil. Brasília, Senado Federal.

FNDE. (2017). Fnde.gov.br. Retrieved 26 October 2017, from http://fnde.gov.br

INEP. (2017). Inep.gov.br. Retrieved 26 October 2017, from http://inep.gov.br
Lima, K. (2015). Plano Nacional de Educação 2014-2024. Educação, 2014, 2024.

Saviani, D. (2010). Sistema nacional de educação articulado ao plano nacional de educação. Revista Brasileira de Educação, 15(44).

Texas Education Agency. 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2017, from https://tea.texas.gov/.