Success of 'Aprova Brazil': 5,000 educators learn about new methods of assessment

Five thousand education professionals from more than 400 locations throughout the country, chiefly school managers, coordinators and teachers, participated in the second edition of the series of seminars 'Aprova Brazil', which took place from May 5 to June 10. Attendees heard the views of leading experts on the challenges posed by new national assessment tests, such as Prova Brasil and the National Literacy Assessment (ANA).

Well-attended seminars were held in ten Brazilian capitals (Belo Horizonte, Campo Grande, Fortaleza, Goiania, João Pessoa, Salvador, São Luís, São Paulo, Recife and Rio de Janeiro) and had the support of the National Council of Secretaries of Education (CONSED) and the National Union of Municipal Directors of Education (Undime), the two most important local and state educational bodies.

"We believe that these meetings will help management and schools in meeting the requirements of 'Prova Brasil' and other learning assessment tools, and will encourage a better use of available tools, thereby achieving better educational outcomes," said Luciano Monteiro, executive secretary of the Santillana Foundation in Brazil.

Attendees discovered different examples of successful projects implemented by the Ministries of Education in their educational networks, discussed the regional and national assessments with educational representatives, and attended the lecture by Professor Cipriano Carlos Luckesi, a leading expert on the subject of evaluation and assessment in Brazil. According to this expert, "large-scale assessments begin in the classroom itself, with the completion of a correct teaching diagnosis by the teacher, who is, ultimately, the person who manages students. Learning assessments need to be premised on systematization, precision, and understandable and consistent language between what is taught and what is learned, and should not be the result of improvisation".