PROALFA (MG): A large-scale evaluation of early literacy in Brazil

Abstract

This article seeks to contextualize the Literacy Assessment Program of the State of Minas Gerais - PROALFA (MG), in international, national and state settings. In Brazil, there are a variety of large-scale assessments that cover all levels of education. However, literacy assessments in the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais and Ceará are noteworthy for reaching beyond the standard vision of what these assessments are. In addition to evaluative tools, contextual questionnaires are given to administrators, teachers and students, in an attempt to compare quantitative data with qualitative data, thus seeking to capture regional and school-specific particularities, taking into account their teaching-learning production contexts. The ultimate goal of these types of large-scale evaluations, which may also be longitudinal in nature, is to prevent poor performance by Brazilian students in the educational areas assessed by international programs such as PISA. In order to create a large-scale evaluation, one must take into consideration the inherent differences in the production of indicators, measurement frequencies, census versus sample evaluations, and the principles upon which to build the evaluative tools. The option to analyze the results of PROALFA (MG) in state schools of Belo Horizonte was motivated as much by the media’s sharing of the data – which highlights the performance of Minas Gerais students (Belo Horizonte is the capital of the state of Minas Gerais) – as it was by the data obtained through the Minas Gerais Secretary of Education.