The case of the Polytechnic High School: Evaluating its implementation in public schools

Abstract

This article analyzes the implementation process of public policy for secondary education given by the State Secretary of Education between the years 2011 and 2014, as well as the analysis of its redefinition by High School of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS). For this, we used a qualitative and quantitative study in 106 public schools in RS, Brazil.  The methodological procedures, based on the theoretical and analytical framework of the public policy cycle, involved the collection of primary and secondary data, documents, academic productions and publications in the media; an online application form sent to the schools surveyed; and conducting focus groups with experts. Through this framework, the following analysis categories were defined: autonomy, polytechnic, work as an educational principle, pedagogical action, and evaluation. The results showed that: a) the school’s autonomy has not been respected in the implementation of public policy; b) many research subjects, school teachers, did not appropriate pedagogical conception work as an educational principle or the concept of polytechnic; c) the pedagogical action of schools built up a new signification of the formulation of the policy; and d) there was a destabilization in certainties about learning evaluation.