In just over a decade, the Brazilian state of Ceará achieved what many considered impossible - transforming one of the country's poorest education systems into a national leader. Despite having one of the lowest GDP per capita among Brazilian states, Ceará experienced the largest increase in the national education quality index in both primary and lower secondary education since 2005.
The transformation began in the municipality of Sobral, where in the early 2000s, two in every five third-grade students could not read a single word. Through systematic reforms and unwavering commitment, by 2019 Sobral ranked first among Brazil's more than 5,500 municipalities in both fifth and ninth-grade student performance, even surpassing private schools in Brazil's wealthiest state, São Paulo.
Ceará's success rests on five interdependent pillars. The first is a revolutionary financing model that ties municipal funding to educational outcomes. Municipalities that achieve better results receive a larger share of state tax revenues, with the formula specifically rewarding improvements among lowest-performing students.
The second pillar involves comprehensive technical support to struggling municipal school networks. This includes standardized learning assessments, literacy materials, teacher training workshops, and a unique mentorship system where high-performing schools help lower-performing ones improve. The state provides direct support to municipalities with critically low literacy levels while using a cascading approach for others, training municipal education secretariat staff who then train teachers.
Political leadership forms the third pillar, with sustained commitment to treating education as a state priority. Many of Ceará's education reforms were led by former officials from Sobral who had successfully implemented similar changes at the municipal level. This created both expertise and credibility in the reform process.
The fourth pillar is a robust monitoring and evaluation system that continuously tracks student learning and identifies municipalities needing additional support. Regular external assessments of all primary school students, conducted twice yearly, allow for rapid course corrections and targeted interventions.
The final pillar is municipal autonomy, giving local governments significant freedom in implementing education policies while holding them accountable for results. This combination of autonomy and accountability has created a culture where feedback is seen as essential for improvement rather than merely as an enforcement tool.
The results have been remarkable. Today, 84% of students achieve adequate literacy scores by the end of third grade, with the largest gains seen among poorer students and students of color. Ceará now has the lowest rates of learning poverty in Brazil, with ten of its municipalities ranking among the country's top 20 in educational performance.
Most impressively, Ceará achieved these results while spending only about one-third per student compared to wealthier Brazilian states like São Paulo. This demonstrates that significant educational improvement is possible even with limited resources when supported by smart policies and strong political commitment.
QUOTES
"There is no magic formula - it boils down to a strong focus on the basics, teaching children how to read by the right age, and making everyone in the system work coherently towards that goal." -- Izolda Cela, Former Vice-Governor of Ceará
"How can the school be good if it's not teaching your children?" -- Municipal Secretary of Education, Sobral[22]
KEYWORDS
education reform, literacy program, municipal autonomy, results-based financing, educational equity
NAMES
Izolda Cela, Cid Gomes, Ivo Gomes, SEDUC-CE, World Bank, Ayrton Senna Foundation
PLACES
Ceará, Sobral, Brazil, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Brazil
CITATIONS
https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/GTYUQIGH
https://theprogressplaybook.com/2023/07/03/how-this-poor-brazilian-state-became-an-education-powerhouse/
https://bsc.hks.harvard.edu/publications/a-problem-driven-approach-to-education-reform-the-story-of-sobral-in-brazil/
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2023/01/03/lessons-from-ceara-to-deliver-a-more-inclusive-equitable-education/
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/08/28/brazil-ceara-fundeb-equitable-efficient-learning-system-education
https://www.gov.br/mec/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/ceara-e-referencia-em-educacao-basica-para-o-brasil
https://www.seduc.ce.gov.br/2022/09/15/ceara-e-destaque-em-educacao-basica-no-brasil/
https://www.ipece.ce.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2018/09/ipece_informe_61_10_abril_2013.pdf
https://www.unicef.org/brazil/comunicados-de-imprensa/unicef-e-governo-do-ceara-lancam-programa-para-fortalecer-aprendizagem-de-criancas-e-adolescentes
https://www.institutounibanco.org.br/conteudo/ceara-um-exemplo-de-sucesso-na-educacao-publica/
YOUTUBE
ALTTEXT
Photo of a teacher in a classroom in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil.
CAPTIONS
A classroom in Sobral, Ceará, the small Brazilian town in a poor Northeast state where it all got started
Share this post