EDUCATION QUALITY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: AN EXPERIMENT TO REDUCE THE AGE-GRADE GAP IN THE CITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO

This article developes a critical reflection about a learning acceleration project facing the senior students of fundamental education . The project entitled Autonomia Carioca was prepared by a private institution and recently introduced in public schools of Rio de Janeiro, in the perspective of public-private partnership. The Project proposal is based on teacher training to deal with different languages, emphasizing the values construction, the self-esteem recovery and the study habits formation. Facing the challenge of dropout, 8500 students concluded the first stage of elementary education. This paper describes the objectives and methodology of the Project and also analyze work field observations and school principal interviews in a school in order to discuss challenges and opportunities. From the proposal of the Project to its implementation in the classroom, many factors were involved in the task of teaching the students who did not succeed in the traditional education. Some aspects discussed in this case study are: school director support, pedagogical attendance, teacher profile identification, classes' arrangement, partnership with families and distinguished accompanying of students. The results point to the joint action of school agents as a determining factor for the success of the work.