A implementação da política de correção de fluxo escolar no município de Niterói: análise de uma década

Abstract

This research was developed from my experience leading the School Flow Coordination in the municipality of Niterói, which revealed the need to critically (re)examine the phenomenon of age–grade distortion in the Municipal Education Network. Linked to the research line “Policies, Rights, and Social Inequalities,” of the Graduate Program in Education (PPGEdu) at the Faculdade de Formação de Professores da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FFP-UERJ), and to the Research Group on Public Policies and Working-Class Youth and Adult Education (PPEJAT), this investigation aimed primarily to analyze the documents produced between 2012 and 2023 in the context of the implementation of public policies to correct school flow in Niterói. The research adopted a stance grounded in the critical-dialectical perspective, intending not only to describe but to understand the phenomenon of age–grade distortion in its materiality, overcoming its initial appearances. We examined the constitutive aspects of the educational process related to guarantees of rights, taking into account both the historicity of the phenomenon and the municipal normative context. Based on this analysis, we sought to problematize the public policies for flow correction implemented over the last decade, identifying their limits and contradictions, with the aim of proposing viable paths for their improvement. To this end, a compilation of normative documents and reports produced by the Municipal Department of Education (SME) was conducted and compared with the age–grade distortion rates made available by the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (INEP) for the same period. The structure of the research was organized as follows: an introduction presenting the author’s trajectory leading to the definition of the study object, including problematization, objectives, and guiding questions; the first chapter addressed the chosen theoretical-methodological framework; the second chapter discussed the influences of neoliberalism on education and the logic perpetuating the production of school failure; in the third chapter, an overview of the city of Niterói, the establishment of the SME and the Municipal Education Foundation (FME), and the organization of education in the municipal network was presented, culminating in the exposure of current data on distortion and the emergence of learning acceleration classes as a pedagogical strategy, highlighting their contradictions and limitations over time. Finally, in the concluding remarks, a comprehensive reflection was made on the paths taken in this research and on the dialogues established, with the aim of contributing to the academic field, especially in investigations concerning school flow correction policies.