Instituto Ayrton Senna’s programs are educational solutions that help fight key problems within Brazilian public educational system. They encompass three large areas: formal education, complementary education and education and technology.
Formal Education
Literacy and flow correction Programs – Se Liga (Connect Yourself) and Acelera Brasil (Accelerate Brazil), for the first phase of Elementary School, and Formula da Vitoria (Victory Formula), for the second phase, deal with existing problems, fruit of bad quality in educational processes: illiteracy, age/grade gap and school abandonment. They are regarded as Emergency Programs. Gestao Nota 10 (Grade 10 Management) and Circuito Campeao (Champion Circuit) introduce in the school systems a management culture focused on results.
They are regarded as preventive programs precisely because they are implemented to avoid those problems to arise. Before any of these programs are implemented, an analysis of the scenario is carried out and, after that, well structured and structuring strategies are adopted, with easy to measure indexes and monitoring by pre-defined targets. Implementation in the schools is done through partnerships with Municipal and/or State Education Secretaries and private sector alliances (socially responsible enterprises that invest in education).
Instituto Ayrton Senna designed the SIASI – Sistema Instituto Ayrton Senna de Informacoes – (Instituto Ayrton Senna’s Information System) – a management tool that is operated electronically, by the Internet. It monitors the whole process in an integrated way. The Institute’s partner cities are integrated into a net – The Winning Network – that seeks success for all the students. The system allows monitoring the whole educational process and detecting weak and strong points so that further actions can be arranged accordingly. Consequently, potential problems can be solved during the school year in each school where programs are being developed. Besides this kind of monitoring, the programs are also evaluated from the inside and from the outside. In 2008, the Se Liga (Connect Yourself), the Acelera Brasil (Accelerate Brazil) and the Circuito Campeao (Champion Circuit) were pre-qualified by the Education Ministry as support tools for the public education system to promote quality education.
Acelera Brasil – Speed up Brazil
What it is
Launched in 1997, the Accelerate Brazil is an emergency program for elementary school flow correction. It fights failure, which provokes students age/grade gap and school abandonment.
Objectives
Contribute for students to reach, within one year, the expected equivalent learning levels of the first phase of Elementary School and move on with their schooling. The Acelera Brasil (Accelerate Brazil) students can learn the contents of 2 grades in one school year, according to each one’s own learning capability, once automatic promotion policy is out of question.
How it works
Literate students who have failed are regrouped in a 25 student class and monitored by a teacher of the school system, duly qualified to use the Program’s methodology. Students and teachers have free access to specific didactic material and are constantly monitored and evaluated. Classes are planned for 200 days with activities integrated to the participant’s reality. There is homework, group work, reading and individual monitoring by the teacher.
Where it happens
Acelera Brasil [Speed up Brazil] has been adopted as public policy in the education systems in Espirito Santo, Paraiba, Pernambuco, Piaui, Roraima, Rio Grande do Sul, Sergipe and the Federal District. It is to be found in 727 municipalities in 25 states and the Federal District. The results
– In five years, 52% of students that studied in the Accelerate Brazil in Paraiba jumped one grade. The program helps the system to correct school flow.
– In Pernambuco, abandonment rate in the Accelerate (2,8%) is lower than the average in the State (4,8%).
– In Tocantins, 99,5% of the students who finished the Accelerate Brazil were promoted in 2008.
Program numbers in 2010
Children assisted: 63,944
Teachers trained: 3,554
Municipalities reached: 727 in 25 states and the Federal District
Se Liga – Connect Yourself
What it is
Launched in 1999, it is an emergency program that helps correct Elementary Education school flow. It fights illiteracy in the first grades and contributes to lower school abandonment rates.
Objectives
Within one year, it teaches illiterate children who failed school how to read and write, so that they are able to attend the Accelerate Brazil classes and, afterwards, return to regular school system classes.
How it works
Students who fail one year or more are assessed and have their reading and writing levels checked. In case they do not reach the required results, they join the Se Liga (Connect Yourself) Program. In groups of 25 students maximum, a duly qualified school system teacher applies the Program methodology which, besides emphasizing reading practices, offers children specific material to ease and qualify their learning process.
Where it happens
Se Liga [Switch On] is public policy in the education systems in Paraiba, Pernambuco, Piaui, Roraima, Rio Grande do Sul, Sergipe, Tocantins and the Federal District. It is to be found in 802 municipalities in 25 states and the Federal District. The results
– In Piaui, literacy index reached by city schools that adopted the Program was 92,8% in 2008.
– Abandonment rate among 1st grade students who did not participate in the Program in Sergipe is higher than twice the abandonment rate in the Se Liga (Connect Yourself).
– In Tocantins, illiterate students percentage rate dropped from 6,8% to 1%. Almost 100% of the students learned how to read and write and abandonment rates fell down to zero.
Program numbers in 2010
Children and youth assisted: 71,661
Teachers trained: 4,475
Municipalities reached: 802 in 25 states and the Federal District
Circuito Campeao
What it is
The Program introduces in the first grades of elementary school, learning management tools with concrete solutions to stop bad quality education.
Objectives
Guarantee skills development in reading and writing, in mathematical calculations and understanding of social and natural phenomena which, in return, will contribute to students continuity in school and to their success.
How it works
The Program introduces in schools and in education secretaries, a management culture focused on learning results. It gives priority to literacy policies and to monitoring in the first phase of Elementary School.
Where it happens
Circuito Campeao [Champion Circuit] has been adopted as public policy in the following states: Paraiba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, Roraima and Tocantins. It is to be found in 596 municipalities in 22 states.
The results
– In 2009, in Paraiba, 82,6% of first grade children monitored by the Program learned how to read and write.
– In Pernambuco, 89,4% of regular 1st to 4th grade students monitored by the Program were promoted in 2009.
– In Tocantins, 89,1% of first grade students monitored by the Circuito Campeao (Champion Circuit) learned how to read and write in 2008 and 93,7% of 4th grade students passed final year exams.
Program numbers in 2010
Children and youth assisted: 538,763
Teachers trained: 19,624
Municipalities reached: 596 in 22 states
Gestao Nota 10
What it is
The Program is designed for education managers (school principals and Education Secretaries staff). If offers qualification and managerial tools to those professionals.
Objectives
Improve quality education equitably and promote the articulation of all necessary conditions for the effectiveness of educational processes in public education systems, including managerial principles in the four spheres of formal education: learning, teaching, school routine and educational policy. It also aims at strengthening leaders and work teams technical competency by creating an active cooperative interaction in school, and between school and the Education Secretary.
How it works
Gestao Nota 10 (Grade 10 Management) works with indexes and establishes targets duly adjusted to each school year according to results obtained in previous years. These targets are divided into parts and accomplished by schools and education secretaries. Its course of actions is directly connected to school principals and education secretary teams.
Where it happens
Gestao Nota 10 [Top Marks Management] was adopted as public policy in the state education systems of Maranhao, Roraima, Pernambuco and Piaui. The Program is to be found in 556 municipalities in 19 states.
The results
– The Program assures efficiency, with 95% to 100% of success in the implementation of literacy policies for 7 year old children.
– In 2008, Elementary School first grades students success rate reached 91,6% in Pernambuco.
– In Pernambuco, 73% of students in regular school first grade learned how to read and write.
Program numbers in 2010
Children and youth assisted: 1,154,576
Teachers trained: 35,145
Municipalities reached: 556 in 19 states
Formula da Vitoria
What it is
The program serves students from the 5th to the 8th grades, late in literacy or that present partial or total difficulty in reading and writing.
Objectives
Students acquire know how and start reading and writing texts in different situations, being clear and cohesive.
How it works
The Formula da Vitoria (Victory Formula) Program has a specific material designed on the Portuguese Language. It is organized in textual genres that raise young people’s curiosity, interest and wish to read and write and facilitate reading and writing learning once they become real communication objects. The Project favors communication among students and paves the way for an easy involvement of families and communities.
Where it takes place
The Formula da Vitoria (Victory Formula) is public policy in schools systems in Rio de Janeiro/RJ and in Sao Roque/SP. Program numbers in 2010
Youth assisted: 3,569
Teachers trained: 212
Municipalities reached: 2 in 2 states.
Complementary Education
The Educacao Complementar (Complementary Education) program is based on the principle that it is necessary to guarantee to new generations opportunities for essential improvement in school and in life, not only by learning how to learn, but also learning how to be, to live together and how to be productive.
The Programs – Education through Art, Education through Sport and Youth SuperAction – should not be understood as pure recreation, as compensation for students’ supposed deficiencies, neither as activities to fill idle moments. The Programs were designed as means to fully expand the inner potential of every young person, providing conditions for them to be able to make choices based on values, to act in favor of social well being and be productive in the competitive world of work.
These educational solutions can be applied in schools and in communities. When they are developed in schools, the Programs can be included in the traditional syllabuses – they are effective means for central fields of study in formal curriculum such as mathematics and Portuguese language to be approached in an innovative way, connecting them to students’ interests – or to expand school hours through workshops, as in full time schools.
When they are implemented in community grounds – in partnerships with NGOs or universities – it is essential for the program leaders to mantain strong ties with school community, so as to generate direct impact on students learning process.
The Programs are tested by managers, educators and students; evaluated by specialists; and made available to be used in scale.
SuperAcao Jovem
What it is
The SuperAcao Jovem (Youth SuperAction) is a program for integral education, oriented for adolescents and young people in the 8th and 9th grades of Elementary School and also for those in High School. In the Program, students practice a new way of seeing, thinking and acting in relation to youth. In teams, they act effectively to solve learning and social problems in the classroom and also design and put into practice projects to improve school and community. The Program promotes direct impact on their learning process by approaching central subjects of the formal school curriculum, such as Mathematics and the Portuguese language in a modern way.
Objectives
The target of the Program is to contribute to youth education by improving central issues related to learning such as interest, socialization, adhesion to school and thinking abilities necessary to learning throughout life. Therefore, it stimulates youth protagonism and invests in reading and in problem solving as tools to qualify young people, to strengthen their autonomy, social participation, permanent education and the work world. How it works
The SuperAcao Jovem (Youth SuperAction) Program prepares educators and students to be able to recognize youth potential to be, to live together, to learn and to produce. Young people are encouraged to look at themselves as the solution and not the problem. Teachers are trained to teach young people through activities focused on the students, on youth protagonism, on collaborative learning and on education through projects. Young people learn in teams, by solving problems that affect the classroom, the school, community and their own learning process.
This educational solution can be dealt with in workshops offered in full time schools, in reading and math classes, in interdisciplinary projects, or yet in libraries and other educative opportunities offered by the school.
Where it takes place
SuperAcao Jovem (Youth SuperAction) is public policy in the State of Sao Paulo school system, in partnership with the Full Time School Program and the project of Reading Room; in the Federal District and in the cities of Itatiba, Sao Roque and Bebedouro. The results
– The Program contributes to increase 50% of the number of students utterly literate, when compared to students in schools that are not part of the Program.
– In 2009, 2.146 learning problems at school and in communities were solved by young people.
– Young people start reading by their own initiative: 6 books per year against an average of 1.6 among Brazilian students.
Program numbers in 2010
Youth assisted: 152,388
Teachers trained: 2,339
Municipalities reached: 184 in 1 state and the Federal District
Educacao pela Arte – Education through Art
What it is
The Program has been developed since 1995. It puts forward an innovative and esthetic education by building a sensible awareness of the human being and of the world. The idea is not to produce artists – despite of the fact that it is very easy to identify vocations among so many talents – neither it is to use playful or art craft activities to entertain or to teach simple skills.
By dancing, painting, acting or singing, children and young people have the opportunity to get prepared to become the 21st century citizens and develop personal, relational, cognitive and productive skills. At the same time they renew their interest in studying and reaching success at school, they learn to make better choices in their personal and professional lives.
Objectives
Qualify, complementary to school education, by contributing to boost skills related to sensibility, perfection and creativity in children and young people. Prepare educators to transform potentialities into competences dealing with three features of art teaching: doing art, learning art and multiculturalism.
How it works
Using artistic languages, the program qualifies educators to deal with children and young people during the after school hours. Young people find educative opportunities to face problems such as violence, lack of leisure and professional perspectives. The activities foster changes and also have positive effects on the families and on the school.
Children and youngsters that participate in the Program develop essential skills to become fulfilled as human beings, citizens and future professionals: self-esteem, determination, sensibility, creativity, critical sense, discipline, concentration, respect for differences, team work, commitment and boldness.
Where it takes place
The Educacao pela Arte (Education through Art) is developed in partnerships with 17 NGOs, in the following states: Bahia, Ceara, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte and Sao Paulo.
Program numbers in 2010
Children and youth assisted: 2,765
Teachers trained: 497
Municipalities reached: 9 in 8 states
The results
– 97,5% of students from the 1st through to the 4th grades in Minas Gerais that are enrolled in the Educacao pela Arte (Education through Art) Program were approved, whereas the state average is 93%.
– Students in the Educacao pela Arte (Education through Art) Program, from the 5th to the 8th grades in Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte overcame in 12% the approval index rate their mates scored nationwide.
– School Abandonment index rate in all partner organizations, including high school, is virtually zero.
Educacao pelo Esporte – Education through Sport
What it is
A Program has been developed in partnership with universities since 1995. It makes use of an interdisciplinary approach. Its guiding axle unites sport practices to art, pedagogic activities and quality of life experiences. The activities foster body conscience, develop competencies and strengthen self esteem, which in return, improves school performance. The Program stimulates coexistence, team work, cooperation, conflicts solving and a peace culture development.
Objectives
Use the power of sport not as an end in itself, but as a way to mobilize psychomotor, cognitive and emotional dimensions in an integrated way, contributing to the development of competencies, skills and new values and impacting school performance in a positive way.
How it works
In university campuses, children and adolescents from low income communities play ball, swim and play! There they also develop a good taste in reading and writing and learn how to care for their bodies; they learn about nutrition and are stimulated to see school as a factor of great importance in their lives. The Program is coordinated by a physical education teacher and supported by educators from other fields of study, as well as trainees.
Where it happens
Educacao pelo Esporte [Education through Sport] takes place on the campuses of 8 partner universities in the states of Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Pernambuco, Para and Rio Grande do Norte.
Program numbers in 2010
Children and youth assisted: 12,115
Teachers trained: 934
Municipalities reached: 15 in 7 states
Education and Technology
A differentiated education is directly related to the innovative use of information and communication technology. Besides acquiring computers, software and internet access and training, true digital engagement must contribute to generate creative ways to process knowledge and to transform potentialities into competences and skills for life.
Therefore, Instituto Ayrton Senna designed two educational solutions that use digital technology further than sheer instrumental practice. These solutions can be applied in large scale in schools and community areas.
Escola Conectada
What it is
Launched in 1999, the Escola Conectada (Connected School) introduces the methodology of the apprenticeship projects as a pedagogical work and makes use of communication tools to encourage a new teaching approach as well as new relations between students and teachers.
Objectives
Improve students performance, developing their abilities to: read and write; collect, analyze and interpret data; to access accumulated information; have bigger critical interactivity with the media; show pro-active attitude; share ideas and solutions; increase know how; and to participate more effectively in the community.
How it works
Educators are qualified through distance qualification courses to use digital technologies in the classroom. The Program methodology encourages students’ curiosity by means of interdisciplinary research on a general question. The computer and the internet are allies and students are asked to search and critically analyze information confronting their ideas with the group. Knowledge and experiences are shared in a virtual environment in the portal www.educacaoetecnologia.org.br.
Where it happens
Escola Conectada [Connected School] happens in schools and Education Departments in 11 municipalities in the states of: Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Pernambuco. It has been adopted as public policy in municipal schools in Araxa (MG), Santana do Parnaiba (SP) and Sao Caetano do Sul (SP). The results
– The Escola Conectada (Connected School) Program has already reached 300 thousand students after 4.300 educators had been qualified.
– The students get higher approval rates in the Brazil Examination*, a percentage of 93,2% against 75,4% in the national average.
* The Brazil Examination was created by the Brazilian Education Ministry in 2005 to assess Primary Education Development Index in Public Schools. Program numbers in 2010
Children and youth assisted: 20,920
Teachers trained: 592
Municipalities reached: 11 in 5 states
Comunidade Conectada
What it is
Launched in 2006, the Comunidade Conectada (Connected Community) Program shortens the distance between the interaction power of digital technologies and educative planned activities, guaranteeing opportunities for a significant quality change in the lives of the low income community inhabitants.
Objectives
Foster digital inclusion processes through knowledge and use of new communication and information technologies. Enlarge possibilities of insertion of the community in the labor market and generate effective opportunities for abilities development.
How it works
The Program is developed in Digital Technology Centers based in NGOs or TeleCenters that offer courses on how to use the internet and on qualification, as well as workshops that are interesting to the community. Experiences are shared in a virtual environment.
Where it happens
Comunidade Conectada [Connected Community] happens in 8 municipalities in Ceara, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goias and the Federal District. The results
– 62,2% of the participants say that the Program contributed to improve work performance.
– Participants started to read and write more, through the use of computers.
Program numbers in 2010
Children and youth assisted: 68,700
Teachers trained: 27
Municipalities reached: 8 in 7 states
Source: © Instituto Ayrton Senna
