"Contribute to the development of public schools through partnerships with private enterprises that wish to improve the overall educational system's quality and boost students' performance"

Partners in Education is a not-for-profit organization, certified as an OSCIP (Civil Society Organization of Public Interest) that promotes and monitors partnerships between private enterprises and public schools, with methods and processes developed over the last 15 years.

Founded in 2006, Partners in Education brings the experience and determination of private enterprises and business leaders to the public school system, with the intent to enhance the continuous development of Brazilian public schools towards an efficient and result-oriented system.

Through the implementation of a carefully designed and academically-focused program created by Partners in Education, the partnerships strive to MAXIMIZE the public investment in the schools, making them more capable and productive, with one central objective: improve academic performance of the students.

The history of "private enterprise-public school partnerships" – similar to the current Partners in Education model – started in 1991, with the first partnership formed between Porto Seguro Seguros (a Brazilian insurance company) and a public school in the favela community of Paraisópolis in São Paulo. During the next 13 years, the company developed partnerships with a few other schools, mainly focusing their projects on school infrastructure reforms.

In 2004, after learning about Porto Seguro's initiatives, business entrepreneur Jair Ribeiro establishes his first partnership with a public school in Sao Paulo. Shortly after his involvement with this school and noticing an immense opportunity for the private sector to get involved, Ribeiro and a team of experts began to develop a "partnership" model that could be replicated to other public schools and, in sequence, mobilize several other business leaders/entrepreneurs to form partnerships of their own.

In 2005, the São Paulo State Government launches the Project "Enterprise as an Educator" through the State Department of Education, enabling the formal engagement of partnerships between private enterprises/business leaders and state public schools. In 2006, a group of individuals led by Jair Ribeiro and Ana Maria Diniz creates a "nucleus" to promote and monitor "private enterprise-public school" partnerships called Partners in Education.

Partners in Education identifies a public school that needs and has the interest to establish a partnership. Each school has unique characteristics. Therefore, together with the school's management and teachers, Partners in Education diagnoses the necessities of the school and develops a plan of action in the following four areas:

• Pedagogical Support
  
• School Management Support
  
• Community Integration Support
  
• Infrastructure Support

The private enterprise chooses one of the schools registered in the Partners in Education database or selects a geographical area of their preference, where Partners in Education identifies schools that are interested in forming a partnership.

Examples of Actions Developed by the Partnership

• Continuous professional development of Pedagogical Coordinators and Teachers.
• Pedagogical reinforcement in literacy teaching and accelerated study.
• Pedagogical support for teachers (acquisition of pedagogical materials for teacher's projects, field trips, etc).
• Improvement of School's physical structure.
• Maintenance and monitoring of the computer lab and reading room.
• Annual assessment of student performance.

Average annual investment per school: R$ 100,000 (one hundred thousand Reais)

(Roughly equivalent to 5-10% of the annual school budget)

The following principles are essential characteristics that ensure the ability of the program to promote and monitor a process that is focused on efficiency and orientation by results.

School Manager's Commitment

The success of the partnership is heavily attributed to the support and commitment of the school managers (principal and pedagogical coordinators). They are essentially the ones responsible for the continuous development of the quality of the education and their determination and commitment towards a partnership is a key factor taken into consideration during the selection process. Partners in Education only selects schools in which its management team not only displays interest in having a partnership but teams that can demonstrate ability and commitment to lead and implement the program.

The Roles of the Partnership and of the State

If we are to ensure sustainability after the partnership is "terminated", it is imperative that throughout the partnership the State remains responsible for all general expenses of the school, such as electricity, water, salaries, school materials, etc. The Partner complements the investment of the State through sponsored projects. The partnership's objective is not to assume or replace the State's responsibility in providing basic education to its citizens, but rather to maximize its investments in this area.

Long Term Thinking

Educational challenges are only solved in the long run; therefore, the partnership program is then, by definition, a long term commitment with the school and its students. But if they are to last, the solutions must be ultimately driven by those who are in charge of the educational process – school principal, pedagogical coordinators and teachers.

The Partnership Facilitator

As previously highlighted, the partnership's "day-to-day" interaction is performed by a professional referred to as the "Partnership Facilitator", selected and trained by Partners in Education. The "Partnership Facilitators" are professionals with pedagogical background and experience working in schools (a large number of them are retired public school teachers and public school principals). They perform the role of a "mediator" between the private enterprise/business leader and the partner school. The work of this professional is continuously monitored by the management team of Partners in Education and several encounters are organized by the organization with the intent to share best practices and provide continuous technical realignment.

Counterpart Commitment from the School

In order to derive and sustain a sense of accomplishment and ownership in the investment, every action from the partnership must contain a counterpart commitment from the school's management, teachers and students.

Periodical Assessment

In order to ensure the success of the partnership, it is imperative that all actions performed by the partnership are monitored and systematically assessed. Therefore, the students of Partner Schools are evaluated annually, and the results become the "guide" for pedagogical actions to be implemented by the school with the support of the Partner.

The Role of the Community

The involvement of the community and student's parents is essential for the success and continuation of the partnership's initiatives. Therefore, several activities are performed with the intent to increase the involvement of the community in the school.

Executive Program Coordinator

Maria Helena Guimarães de Castro

Executive Board Members

Ana Maria Diniz | Grupo Pão de Açúcar
Jair Ribeiro | CPM Braxis

Board Members

Andréa da Veiga Pereira
Denise Aguiar | Fundação Bradesco
Fernão Bracher | Itaú BBA
Jayme Garfinkel | Porto Seguro Seguros
Luis Stuhlberger | Instituto Hedging-Griffo
Nizan Guanaes | Grupo ABC
Paulo Bilyk | Rio Bravo Investimentos
Roberto Sallouti | Instituto V5
Sergio Spinelli | Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr e Quiroga Advogados

Management Team

Lúcia Fávero | Executive Director
André Drexler | Financial and Admnistrative Coordinator
Mônica Guerra | Pedagogical Coordinator
Olavo Nogueira | Project Development Coordinator
Aricélia Lima Barbosa | Administrative Assistant
Ana Maria Alonso Lázaro | Pedagogical Assistant
Romaldo Vitorino | Computer Systems Analyst
Luciana Gomes Bruno | Administrative Assistant

Rio de Janeiro
Flávio Cristiano | General Coordinator
Aik Brandão | Financial and Admnistrative Coordinator

Goiás
Paulo Ricardo Valle | General Coordinator
Marcelo Oliveira | Pedagogical Coordinator

Rio Grande do Sul
Alceu Terra Nascimento | General Coordinator

Parceiros da Educação

Edifício Spazio Faria Lima
Rua Iguatemi, 151 - 5º andar
São Paulo - SP - Brazil
T 55 11 3315.6754 | 3315.6758

For additional information in English, please contact Olavo Nogueira at:

olavo.nogueira@parceirosdaeducacao.org.br

+ 55 11 4196.0637