MISSION
The Lemann Center for Educational Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Brazil was established at Stanford in 2011. The Center’s mission is to encourage and support fundamental and lasting improvement at all levels of Brazil’s education system, with a particular focus on expanding opportunities and improving outcomes for students previously disadvantaged by race, region and social class. We believe that new policies and practices must be grounded in hard evidence and rigorous analysis, and that improvement strategies must address the entire ecosystem of institutions that promote the well-being of young people and not just schools.
To advance our mission the Center pursues three main lines of activity: advanced education and training for students and visitors who share our goals; academic research focused on improvement in educational policy and practice; and the creation of innovative organizations and programs designed to drive change. All of the Center’s activities are undertaken in close cooperation with Brazilian partners including federal, state and local governments, foundations and other third-sector organizations, and academic institutions in both the public and private sectors.
ACTIVITIES
Education and Training
Since 2011 the Lemann Center has hosted programs for nearly 200 MA, PhD, and MBA students, visiting scholars, and visiting student (“sandwich”) scholars. We recruit our students and visitors with the clear expectation that when they have completed their time at Stanford they will return to Brazil and continue their work to improve Brazil’s education system. Alumni from our programs constitute a strong and growing network of experts whose sense of shared purpose advances the Center’s mission.
Research
Faculty, visitors and students associated with the Lemann Center have produced a large body of research across a wide variety of disciplines and topics with a common focus on addressing the many challenges facing Brazil’s education system. Among many other things, Lemann Center research projects have investigated:
- Statistical analyses of variation across states and across time in student performance
- Experiments testing the impact of various behavioral “nudges” on student attitudes and household behavior
- Studies of policy design and policy implementation with a particular focus on the Novo FUNDEF, the Base Nacional Comum Curricular and the Reforma do Ensino Médio
- Evaluation of innovative instructional programs and resources
Innovation
The Lemann Center has worked with Brazilian partners to introduce new practices, policies and institutions in Brazil’s education system. These include:
- Programa de Educação Docente (PED)
Established in 2016, PED works with a rapidly growing network of public and private universities to establish academically rigorous and practice-oriented teacher education programs based on the learning model used to train teachers in Stanford’s renowned STEP program. The initial focus is on programs in for teachers of mathematics and science.
- Dados para um Debate Democrático em Educação (D3e)
Established in 2018, D3e works to increase the impact and influence of academic research in education policy debates in Brazil, drawing in part on the research produced by the Lemann Center’s network of faculty, students, fellows and alumni. D3E makes research findings available to policy makers in easy-to-understand, comprehensive summaries, while also organizing seminars for policy makers around various educational policy issues.
- Equidade.info
Equidade.info conducts regular surveys of a representative sample of over 3,000 Brazilian students, teachers and principals across Brazil’s 27 states. The surveys focus on educational inequities in Brazilian K-12 schools along multiple dimensions including race, gender, and disability status. Equidade.info partners with the Frente Parlamentar da Educação to respond to legislators’ data needs and inform legislative initiatives and policies that promote equity in Brazil’s basic education system.
- New Science Curriculum in Sobral
In Sobral a team led by Paulo Blikstein worked with the Municipal Secretary of Education to transform the teaching and learning of science and technology in the city’s public schools. The project encompassed a complete rewrite of the science curriculum, teacher professional development, the creation of a team of curriculum writers, the writing of sample lesson plans, and the renovation/construction of maker spaces and science labs in all schools.
LOOKING FORWARD
As we begin our second decade the Lemann Center remains committed to our mission, and determined to build on what we have accomplished and what we have learned to continue working to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all Brazilian students.
