O desafio do ensino da leitura no contexto contemporâneo

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present results of a longitudinal research project (2011-2014) on literacy and reading skills of elementary public school children in Brazil. The research focused on the Regime de Ciclos, a curricular organization in which children progress to the next grade level within a 2 or 3-year cycle regardless of their academic achievements or grades, and retention only occurs at the last year the cycle. The research took place in three cities (Sao Paulo-SP, Belem-PA, and Pau dos Ferros-RN), and included three universities (USP, UFPA, and UERN). Action research was adopted for it allowed to bring school teachers and researchers together to monitor and observe student groups over a four-year period, and to implement different teaching practices based on student assessment. Results show the importance of the Regime de Ciclos alongside with teamwork focused on heterogeneity and on reading achievement discrepancies throughout each cycle. It also reveals the relevance of teaching practices which strongly connect literature, oral and written skills during the process, and the need for constant evaluation of the Regime de Ciclos. Although these are partial results, they are important to substantiate policies that address the challenges of developing literacy proficiency. Seventy percent of the 60 students that were monitored since grade 1 in 2012 demonstrated high levels of reading proficiency in demanding tests administered by the researchers and by the Ministry of Education and Culture.