Aprovação automática e desempenho escolar: diálogos e comparações entre Brasil e São Paulo

The automatic promotion (or continuous progression) policy, implemented in Brazil since the 1990s, sought to address problems of school dropout and educational exclusion. At the national level, INEP data indicate a significant reduction in dropout rates in elementary education, from 6.6% in 1999 to 2% in 2022. However, performance results reveal weaknesses: according to PISA 2022, only 35% of Brazilian students achieved minimum proficiency in mathematics and about 50% in reading, rates below the OCDE average. Researchers point out that many students advance to the next grade without adequate mastery of the content, especially in contexts of greater socioeconomic vulnerability. In the case of São Paulo, a pioneer in adopting the policy in 1998, progress has been observed, such as the decrease in school dropout rates (from 4.8% in 2007 to 2.2% in 2020) and improvements in state assessments (Saresp) in Portuguese Language and Mathematics between 2023 and 2024. The state also stands out for its application of the state PISA, revealing performance superior to the rest of the country, although still far from international standards and marked by inequalities between public and private networks. Despite the progress, challenges related to learning gaps resulting from promotion without adequate pedagogical support persist. In this sense, experts advocate the need to articulate continuous progression with frequent assessments, school reinforcement, and targeted pedagogical interventions, in order to guarantee not only permanence but also the effective learning of students.