Resumo

SILVA, Mônica Aparecida Da Rocha. Public policies for higher education: the implementation of assessment in Brazil and Mexico. Perfiles educativos [online]. 2008, vol.30, n.122, pp.7-37. ISSN 0185-2698.

This article offers the results of a comparative study in which I analyzed the implementation process of the Higher Education Assessment (Evaluación de la Educación Superior, EES) in Brazil and Mexico. In this work I highlight that the resistance to the implementation of assessment tools for undergraduate studies was stronger in the former than in the latter. In Brazil, the decision making process was marked by heavy conflicts and resistance, amongst all because of the assessment's compulsory nature and because a countermovement was generated against the assessment proposal. In Mexico the resistance was weaker, amongst other reasons because it was not obligatory and because the assessment of academic staff (teachers and researchers) is linked with additional financial resources and because of it combined interests of both the government bodies and the representatives of Mexico's main higher education institutions. The conclusion is that, in spite of the fact that the main factors connected with the EES in Brazil and in Mexico are similar, the implementation processes took place in very different ways because of the power and consensus rule that prevail in both countries.

Palavras-chave : Higher Education; Assessment; Public policies; State Reform; Compared education.