Implementation of the New High School: formal decentralization, curricular convergences, and the limits of subnational autonomy

Abstract

The paper analyzes the implementation of Law No. 13,415/2017 in four Brazilian states plus the Federal District, using a comparative approach based on the Sociology of Public Action. This nationally comprehensive study, funded by CNPq, examines the modus operandi of the reform across the country's five regions, investigating how different educational systems responded to the new legislation. The comparative study is guided by a relational analysis of different contexts, seeking to identify regularities, shifts, and processes of change across diverse realities. It combines documentary analysis and examination of local regulations with a critical reading of the law's implementation strategies, with special attention to the interplay between federal guidelines and subnational adaptations. We conclude that differences in implementation strategies and pace were influenced by structural factors such as administrative capacity, territorial extension, and prior experiences with curriculum reforms. However, the cognitive frameworks guiding the reform remained largely shared across states, supported by a managerial and performative rationality that emphasized results, accountability, and flexible curriculum organization.