Ideb shows improvement in early elementary grades but slows in later stages
The 2025 Ideb results reveal that Brazil's public school system met its targets only in the early years of elementary education, while private schools surpassed goals across all stages. The Paraná state stands out as the top performer, while some states saw declines in student proficiency.
The latest Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (Ideb) results for 2025 highlight a mixed performance in Brazil's public education system. While the public sector met its targets only in the early years of elementary school, private schools exceeded expectations across all stages, including the final years of elementary and high school.
Public schools, which account for 79.9% of basic education enrollments, showed improvement in the early elementary grades (1st to 5th year), where the Ideb rose from 5.7 in 2023 to 6.1 in 2025. However, progress in the later stages was less pronounced. The final years of elementary school saw a modest increase from 4.7 to 5, while high school improved slightly from 4.1 to 4.3, still falling short of the 2021 target of 5.2.
## Performance by State
The Paraná state emerged as the top performer, achieving the highest Ideb scores in all stages. Other states with notable improvements include Rio Grande do Sul, Piauí, Alagoas, and Minas Gerais. However, some states experienced declines in student proficiency, particularly in Portuguese and mathematics.
| State | Portuguese (2023-2025) | Mathematics (2023-2025) | |----------------|------------------------|--------------------------| | Amapá | 264.77 → 261.24 | 254.36 → 253.39 | | Rio de Janeiro | 258.09 → 254.76 | 252.19 → 251.53 | | Distrito Federal| 268.94 → 268.17 | 262.61 → 260.63 | | Rondônia | 268.64 → 268.23 | 264.91 → 263.64 |
## Student Proficiency Levels
The Saeb (Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica) results reveal varying levels of student proficiency. In Portuguese, students in states like Acre, Mato Grosso, and Rio de Janeiro struggle with tasks such as identifying the main theme of literary texts and recognizing divergent opinions. In mathematics, students in states like Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro face challenges in solving quadratic functions and proportionality problems.
## Expert Insights
Specialists emphasize the importance of reducing indiscriminate grade retention, which can increase the risk of students dropping out. Instead, they advocate for implementing learning recovery systems to ensure students progress without knowledge gaps. The Paraná state's success is attributed to its consistent performance in both the Ideb and Saeb, according to the ONG Todos Pela Educação.
