Research challenges in education policy: considerations on models and approaches

Ongoing educational reforms carried out in Brazil and in other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, with emphasis on the policies defined for the sector, have been widely debated in the Brazilian educational literature. Reflecting upon these reforms brings to the fore the dynamics of ensuing plans, projects and proposals, and places, at the center of discussion, several conceptual and methodological difficulties encountered by researchers in the field. This situation requires theoretical elaboration and methodological discussion of policy analysis based upon an investigation of the literature on the subject. This is the aim of this text, which deals with issues related to research in Educational Policy by positioning them in the broader context of educational research. The discussion is divided into two parts that address: (a) the challenges of policy analysis, its existing models and approaches, and of educational policy analysis; and (b) some methodological aspects of research into educational policy