2024 Best Practice Prize – Laboratório de Educação (Labedu)

Laboratório de Educação (Labedu), based in Brazil, is a non-profit organisation that works to strengthen public education systems by improving teaching and learning practices. The organisation focuses on supporting educators and education systems to create meaningful, inclusive, and student-centred learning environments.

Despite progress in education policy and curriculum reform in Brazil, many students continue to experience difficulties in reading comprehension and foundational learning, with persistent inequalities across regions and socioeconomic groups. These challenges are particularly evident in primary education.

To address this, Labedu develops evidence-informed methodologies and professional development programmes aimed at supporting educators in improving classroom practice. Its work focuses on strengthening teachers’ capacity to design and implement language-rich, student-centred learning activities that support deeper understanding.

A key programme, Learning to Study Texts (AET), supports teachers in developing strategies that enhance students’ comprehension and academic language skills. The programme is implemented through iterative cycles of design, testing, and refinement in collaboration with education systems.

Labedu uses mixed-methods monitoring and evaluation approaches, combining surveys, interviews, and classroom observations to understand implementation processes and learning outcomes. This evidence is used to refine programmes and support continuous improvement.

Evaluation findings from pilot implementations indicate positive associations between the programme and improvements in student reading comprehension outcomes compared to comparison contexts. These results have supported adaptation and scaling in different municipalities and states.

Labedu has worked with large numbers of educators and students across Brazil through collaborations with public education systems. Its programmes have been progressively scaled through partnerships with local and regional education authorities.

The organisation’s approach emphasises that improving learning outcomes depends on strengthening the capacity of education systems and supporting educators at all levels to adopt and adapt effective teaching practices.

Through its research-informed and system-oriented work, Labedu aims to contribute to more equitable and effective public education systems, ensuring that more children can develop the skills needed for meaningful learning.