%0 Journal Article %T A DESCENTRALIZA£¿£¿O COMO EIXO DAS REFORMAS DO ENSINO: UMA DISCUSS£¿O DA LITERATURA %A Martins %A Angela Maria %J Educa£¿£¿o & Sociedade %D 2001 %I Centro de Estudos Educa??o e Sociedade, CEDES %R 10.1590/S0101-73302001000400003 %X this text discusses the instrumental use of the concept of decentralization. as a rule, this term has been used pragmatically as a synonym for de-concentration, and lately as a warrant of school autonomy. these controversies are discussed on the basis of documents from multilateral organizations and the literature in these areas. this is an attempt to design a brief panel where questions could originate and illuminate the possible relationships between the international directives £¿ invariably produced within organizations headquartered in developed countries £¿ and the policies implemented by the peripheral countries and, less obvious, to assess the implementation of such policies. %K public policy %K policy evaluation %K management %K autonomy %K decentralization %K literature review. %U http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0101-73302001000400003&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en