This article analyzes possible factors that drove the performance of Pernambuco in the evaluation of
the Brazilian education system, a state that achieved first place in the ranking of the Basic Education Development Index for High School in 2015. A quantitative approach was adopted through multiple
linear regression, which uses data from the National Institute of Studies and Educational Research Anísio Teixeira and investigates the variation of the performance indicator from the perspective of four axes of educational policies adopted in that state. The results found indicate that the axes of innovation and integral education significantly explain the variation of the indicator, contrary to the axes of infrastructure and management, for which sufficient evidence was not found.
