The text describes and discusses the selection process of schools for a research, which used the results of the external evaluations of the Brazilian school system from 2005, 2006 and 2007. Aiming to deepen the study of the organizations and institutional practices that produce schooling success, we decided to develop a survey at eight schools: four public administrated by the municipality, and four private ones. The research focuses the pedagogical practices and management processes at those schools of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro that are recognized through the excellence of their teaching, considering the results their students achieve in public exams that evaluate their performance. Therefore, we analyzed the results of the various schools, turning the selection process itself a stage of the research. Thereby, we intend to articulate macro and micro information in order to make feasible a relational analysis of the data that shall be collected and contribute to the methodological discussion in the field of sociology of education.
Schools; Research methodology; School success
