THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOCIAL QUALITY OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS FROM THE: CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDENTS

This paper presents quality indicators identified from the contributions of Elementary School students from public schools in the interior of the state of S & atilde;o Paulo/Brazil, rescues and seeks to strengthen student participation in the debate on the social quality of public schools. A qualitative research approach was used, based on the answers to a questionnaire with an open question from 1.129 students in the 9th grade of elementary school and, subsequently, the participation of 40 students in a workshop on the quality of public schools. The analysis and grouping of the collected data were organized based on Bardin's propositions (2009). According to the participating students, the aspects that contribute to the quality of social involvement are external determinants: infrastructure, food and financing; and internal: pedagogical practices, organization of pedagogical work, values, interpersonal relationships, behavior.The students' reports allowed us to understand their perspective on the quality of the school and indicated the potential of their contributions when called upon to participate in democratic processes, which expand their training beyond the cognitive knowledge required in largescale assessments, providing opportunities for the development of other dimensions of human formation.