Amid the debates about the low quality of Brazilian public education, particularly at high school, with high rates of disapproval and avoidance, this work aimed to investigate the management policies implemented by the Brazilian states seeking to identify, through the analysis of their programs, projects, management models and educational indicators, if there is a relationship between management and performance in basic education in these states. The background for the development of this thesis was the importance that has been conferred to public management to reach the objectives of quality and equity in education from the international educational reform movements of the 1980s and 1990s, which influenced the legal texts and changed the way of thinking public education in Brazil. Initially a literature review was carried out on the public management reform movements in Brazil and in the world, and on the resulting results-based management model, the international experiences of educational reform and the principles and premises of the changes promoted in the Brazilian educational system. Based on the question initially proposed, the objective and methodology of multiple case study, the educational management experiences of seven Brazilian states were investigated – São Paulo, Pernambuco, Goiás, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Ceará and Minas Gerais. It was observed that the changes promoted by these states in educational management had positive effects on educational indicators and to increase their knowledge about their educational reality, enabling the formulation of educational policies aimed at meeting the demands and solving specific problems of their schools and teaching departments.