In this article, the authors comparatively analyze the National Exam for Evaluating Student Achievement - ENADE, and the National Course Exam - ENC, better known as the Provão, focusing on criticisms directed at the latter and the ENADE's ability to address them. In so doing, they identify similarities and differences between the two exams, argue that both sustain an adequate level of technical integrity, and present suggestions for improving the present exam regarding aspects such as test specification and instrument pretesting. The analyses reveal that the technical processes adopted by the two approaches are very similar. Their differences are primarily conceptual in nature, since the ENADE, in contrast to the Provão, proposes to indicate achievement gain over time and is not high stakes in orientation. The authors conclude that the new exam has not, as yet, resolved a number of problems associated with the previous approach, but some of the current proposals, if implemented, constitute a genuine advance with respect to the utilization of the exam results.
High Education Evaluation; Provão; ENADE; SINAES
