Resumo:
Despite the existence of some kinds of Education Quality Awards, these have not met the peculiarities of the Municipal Education Departments, mainly in small towns, where the resources are scarce, demanding a bigger effort in order to implement new technologies. Besides, the resistance to the Total Quality process due to its business origin should be considered. Evidence show that to have an efficient and constant implementation of any management model it is necessary to be, firstly, suitable to the organization context and environment and, secondly, developed with shared participation of this organization. Only by doing this the necessary motivation for an efficient development can be assured. Taking these premises as a starting point, this research was structured in an essentially qualitative way, using the research-action method going form description to the configuration of a management model which could be both a self-evaluation instrument and able to guide improvements in the management system. The main goal of this dissertation consisted in “Developing a management conceptual model, based in the Excellence Awards, and suitable to the Municipal Education Departments in small towns”. Criteria and sub-criteria were selected form the Excellence Awards in which the research is based to make the management conceptual model of excellence for the Municipal Education Departments. The criteria were rated according to their relevance to education. The these criteria were described and adapted to the Municipal Education Departments of small towns. Such criteria were unfolded in requirements and evaluated by Prêmio Gaúcho de Qualidade e Produtividade (Gaúcho Productivity and Quality Award). The proposed model was implemented in two Municipal Education Departments of towns considered small, Delfim Moreira and Piranguinho. The evaluation system developed for the model was applied and it showed the improvement in the Municipal Education Departments performance. The results obtained proved that the model developed for the Municipal Education Departments was efficient and brought innovations in the management process of these organizations.
