Brazil is facing a deep learning crisis, with many students not reaching expected proficiency levels and the country facing the last positions in assessments like Pisa and Pirls. Evidence consistently shows that teachers are the most important factor for improving student learning. However, many educators lack the time, support, and resources needed to plan effective lessons—especially in diverse and under-resourced classrooms.
At Nova Escola, we believe that strengthening teacher agency is key to advancing educational equity at scale. Since 2018, we have supported educators with high-quality, curriculum-aligned lesson plans co-created with teachers and widely used across Brazil. Despite this, planning remains one of the most persistent challenges in teachers’ daily work.
To address this gap, in 2024 we developed Nova Escola on WhatsApp: AI-powered teaching support. By leveraging a widely used, low-bandwidth platform, we provide accessible and practical support directly within teachers’ routines. This approach enables educators to create and adapt lesson plans more efficiently, respond to diverse classroom needs, and focus on what matters most: improving student learning.
Nova Escola on WhatsApp works as a simple contact within the app. Teachers send a message indicating the grade and learning objective, and the system generates a curriculum-aligned lesson plan using AI. They can then request adjustments, refine activities, and adapt the content to their classroom context.
This allows for practical, real-time use. For example, a teacher in a multi-grade classroom can quickly adapt a lesson to different learning levels, while a substitute teacher can generate a structured lesson plan on the spot when covering an unexpected class.
The solution is grounded in a curated database of over 6,000 teacher-created lesson plans, ensuring quality and pedagogical consistency. By combining artificial intelligence with a widely accessible platform, it provides scalable, context-aware teaching support for diverse classroom realities.
Since its launch in 2024, Nova Escola on WhatsApp has rapidly scaled across Brazil, reaching teachers in diverse and often under-resourced contexts. To date, more than 190,000 teachers have used the tool, generating over 650,000 lesson plans.
Adoption data shows strong integration into classroom practice: 77% of teachers report using the generated plans in their lessons, and 98% report saving time. These gains enable teachers to focus more on instruction and student learning, reinforcing their role in addressing the learning crisis.
The solution builds on Nova Escola’s long-standing reach, with nearly 1 million monthly users accessing its educational resources. This existing trust has accelerated adoption and supported rapid scaling.
Looking ahead, we are developing AI agents that contextualize lesson plans to local realities and expanding implementation through partnerships with municipalities and state governments. By integrating with public education systems, we aim to strengthen scalable, AI-powered teaching support and advance educational equity at a systemic level.
Since its launch in 2024, Nova Escola on WhatsApp has evolved rapidly based on teacher feedback and classroom needs. Initially designed to generate curriculum-aligned lesson plans, the solution has expanded to enable continuous adaptation, allowing teachers to refine and personalize content to their specific contexts.
More recently, we have been developing AI agents capable of contextualizing lesson plans to local realities, further strengthening the relevance and applicability of the content. At the same time, we are expanding implementation through partnerships with municipalities and state governments, integrating the solution into public education systems.
This evolution reflects our commitment to supporting teacher agency at scale, combining AI with trusted pedagogical resources to better respond to the demands of real classrooms.
To try Nova Escola on WhatsApp, add the tool as a contact and start a conversation. Select your grade and learning objective, and the system will generate a lesson plan. You can request adjustments and tailor the content to your classroom needs. The solution is free and available in Portuguese.
