Forming part of a broader postdoctoral research study, this article analyzes the concepts of monitoring and evaluation from conceptual and legal perspectives, comparing the ways these terms are used in the National Education Plans (PNEs) approved for this century. This work uses a qualitative approach, with a literature review and documentary research on the subject. The results show that although monitoring and evaluation are currently more prominent in the public policy cycle and occupy a prominent place in the current PNE and in the corresponding subnational plans approved under it, this inseparable pair will only be effective if there is a widespread and continuous mobilization of civil society and politicians, to ensure that the PNEs are placed at the heart of educational policies, at national, state, district and municipal levels).