Due to the high investments with the Pacto Nacional pela Alfabetização na Idade Certa (PNAIC), it is essential to evaluate and discuss its results, its implementation and its proposal, in order to improve its design for future literacy programs. This paper proposes an economic evaluation of the program with a quantitative approach, where it estimates how the program’s participation correlates with the proficiencies measured in the Avaliação Nacional de Alfabetização (ANA). Findings reveal that a 10-percentage-point increase in the proportion of teachers recommended in PNAIC in a school is associated with an increase in Math and Language scores by 23% of a standard deviation, a most relevant result. The correlation is higher for more proficient schools. The analysis of economic return shows a net present value (NPV) of R$ 118.48 per student affected, which corresponds to an (Internal Rate of Return) IRR of 15%.