Abstract

BOCCHIO, María Cecilia; GRINBERG, Silvia Mariela  and  VILLAGRAN, Carla Andrea. Assessment as educational policy in the managerial society. External control, regulatory flexibility and in/exclusion. J. Pol. Educ-s [online]. 2023, vol.17, e93693.  Epub Apr 08, 2024. ISSN 1981-1969.  https://doi.org/10.5380/jpe.v17i0.93693.

Since the end of the 20th century, assessment has emerged as a pivotal element in educational policies, characterized by two seemingly contradictory trends. On one hand, there has been a substantial rise in external and standardized assessments promoted by international organizations, as well as education ministries. On the other hand, we have observed a prolific development of policies and regulations aimed at increasing the flexibility of evaluation criteria, all in the pursuit of enhancing inclusivity and completion rates. External assessments are envisioned to serve as guiding beacons that illuminate the achievements and challenges within school systems. Simultaneously, the drive for flexibility, related more to a process assessment, is aligned with a range of inclusion policies that aim to counteract the historically entrenched effects of meritocratic and exclusive approaches associated with examination practices. Within this article, adopting a perspective of governmentality, we propose an analysis of the day-to-day dynamics through which the logic of accountability, characteristic of the managerial era, intersects with the regulation of the educational system and school life. In this analysis, both external assessments and school-level exams position evaluation as the cornerstone of an educational policy that compels principals and teachers to engage in self-assessment. Consequently, assessment metamorphoses into an end in itself, further accentuating its significance

Keywords : Assessment; Educational policy; Management; In/exclusion.

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