Abstract

CONTRERAS, Johana  and  TORRES, Álex. Standardized educational evaluations from the actors’ experience. Educ. Pesqui. [online]. 2023, vol.49, e248451.  Epub Dec 21, 2022. ISSN 1678-4634.  https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-4634202349248451es.

This article presents a study that approaches, from the sociology of experience, the problematic of the relationship between the actors of the school context and the standardized evaluation devices. Despite the criticisms that these instruments have raised in Chilean society, there are s school principals and local administrators willing to implement them voluntarily. The objective of this study was to investigate the reasons and meanings that they give to the use of a low-stakes evaluation program developed by a prestigious university in Chile, oriented to measure the performance and progress of students in relation to the national curriculum. The design contemplated the execution of a qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with school principals and administrators of public and private educational networks that use the evaluation program, selected according to purposive sampling criteria (N=33). The information was analyzed based on Grounded Theory guidelines for open coding and, subsequently, interpreted from the sociology of experience. The results revealed the presence of heterogeneous logics of action (integration, strategic and subjectivation) underlying the decisions and uses of the assessment, whose possibilities of articulation lie with the actors and depend to a large extent on the organizational conditions of the establishments, giving rise to different experiences in relation to standardized evaluations. This study identified three types: the academicist experience, relative adherence, and the underutilization of assessments. It concludes by pointing out the implications of this study for educational research, policy and practice.

Keywords : Standardized assessment; Social experience; Uses of assessment.

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