Include, compare and compete: large-scale external assessment services and school inclusion

Abstract

In the same school context, educational policies with different emphases coexist, such as the school inclusion policies for students with special education needs and the large-scale external assessment policies. In this paper, drawing on data about the use of private service packages involving large-scale external assessment for municipal education systems in the state of Santa Catarina and its relationship with propositions of inclusive education, we present partial results of two inquiries and give attention to the use of these resources as a mechanism for the translation of the education assessment policies and their implications for the construction of an inclusive education. The data presented here were collected from different sources of information, such as: local media articles, legal documents for contracting these services, and direct contact with municipal administrations to identify the existence of these services in the town. The paradox created between proposals that choose competition and comparison as key elements to the detriment of the necessary recognition of differences between subjects is one of the focuses of reflection presented in the text and are brought about to discuss the implications of these services in municipal public education.