Student Assessment as a Political Construction—: The Case of Uruguay

Authors

  • Luis Benveniste The World Bank

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v8n32.2000

Keywords:

Accountability, Disadvantaged Youth, Educational Assessment, Elementary Secondary Education, Foreign Countries, Government Role, Political Influences, Poverty, Student Evaluation

Abstract

This article reveals the interplay between assessment policies in Uruguay and the nature of State-societal relations. The central State has been historically a staunch defender of public education and has championed the cause of equalizing opportunities for the most disadvantaged sectors of society. The national evaluation system of student performance has been constructed as an expression of this tradition. The Uruguayan government sought to build a wide level of consensus with respect to the assessment instruments by encouraging educators to participate and buy into the assessment initiative. Moreover, the national government shifted the focus of the national evaluation from measuring schooling outcomes to addressing the social wants that condition student learning. Hence, the national evaluation has come to symbolize an agreed-upon mechanism of social accountability by which the central government upholds its responsibility for educational provision as it intervenes on behalf of impoverished communities. (Note 1)

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Author Biography

Luis Benveniste, The World Bank

Luis Benveniste is an education specialist at the World Bank. His recent research work has focused on the politics of student achievement testing in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. He has also co-authored articles on multigrade schooling and school accountability mechanisms in public and private schools. He has worked in a wide variety of international education projects in Latin America, Western Africa and East Asia.

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Published

2000-07-11

How to Cite

Benveniste, L. (2000). Student Assessment as a Political Construction—: The Case of Uruguay. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8, 32. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v8n32.2000

Issue

Section

Articles