Conceptions and evaluation practices in the public education network of the Federal District: an analysis of what is currently proposed

Abstract

This article discusses theoretical-methodological propositions presented on Educational Assessment Guidelines (Distrito Federal, 2014c) from the public education network in the Federal District. This institutional document assumes a formative perspective of assessment for learning, aiming to guide schools in rethinking their conceptions and experiences. This text is the result of qualitative research with a bibliographic and documentary nature (Kripka; Scheller; Bonotto, 2015). Bardin’s (2016) Content Analysis was adopted for reading and category generation. Assessment is discussed as a central category in the organization of educational work, based on authors such as: Antunes (2013), Freitas (1995), Freitas et al. (2009), Fuentes and Ferreira (2017), Luckesi (2018), and Villas Boas (1993, 2008, 2022). From the analysis, it is concluded that: a) the Guidelines guide evaluation concepts and practices that can contribute to student learning, b) reinforce the concept of assessment as a category of pedagogical work in and of the school, acting in its (re)organization, c) emphasize the use of assessment in its formative function, d) recommend a narrative of family involvement, however, their participation in the student evaluation process is still small, and e) there is weak discussion of the pedagogical work in which the assessment is inserted. The article problematizes the materiality of these Guidelines in the school reality, as it needs to be aligned not only with the context and conditions of the work carried out in schools, but also included in the professors' initial and continuing training, constituting a structuring axis.