The Brazilian standardized test for second grade students and formative assessment: a possible dialogue?

This article presents part of the research findings related to the process unleashed by the administration of the Brazilian standardized test for second grade students in an Elementary School. The researchers followed the work developed by the school staff, coordinators and teachers, specially the elementary second grade teachers of four classrooms. They identified different conceptions about the use of the Brazilian standardized test due to the local micro-regulation process. The conceptions revealed that the test sometimes was viewed as an exclusion mechanism, focused on the results and other times it was viewed as an inclusion mechanism inside the school environment, as an indicator of the assessment process which promotes decision-making. In our study we adopted the idea that the Brazilian standardized test for second grade students can contribute to improve the teaching-learning process if understood within the school work and by public policies and articulated with learning assessment as part of the institutional evaluation. The central issue was not to deny external evaluation, but to emphasize how to use its results. However, we considered that the public educational policies and the school dynamics reflect social processes constituted by social interests.