High-stakes examination policies and transformation of the Turkish education system

Abstract

This article discusses the rapid changes that have taken place in high-stakes examination policy in Turkey by situating the policy change in the larger debate around the transformation of the education system. A large body of literature has discussed ways in which policy changes in national examinations have interacted with the neoliberal and raced structures in education, thus contributing to the creation and reproduction of educational inequalities. This article contributes to this body of literature by discussing how changes in high-stakes examination systems have interacted with the neoliberal Islamization of education in Turkey and have contributed to the creation of new forms of inequalities. The article also demonstrates how the characteristics of policy change to high-stakes examinations can differ depending on the hegemonic power relations at play.