Relationships between the assessment of school quality and social justice

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: In Portugal, educational policies have been implemented to ensure students’ entitlement to equality of opportunity in terms of school access and school quality. Hence, questions about how school quality is assessed, and the relationship between school evaluation and equity, are of high importance. Purpose: This small-scale study focused on two key Portuguese policy measures in this area, namely the TEIP (Educational Territories of Priority Intervention) programme and Schools’ External Evaluation (SEE). It set out to analyse perceptions of how far these policy measures contribute to social justice and the improvement of school quality, following equity principles. Method: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were carried out with personnel in four TEIP school clusters evaluated through the SEE process, and relevant policy-related personnel. The interview data were analysed qualitatively, using content analysis techniques. Findings: Analysis suggested some differences in perceptions between groups of participants, with policy-related personnel associating efficiency and effectiveness discourses with equity and justice principles. Personnel from school clusters that were placed highly in evaluation rankings and classifications tended to perceive TEIP and SEE as largely positive ways of supporting school self-reflection and improvement, whereas personnel from school clusters not highly ranked were in general not so positive about the demands of external evaluation. Some expressed concerns that aspects involving bureaucracy could be counterproductive, leading to a de-emphasis on social justice. Conclusion: The study draws attention to the multi-layered and complex relationship between equity and assessment of school quality. Although social justice is often regarded as a high priority in school evaluation, its association with discourses of efficiency and effectiveness can sometimes weaken equity and distort the concept of social justice in itself. It prompts the broader question of whether and how aspects of the assessment of school quality need to change in order to better support the principles of social justice.