O SPAECE enquanto política pública: avaliando suas influências nos processos de avaliação da aprendizagem

Abstract

This research investigates the Permanent Basic Education Assessment System of Ceará (SPAECE), aiming to assess the perceptions and meanings attributed by 5th-grade elementary school teachers to the influence of SPAECE, as a public policy, on their classroom learning assessment processes. The debate over external assessments has been recurrent in the educational context, reflecting a structural crisis intensified by neoliberal logics that redefine the role of schools in terms of efficiency and competitiveness. In this context, large-scale assessment assumes a central role, but, as authors such as Diane Ravitch (2011) point out, it risks distorting the essential objectives of education by focusing on measurable outcomes, devaluing the role of the teacher and restricting the curriculum. The methodology adopted was basic, qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive, combining bibliographic research, document analysis, and field research. The evaluative perspective of the policy was guided by the aims of In-Depth Assessment. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and systematic observation with teachers from the Fortaleza municipal school system, and analyzed based on Bardin's (2016) content analysis framework. The research results demonstrate that SPAECE's influence is multifaceted and complex. Teachers perceive the system ambivalently, recognizing its usefulness for diagnosis and accountability, but criticizing its focus on ranking and its connection to funding logic. Classroom assessment practices are marked by a tension between humanized pedagogical concepts and the demands of performativity, which induce curricular adaptations and "teaching to the test." In response to this pressure, teachers develop various "forms of resistance," ranging from resilience to an explicit defense of quality education that transcends the measurable. The conclusion is that SPAECE, as a public policy, acts as a catalyst that reconfigures school culture. However, teachers are not passive agents, but rather subjects who reframe policy in a continuous effort to balance external demands with their fundamental commitment to truly meaningful and transformative education. In summary, the findings of the three objectives intertwine cohesively, demonstrating that SPAECE is not merely an external assessment policy, but a force that reconfigures school culture. It influences everything from the conception of quality and pedagogical practices to the autonomy and professional identity of teachers.