The evolution of national large-scale assessments over time in Latin America. A qualitative comparative analysis of the drivers of policy change

• In Event: Global Education Reforms Across Time and Space: Tendencies, Drivers, and Explanations In Comparative and Historical Perspective (Part 1)

Proposal

Since the 1990s, national large-scale assessments (NLSAs) have experienced significant growth, becoming central to education governance worldwide (Benavot & Koseleci, 2015). Malleable in nature, NLSAs are policy tools that have served multiple purposes over time: monitoring education quality, informing policy decisions, and holding schools and actors accountable (Verger et al., 2019). While it is well-established that the adoption of NLSAs has been driven by international actors and an increasing emphasis on standardization, accountability, and alignment with global norms (Furuta, 2022), less scholarly attention has been paid to how these instruments evolve over time. Particularly in Latin American countries, where institutional legacies and local policy dynamics intersect with global education reforms in complex ways, shaping policy trajectories (Díaz-Ríos, 2020).
This research analyzes the evolution of NLSAs in 17 Latin American education systems from 1995 to the present. It seeks to understand how these assessments have changed in intensity and consequentiality for teachers and schools, and to identify the political, institutional, and social factors driving these changes. Using a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) approach, this study identifies the configurations of necessary and sufficient conditions that explain divergent policy outcomes across the region (Schneider & Wagemann, 2012; Maggetti, 2021). By focusing on the distinctive national contexts the research sheds light on the temporal dynamics of NLSA evolution in this region.
Initial findings suggest that NLSAs in Latin America have not followed a linear path of institutionalization. In countries such as Chile and Colombia, these assessments have become deeply embedded within broader accountability frameworks. Similarly, in Brazil and Mexico, federal structures have allowed for variations in the consequentiality of NLSAs at the subnational level. In contrast, countries like Argentina and Uruguay have seen revisions or resistance to NLSAs, driven by local debates surrounding educational equity and the appropriateness of standardized testing. These findings suggest that while global influences may have shaped the design of NLSAs, their long-term development is strongly shaped by local political, historical, and institutional factors, leading to varied policy outcomes. Moreover, small degrees of reconfiguration or recalibration of these instruments may contribute to their ‘stickiness’ over time.
By examining these evolving trajectories, this study provides a more nuanced understanding of NLSAs as dynamic policy instruments, whose endurance over time cannot be assumed static. It underscores the importance of considering the temporal dimensions of policy evolution. By exploring these processes, the research contributes to the growing body of work on how global education reforms are vernacularized and recontextualized within specific national contexts, offering valuable insights into the ongoing processes of policy institutionalization and evolution in the broader field of comparative and international education research.

Author

• Marina López Leavy, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona