Resultados das Provas de Aferição e dos Exames de Matemática e de Português do 9º ano: Que conclusões tirar?

Abstract

This article presents a critical analysis of the results of the Portuguese assessment tests and of the Portuguese national math and Portuguese exams at the 9th grade level. Our analysis focuses on the variables that seem to explain the results students obtained in the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, with the first two years corresponding to the assessment tests and the last year corresponding to the exam results. The comparison between these two types of tests includes the interpretation of the evaluation criteria utilized to score the students’responses, of the type of content tested and of the types of items presented to the students. This comparison exercise, as well as the case study of a school, shows that the statistical indicators gathered by the Educational Evaluation Services of the Ministry of Education do not allow reliable inferences about students´ achievement. The conclusions point out several errors in the development of these assessment tools in terms of their validity and reliability. In short, the students’results in the tests discussed are not comparable and do not offer good indicators of students’performance.