External assessment and special education in the municipality of São Paulo

The external assessment was designed, especially after the 1990s, as a structuring element of educational policies and programs, besides being the main indicator for monitoring the quality of education offered by the school systems. Based on this perspective, the purpose of this study was to analyze how the special education target public has participated in this evaluation method, taking as reference the Prova São Paulo, created by the Municipal Education Department of Sao Paulo to produce periodic reports on the performance of their students and thus verify which the effects of educational policies and programs adopted are. To reach this primary goal, we developed a qualitative research, using an exploratory design, and as procedures for data collection: survey of documentary sources and references on the subject studied, structured interviews and field observation. On this basis, we established four specific objectives, about the analysis of national and international productions on the subject matter to describe and analyze the policy of educational assessment in São Paulo focusing on the participation of the special education target public, to check the involvement of sectors of special education and educational assessment in proposing evidence that addressed the specifics of these students, and find out what the consequences of that policy evaluation with regard to the policy of educational inclusion São Paulo are. As a result, we found that the United States, one of the pioneers in the field of educational evaluation has a political and actions field consolidated with regard to target public of special education participation in evaluations and large-scale assessment. In Brazil, there is legislation guidance on the participation of all people in government initiatives related to education, a right that should be extended to the evaluation process. On the participation of the special education target public in Prova São Paulo, we observed that the municipality of São Paulo has offered adaptations of content (difficulty level, reducing the number of questions, adjustments in some skills in the area of Portuguese Language for deaf students and in Mathematics for blind students), adjustments in presentation (test in Libras, braille and with enlarged font) and special support (reader, writer and guide-interpreter). The engagement between the teams of educational assessment and special education was considered of great relevance to the increase in the number of special adaptations and support offered. Regarding to these changes, it was found that the participation of the special education target public in evaluation processes outside the school has generated greater commitment of its professionals to the teaching of curriculum content, and the performance achieved by these students is not responsible for unsatisfactory grades in the educational units, idea widespread among school systems. Thus, we hope to contribute to the academic debate surrounding the issue about the participation of the special education target public in external evaluations and large-scale assessment, a question that can not be neglected by both areas - educational evaluation and special education. (AU)