Standardised Testing in the Context of Constitutionally Protected Freedom of Education -- The Case of Flanders
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| Title: | Standardised Testing in the Context of Constitutionally Protected Freedom of Education -- The Case of Flanders |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Michelle Meadows (ORCID |
| Source: | Oxford Review of Education. 2025 51(2):202-222. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 21 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Descriptive |
| Education Level: | Elementary Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Standardized Tests, Student Evaluation, Foreign Countries, Educational Policy, Accountability, Academic Freedom, Educational Change, School District Autonomy, Educational Assessment, Politics of Education, Educational Quality, Elementary Secondary Education, Computer Assisted Testing, Data Use, Test Results |
| Geographic Terms: | Belgium |
| DOI: | 10.1080/03054985.2024.2439283 |
| ISSN: | 0305-4985 1465-3915 |
| Abstract: | Around the world governments have been observed to harness assessment to exert control over the content and quality of education. In Belgium, Flanders, with constitutionally protected freedom of education, has been an exception, having no standardised tests or end of school examinations. Recently, declining international test outcomes have been used to justify educational reforms, including the introduction of compulsory standardised tests. We consider the timing and rationale for the reforms, and the extent to which the changes fit the Global Education Reform Movement template. We conclude that the policy reforms represent an attempt by government to leverage Broadfoot's social functions of assessment to create a different balance between school autonomy and accountability. How the reforms will interact with the educational culture in Flanders is difficult to predict but the new quantification of education will likely open the system up to further policy reforms as test data driven comparisons raise questions and demand action. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1498791 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | Around the world governments have been observed to harness assessment to exert control over the content and quality of education. In Belgium, Flanders, with constitutionally protected freedom of education, has been an exception, having no standardised tests or end of school examinations. Recently, declining international test outcomes have been used to justify educational reforms, including the introduction of compulsory standardised tests. We consider the timing and rationale for the reforms, and the extent to which the changes fit the Global Education Reform Movement template. We conclude that the policy reforms represent an attempt by government to leverage Broadfoot's social functions of assessment to create a different balance between school autonomy and accountability. How the reforms will interact with the educational culture in Flanders is difficult to predict but the new quantification of education will likely open the system up to further policy reforms as test data driven comparisons raise questions and demand action. |
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| ISSN: | 0305-4985 1465-3915 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/03054985.2024.2439283 |
