João Ricardo Viola dos Santos

Assessment and Mathematics Education: Possibilities and Challenges of Brazilian Research

This chapter portrays Brazilian research that connects the fields of assessment and mathematics education. It reflects on what has been investigated in the scope of the working group on Assessment and Mathematics Education of the Brazilian Society of Mathematics Education since its conception in 2000. The research projects that have formed the basis of the group’s work over the six editions of the International Mathematics Education Research Seminar (SIPEM) have been classified into the following categories: learning assessment, assessment as investigation practice, assessment and inequality processes and assessment and teacher training. Before detailing the approaches that characterise each category, an overview of the Brazilian assessment system is presented to situate the reader. More than providing solutions, this chapter attempts to consider research practices regarding mathematics education based on theoretical and methodological discussion and shared research experiences. It calls attention to some changes in school mathematics education, indicating some challenges associated with the integration and articulation between assessment, teaching and learning, the assessment criteria that teachers adopt, and how are they related to the development of learning and the articulations that can be established between internal and external assessment.