American International Journal of Social Science

Assessment and School Success in Basic Education: Perspectives of Pupils
Maria Palmira Alves

Abstract
Assessment and school success is a theme that has, increasingly, deserved the attention of politicians, teachers, and parents. Assessment is an element that depicts the whole process of learning and the way it is practiced, is determinant for children success. Therefore, it is pertinent to understand how pupils that have “school success” and those that do not have it perceive assessment. The text presents some results of a case study, carried out in a school organization, located in the North of Portugal, which goal was to understand the perspective of learning assessment, near pupils that have school success (never repeated) and those that do not (have repeat once or more). Data was collected by semi-structured interviews, near 18 pupils (9 pupils with school success and 9 without school success). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and foster analyzed using content analysis. The results show some convergences, and simultaneously, some divergences between the two groups of pupils. All pupils agree that their interest and motivation for each subject, depends on the content and the relationship that they establish with the teacher; they feel supported by the teacher to achieve good results, through diverse activities in the classroom. However, the pupils with less school success, recognize that teachers are able to identify their difficulties in order to help them overcome their difficulties, but they consider the strategies approached do not motivate them; they consider studying is important, but feel uninterested; they attend school because they are obliged; they consider that assessment is a punishment, but it is necessary.

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