Do national test scores and quality labels trigger school self-assessment and accountability? A critical analysis in the Chilean context

Using qualitative data from two Chilean public schools,I interrogate the expectation that standardised testing motivates staff to critically self-assess themselves and to be accountable for failing evaluations. The research findings bring new insights into looking at ways in which school members,especially head managers,strategically debate,highlight and obscure scores,classifications and ranking positions to generate narratives of institutional success,while defending themselves from negative outcomes. Members are both disciplined by state technologies,but are also actively committed to produce school identity narratives in creative ways as a manner to make sense of the school and maintain its value.