Towards a national assessment policy in Switzerland: Areas of conflict in the use of assessment instruments

This article reveals three emerging areas of conflict in the use of educational assessment instruments in compulsory education in Switzerland and outlines an analytical approach for detecting and analysing these areas of conflict. The approach combines a conceptual perspective, an evaluation perspective and a teaching perspective to show the different backgrounds and expectations of actors on the governmental and school levels. We apply our analysis to three assessment instruments, currently in use in Switzerland, retracing a rudimentary timeline of Swiss educational assessment, with a focus on the German-speaking region of the country. Combining the three perspectives and positioning the analytical approach within the context of political and historical developments enables us to discuss both the reasons for the conflicts and possible ways to respond to them