This text aims to analyse the approches claimed for evaluation on brasilian basic education. It comments some conclusions from a State of Art about academic articles on the theme during the 90s, and adds other reflections. According to the author, two approches have been taking up the discurse on evalution in the country: one of them refers to its emancipatory potential and the other takes roots in the regulatory function of the state. The article seeks to examine both visions in terms of their theoretical and ideological matrices and to discuss issues that follows from them. It concludes by the need to rethink the regulatory and emancipatory functions of evaluation, adopting other theoretical perspective.
Evaluation; Assessment; Basic education; Educational quality; Public policy