This presentation will explore the tension between educator-based accountability, as exemplified in the current global testing culture (GTC), and the promises of inclusive education. Increasingly, accountability links student test scores to educator evaluations. Inclusion supporters have identified concerns surrounding the marketisation of education, including international comparisons, the use of league tables, and standardised testing. The work of Slee highlights the contrast between inclusion-focussed international collective frameworks, such as sustainable development goals (SDGs), and ‘lean testing regimes’. This presentation will draw attention to differences between espoused principles and incorporating such principles into classroom practice. These differences are important as implementation for both educator-based accountability and inclusion centre on schools. At the principle level, inclusion and education as a human right – an underlying value of GTC – appear compatible. However, during implementation, principles compete and conflict with each other in the ‘complexity of schools’. Educators find this tension is especially challenging to balance because they ‘work in tightly controlled education systems with high levels of accountability and expectations for continued improvement’. After examining the tension between the global principles and local practices, the presentation will examine how this conflict may play out in Uganda’s attempt to meet SDGs. Presently, the primary school leaving exam (PSLE) in Uganda identifies students who are eligible to continue their education at the secondary level. However, to meet SDGs, Uganda will need to move towards universal secondary school enrolment, requiring an adjustment in the passing score or the tests’ removal. The normative power of GTC makes both of these moves unlikely. The probable result is children who score poorly will be excluded from public secondary schools.

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