Recently, the South Korean government expanded Student Assessment Policy to the
entire student population, and announced a plan to use assessment results for the
evaluation of local education offices as well as personnel management of school principals.
Yet little is known about how the implementation of Student Assessment Policy shapes
educational practices in individual schools. In this study, the authors address this lack of
research by investigating the impact of Student Assessment Policy on school sites using
ethnographic data for 6th grade students from two elementary schools located in central
Korea. Results show between- and within- school variation in the impact of Student
Assessment Policy. In both of the schools, however, teachers’ concerns about and burdens
of lowering rates of students who do not meet the minimum level of achievement through
a regular class as well as after-school programs increased, which in turn led to the
enhancement of a cramming-based, memorization approach to instruction. In contrast,
teachers’ efforts to facilitate students’ creativity decreased. Findings suggest that Student
Assessment Policy may likely fail to achieve its intended goals of improving quality of
school education and bridging the achievement gap.