Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
European Journal of Special Needs Education, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
Inclusive education is a central policy goal across education systems, yet children with multiple disabilities remain marginalised within many centralised assessment frameworks. This study examines how assessment and placement processes within a centralised assessment framework shape educational pathways, drawing on qualitative data from ten assessment centres in Türkiye. Perspectives from assessment professionals, teachers, and mothers (N = 30) were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four interconnected themes were identified: medicalised assessment practices, segregation as a default placement, limited expectations for learning, and tensions between policy intentions and classroom practice. Building on these findings, the study develops a conceptual model that reconceptualises centralised assessment as an institutional filtering mechanism rather than a neutral administrative process. The model shows how procedural logics organise placement decisions and structure access to inclusive education before classroom engagement begins. By situating an empirically grounded case within international debates, the study demonstrates how institutional processes shape the enactment of inclusion. The findings offer insights transferable to other centralised assessment frameworks and provide a process-oriented explanation of how systemic barriers are produced and sustained.