Evaluación del impacto de la política pública educativa para la inclusión de estudiantes neurodivergentes en educación media en Ecuador.

Abstract

Abstract: This study examines, from a qualitative and socio-critical perspective, the effects of Ecuador s current public education policy on the inclusion of neurodivergent students in upper secondary education, considering both normative coherence and the real conditions of implementation and assessment within the education system. A systematic review guided by the PRISMA approach is conducted to identify, screen, and refine the documents, transparently outlining the process that led to a final corpus of 19 academic and normative sources. The findings show that the reviewed corpus goes beyond merely describing regulations; it organizes and compares evidence to demonstrate a persistent pattern of misalignment between the legal framework and school-level practice. Implementation emerges as the main bottleneck, linked to factors such as insufficient teacher preparation, intermittent support, curricular rigidity, and assessment-related tensions. The analysis also indicates that deficit-oriented approaches continue to persist despite the discursive predominance of a rights-based framework. Finally, the study highlights the need for public education policy to incorporate qualitative criteria for evaluating and valuing its impact beyond mere compliance.