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This paper makes the case for the need to study assessment reform processes from a broader and more complex perspective that takes the historical, ideological and systemic aspects of assessment policies into account. It draws on a larger study to demonstrate how the understanding of Assessment for Learning (AfL) reforms is enriched by such a perspective, taking the Chilean case as an illustrative example. The study draws on polysystems theory as an overarching theoretical tool and on critical discourse analysis and intertextuality as a means to reconstruct the polysystem of assessment reforms. These tools are used to analyse two types of sources: documents from different periods of Chilean history of education where reforms relevant to assessment were carried out, and interviews with policy authorities involved in the AfL reform as well as with teachers from different backgrounds and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]