School Improvement Trajectories in Chile: a case study

Abstract: Progress in educational improvement research has generated consensus about the need to pay closer attention to the context within which it develops as well as to the multiple levels and participants involved in it. Within that analytic framework, a study was conducted to identify how the improvement trajectories experienced by schools can help understand their current scenario of strengths and weaknesses. Eight case studies were carried out in different types of Chilean schools, considering their socioeconomic and academic achievement characteristics. First, this study assessed the presence of educational improvement attributes in the schools. Following this, in-depth analyses of the trajectories of the four schools that attained the highest scores in the assessment were conducted. With the results obtained, an explanatory model was generated to describe the educational improvement trajectories of the schools that were analyzed. This model involves three stages (bring order; achieve organization, and improve teaching-learning), each of which includes one main process.

摘要：教育改进研究领域的进展已形成广泛共识，即需更加关注研究开展的具体情境，以及其中涉及的多维度层级与参与主体。在此分析框架下，本研究旨在探明学校所经历的改进轨迹，如何助力理解其当前的优势与短板现状。研究针对不同类型的智利学校开展了八项案例研究，同时考量其社会经济背景与学业表现特征。首先，本研究对各学校具备的教育改进相关属性进行了评估。随后，针对此次评估中得分最高的四所学校的改进轨迹开展了深度分析。基于所得研究结果，本研究构建了一套解释模型，用以描述所分析学校的教育改进轨迹。该模型包含三个阶段：厘清秩序（bring order）、实现组织优化（achieve organization）与改进教与学（improve teaching-learning），每个阶段均包含一项核心流程。