Monitoring Student Progress in Mathematics and Science
In Chile, the Ministry of Education and the Education Quality Agency are responsible for the continual and periodic assessment of the education system to improve the quality of education. The Education Quality Agency is responsible for assessing student learning outcomes and the performance of educational institutions based on national curriculum standards, on an annual basis.37 The national assessment system (Simce) is administered in all schools in certain grades and certain subjects in Chile.f,38 The Simce assessment includes a questionnaire for students, parents, and teachers designed to measure other Educational Quality Indicators, a set of indexes that reflect the personal and social development of students and complement the results of the Simce standardized tests as well as international assessments.
Results are published at the school, regional, and national levels, represented by scale scores and achievement levels, and indicate what students are able to do at different levels on the assessment scale. The individual results of students and teachers are protected.
At the school level, students are assessed individually in every grade and subject by their teachers, and grade promotion depends on their academic results. The Ministry of Education awards high school (upper secondary school) promotion certificates based on student qualifications provided by schools.39
- f Simce is administered to students in Grades 4 and 10, every year. Simce assessment at other grades varies year on year, depending on the annual evaluation plan. Similarly, Simce is administered in mathematics and language arts every year, whereas the Simce assessment in the social and natural sciences varies year on year, depending on the annual evaluation plan.