Teachers, Teacher Education, and Professional Development
Teacher Education Specific to Mathematics and Science
Primary and lower secondary school teacher certification qualifies teachers to teach different subjects, including mathematics and science, in Grades 1 to 8 (basic education). Upper secondary school teachers (Grades 9 to 12) are subject specialists, who may teach only the subjects in which they have specialized.13
Professional certification is compulsory for basic education teachers, although the certification does not have to be an academic degree. There are different routes to obtaining teacher certification including studying at universities, at professional institutes, and in special programs within these institutions. High school (upper secondary school) teachers may obtain professional certification through combined teacher education programs in which they take disciplinary and pedagogical courses. Some institutions offer a program for students who have completed undergraduate studies in areas such as mathematics, science, and language arts. These programs last one to two years and lead to upper secondary school (high school) teacher certification.
In 2009, the Ministry of Education implemented a voluntary diagnostic assessment program (Inicia) for graduates of teacher education programs. This assessment has no bearing on teacher qualifications or certification; rather, its goal is to provide universities with feedback on how well they are educating future teachers, and ultimately to enhance the overall quality of the teaching profession in Chile. To this end, the Inicia assessment was used in developing guiding standards for pedagogy in 2011.14
Requirements for Ongoing Professional Development
The Center of Development, Experimentation, and Pedagogical Research (CPEIP),15 within the Ministry of Education, is in charge of designing, implementing, and evaluating professional development policies for teachers in order to improve the quality of education in the country.
One of the CPEIP’s professional development programs consists of B-learning Courses, which are online courses for teachers that are part of a series of professional development programs. These courses combine face to face and remote classes (via the Internet) that cover one specific theme and are run by subject specialists, who provide tutorials and guides for teachers. The courses comprise approximately 80 to 140 hours, and target teachers and education assistants in subsidized schools. Another CPEIP program is the Continuing Education Programs, which grants disciplinary and pedagogical specialization to basic education teachers in public and private subsidized schools. This specialization program is developed by accredited Chilean universities, and the CPEIP acts as a technical advisor.16
Teachers in public schools are evaluated under a mandatory formative evaluation system (Docente Más), which is administrated by the CPEIP with the aim of strengthening the teaching profession and improving the quality of education in Chile. Evaluations consist of self, peer, and supervisor assessments and a portfolio assessment (including written and audiovisual material). Evaluation results are shared with teachers, school principals and management teams, and school administrators (municipalities). Teachers who obtain positive results on the evaluation also may take a written test of disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge specific to their subject and grade level. Teachers who obtain positive results on the written test receive an additional yearly allowance, called the variable allowance for individual performance (Asignación Variable por Desempeño Individual).17
The Ministry of Education offers the Teaching Excellence Allowance (Asignación de Excelencia Pedagógica), which aims to improve the quality of education by recognizing the professional excellence of teachers from public and private subsidized schools.18 To apply, teachers take a voluntary assessment consisting of a portfolio and a pedagogical and disciplinary test. Depending on the assessment results, teachers may receive a bonus on their incomes for a certain amount of time. Teachers who obtain distinguished results on the Teaching Excellence Allowance assessment may apply to join the Expert Teachers Network (Red Maestros de Maestros). This network, also launched by the Ministry of Education, aims to leverage distinguished teachers’ capabilities to benefit the professional development of teachers as a whole.19
Although these programs are delivered to the entire primary and secondary educational sector (for teachers of all grades and in all subsectors), they aim to develop the knowledge and skills of teachers in their respective areas of specialty, such as science and mathematics.