Assessment “Made in Chile”

: An Exploratory Study on School Based Assessment Practices in one Chilean Secondary School.

Abstract

This study is a detailed account of School Based Assessment practices in one secondary school in Chile, which explores and questions the purposes, methods, results and fairness underpinning current assessment practices. The research design of the study is informed by a conceptual framework based around the international literature on key features of the nature, purposes and outcomes of SBA, and then tailored to the specific nuances found within the Chilean system, policy and contextual characteristics. The study is underpinned by a constructivist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology. This supports an exploratory qualitative study using documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews as methodology, with ten teacher and ten student interviews from one subsidised school in San Bernardo, Santiago, that were analysed using thematic analysis.
The findings of this study show that assessment purposes are highly impacted by the need to cover curriculum contents, with classic paper and pencil assessment methods, such as tests, that suit teachers’ lack of time. Teachers also make summative use of formative strategies, as grades production is a main objective of SBA. Following that fact, feedback is scarce for students. Finally, a general perspective of an unfair system is depicted by teachers and students, mainly because of the impact of the high stakes, the inequality of the country, and also historical structural conditions within the school. The considerable impact that grades have on students’ lives in terms of being promoted from one level to another, university entrance opportunities are high stakes and some research has been highly critical, emphasising the instrumentalist logic which reduces the educational process to numbers.
This study although small-scale contributes new knowledge by informing policy debate with a much-needed bottom-up approach which by emphasising stakeholders and the school’s reality, can potentially support and serve as a basis for policy changes in the future.

Date of Award	10 Dec 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Sponsors	Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo
Supervisor	Sally M Thomas (Supervisor) & Shelley McKeown Jones (Supervisor)