Year 1 Implementation: Challenges for Local Professional Capacity and Support

• In Event: System Reform at the Intermediate Level of Public Education in Chile: Year 1 Implementation

Abstract

This presentation summarizes the research design some key findings. The study took place during 2018. The research included: (1) document analysis of the NEP law, plans, resource materials; (2) interviews with education system leaders (N=31) at the national level; (3) interviews (N=193) with SLEP and municipal authorities and a sample of principals; focus groups with teachers and parents in 40 SLEP schools; and a survey of all SLEP principals (N=124). Data were collected in five dimensions of the reform process: development of a shared vision; installation of the new institutional structure; planning; education improvement processes; and capacity development. The investigation resulted in four case studies and a cross-case analysis completed in May 2019.
Adoption of the NEP reform had multi-lateral political support at the national level. We found broad consensus at the SLEP level on the need for reform, e.g., more than 90% approval in the principal survey. Nonetheless, weaknesses in the design and implementation of the reform have led to tensions in the governability, legitimacy and local capacity to manage the reform and to resolve the problems that justified the reform. Left unresolved, those challenges may lead to an even more precarious future for public education in Chile. One strategic objective of the new SLEPs is to accompany, support and strengthen school leadership capacity and teachers’ pedagogical practices in SLEP schools. This objective is new for the intermediate level in Chile. Each SLEP is to create an Unidad de Apoyo Técnico Pedagógico (UATP) ‘Technical Pedagogical Support Unit’. The international evidence on school districts affirms that effective intermediate level systems exercise leadership with a focus on learning, prioritize actions that affect the quality of curriculum, teaching and learning (e.g., author 2006; Campbell & Fullan, 2006) and enable collaborative professional work and shared goals and plans for improvement (e.g., Knapp et al., 2010; Honig, 2012; Trujillo, 2012). Effective intermediate level actors express a strong sense of efficacy in their capacity to improve the quality of education in their schools (author, 2006).
We investigated how the conformation and implementation of the UATP’s was progressing in the SLEPs. The findings revealed high expectations for the speedy creation and implementation of the UATPs in the SLEPs. These expectations were most clearly expressed by principals. Teachers indicated that they have high hopes, but have not been informed or consulted in the early phases of implementation about plans for this part of reform. All parties expect SLEP pedagogical and leadership support systems to become more concrete in Year 2 of implementation. Professional capacity within the UATPs in the SLEPs remains variable. This has led to problems in getting the UATPs organized, and risks the perceived legitimacy of the SLEPs to provide this professional support service. Participants in the study argued for the need to improve the selection of UATP professional staff and to build professional skill capacity to effectively accompany and support teachers and principals in public school kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools situated in diverse geographical and demographic contexts.

Author

• Mario Uribe Briceno, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso