Initial Diagnostic Assessment in Pre-Service Teacher Training in Chile and its Relationship With Institutional Contexts

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which five Chilean universities have implemented the mandatory initial diagnostic assessment in pre-service teacher training. The law states that the outcomes of this assessment will be used to enhance students’ learning processes. In addition, universities are entitled to autonomy to define what to evaluate and how to carry it out. Considering the purpose and scope of this evaluation, the aim of this paper is to better understand how these assessments have been implemented by universities and how institutional settings have affected the way in which universities have put this assessment into practice. In order to explore this phenomenon, the research employed a multiple case study approach. In this context, semi-structured interviews were carried out with institutional representatives, along with analysis of a set of diagnostic assessments and their psychometric test results. Drawing upon the triangulation of the information generated, the paper concludes that the most important elements affecting the implementation of this initial diagnostic assessment are, on the one hand, professionals’ technical skills and, on the other, the resources that teacher training programs or faculties have. There was a lack of relationship between the assessment and the admission profiles and training programs.