A Theory For Systemic Improvement of Education in Latin America

Abstract

The study of the improvement of educational systems has little development in the tradition of research in Latin America. The appearance of standardized assessments, which allow the comparison of student's achievement over time, has generated biased or simplistic interpretations of the causes of learning outcomes. The proposal for a theory of systemic improvement is based on these warnings and seeks to generate a framework that escapes evaluation biases with a pragmatic attitude that can interpret and use them to consolidate a vision of the complexity of educational systems. The grounded theory that is presented is based on multiple previous research and is organized based on four combined analytical axes: 1-systemic governance, 2-the expansion of capacities of the education system actors, 3-the alignment of accountability and 4-coherence in curricular translation. These axes require entering the black box of the functioning of educational systems and noticing the multiple layers that mediate between policies and teaching practices. In order to advance in this direction, a series of methodological derivations are proposed that favor empirical testing of the theoretical proposal. Finally, the epistemological and political problem of defining the processes of "systemic improvement" and the need to use and at the same time go beyond standardized evaluations are addressed.