First, help the neediest

By targeting assistance to the worst-performing public schools, Chile has helped to narrow the learning gap between rich and poor

By Paul Constance

When Gladys Tejea took over as principal of Escuela Albert Einstein, she immediately applied to join a Ministry of Education program known as P-900.

It was not the most diplomatic thing a new principal could do. The “900” in P-900 refers to the approximate number of schools that score in the lowest 10 percent in Chile’s standardized educational achievement test, known as SIMCE (for its Spanish acronym). Bluntly put, the P-900 is a targeted-assitance program designed to help Chile’s worst-performing schools, and by signing up Tejea was putting teachers, parents and students on notice that it was time to improve.

The P-900 caused a small firestorm when it was launched in 1990. At the time, failure was still something of a taboo in Chile’s public education system. It was considered impolitic to identify schools that were performing below average, particularly when they were in areas with high percentages of poor and disadvantaged students. But in the late 1980s, as test results consistently revealed a wide gap in the scores at schools in poor versus middle- or upper-class areas, officials decided to set aside a portion of the education budget to provide direct assistance to the neediest schools.

Though it might seem like an obvious policy, such targeted or “affirmative action” programs are risky for both political and technical reasons. First, directors and teachers at underperforming schools may resent being labeled as such, and may actually resist measures designed to improve the level of learning. Second, there is no guarantee that the additional spending will result in sustainable improvements in the targeted schools.

Chile helped to diffuse political resistance to the P-900 program by making it voluntary. As a result, only those schools where the principal was ready to openly acknowledge that the school needed help were likely to sign on. Though interest was limited during its first year of operation, by 1991 the P-900 had become quite popular, and since then more than 2,400 Chilean schools have participated.

The Ministry of Education also took steps to ensure that schools that signed up with the P-900 would not squander the funds. In order to participate, schools had to make a formal pledge to focus on improving the quality of learning as measured by the SIMCE tests. In exchange, they received a modest per-student stipend and a number of professional and in-kind resources. These included continuing education workshops for teachers, a variety of high-quality textbooks and workbooks for both teachers and students, and stipends to pay for community-based tutors who worked with struggling students. P-900 schools also got professional help in designing school management plans and strategies to engage the support and participation of parents.

After three years in the P-900 program, schools are required to “graduate,” and after that they no longer receive the extra support.

Although it can be difficult to measure the effect of a program like P-900 because so many factors are involved in the quality of learning, figures compiled by Chile’s Ministry of Education indicate that test scores consistently improve at schools that participate in P-900. Between 1988 and 1996, for example, average combined math and language scores at schools that participated in the program rose from 43.14 to 64.34—a 21 point gain on a scale from 1 to 100. Scores at all other public schools (which tend to be in better shape that the P-900 participants), went from an average of 52.55 to 67.93 during the same period. In other words, P-900 significantly improved the performance of participating schools relative to the national average.

Not everything about P-900 has worked well. Roughly one-third of the participating schools didn’t improve their test scores. After “graduating” from the program, some schools’ scores have tended to drop, indicating that the improved learning is not sustainable without a permanent infusion of additional support. Finally, since 1996 the gains from the program seem to be leveling off, indicating that as with any other reform initiative, the P-900 may have run its course. In this regard, Chile’s Ministry of Education has recently overhauled the P-900 to place a greater emphasis on changing and measuring what actually happens in the classroom. This contrasts with its original focus on “inputs” (such as textbooks) training and school autonomy. (See link to the Ministry of Education for more details about the program).

But as the story of Escuela Einstein eloquently demonstrates, it makes sense to identify and support needy schools that are ready to help themselves.

Date posted: April 2002