The objective of this study was to identify trajectories of school improvement experienced by Chilean elementary schools over the last decade. Using econometric analysis and controlling for potential confounding factors, we created an index of school performance combining outcome indicators focused on different school dimensions, and estimated the 2002/2010 evolution of school improvement for all Chilean schools with available data. Broadly, we estimated an average increase in the school performance of about 0.19 SD; nevertheless, while 41% of the schools increased their educational performance by at least 0.1 SD, 25% of the schools decreased it during the same period; we also found that improving school effectiveness was more probable among schools with lower student socioeconomic status (SES). Finally, we found that the observed school improvement trajectories tended to be non-linear; thus, we estimated that only 13.4% of the schools improved their performance in a systematic way during the entire decade.

The construct of convivencia escolar (CE) has multiple meanings, some reduce it to school life without conflict and a punitive management of indiscipline. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to describe, understand and compare the meanings of CE and the procedures involved in school norms used to regulate students’ behaviours in Chilean schools with high and low levels of punitive exclusionary practices (PEP). Schools with higher levels of PEP were mostly low-SES/municipal schools, with low academic achievement and school climate. Qualitative content analysis of schools’ norms showed that schools with high levels of punitive practices constructed a sense of schooling as a way out of poverty through high discipline and values of respect and responsibility. Schools with low punitive practices pursued community values but had previous selection processes. We argue that in both cases, educational inclusion/exclusion is construed by reproducing social class segregation.

Si bien las políticas educativas y la investigación en educación han abordado la segregación entre escuelas, las formas menos visibles de segregación y exclusión dentro de la escuela apenas se han estudiado. El objetivo de este estudio fue caracterizar y analizar la ocurrencia y concurrencia de dos tipos de prácticas: punitivas y de ordenamiento por habilidades. Se utilizó las bases de datos del sistema de información general de estudiantes de los años 2003 al 2018 para identificar prácticas de ordenamiento académico, y los cuestionarios que acompañan la prueba SIMCE del año 2018 para analizar las prácticas punitivas reportadas por estudiantes de 6° (N = 224.274) y 10° grado (N = 202.282) y a padres de estudiantes de 4° grado (N = 214.211), 6° grado (N = 204.894) y 10° grado (N = 171.596). Los resultados muestran que los estudiantes de sexo masculino y en condición de pobreza reciben más prácticas punitivas, y que el ordenamiento académico es utilizado ampliamente en las escuelas chilenas, con mayor frecuencia en escuelas que solo imparten enseñanza secundaria. El uso de prácticas punitivas es más frecuente en aquellos colegios que ordenan académicamente. Se discute las implicancias de la sobre-representación de estas prácticas para los fenómenos de segregación educativa.