Observatorio Regional de Políticas de Evaluación Educativa

The central objective of PREAL is to contribute to the improvement of the quality and equity of education in the region through the promotion of informed debates on educational policy and reform, the identification and dissemination of good practices, and the evaluation and monitoring of educational progress. PREAL's activities are carried out through Associated Research and Public Policy Centers in various countries in the region and include the conduct of studies, the organization of debates, and the promotion of public dialogues on educational policy and reform. The Group of Work on Standards and Evaluation of PREAL was created with the purpose of informing, legitimizing, and utilizing spaces for the measurement of learning outcomes and promoting an informed debate on the topic of standard formulation. It is coordinated from the Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo -- GRADE -- of Lima, Peru, and has a wide network of participants with whom it is linked through a virtual site from which it also disseminates the results of studies conducted within the framework of its activities and promotes forums and debates on their content. The Operativo Nacional de Evaluación (ONE) 2010 was conducted in 2010, involving approximately 60,000 secondary school students in a sample of 2,000 sections chosen randomly. The evaluation included a census assessment, which involved all students in the last year of all secondary schools in the country (approximately 410,000). In November, the second part of the ONE 2010 was developed, evaluating students in third and sixth grades in Mathematics, Language, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. The results will be available in mid-2011. In Argentina, the Estudio Nacional de Evaluación Educación Secundaria Ciencias Sociales Ciencias Naturales ONE 2007-ETAPA 2008 was conducted in March 2010, evaluating students in 2nd/3rd and 5th/6th year of secondary education in the areas of Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. The study was applied between October 20 and November 5, 2008, with a sample of approximately 41,000 students in 2,000 secondary education establishments. Recommendations for Methodological Guidelines for Teaching (Mathematics, Language, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences) were developed based on the results of the 2007 tests applied in 2008 in 2nd/3rd year and 5th/6th year of secondary education. These materials aim to present the results of the proposed activities in the tests and suggest activities based on the difficulties detected in the evaluations. The documents can be downloaded from the PREAL website. In Bolivia, the Ministry of Education and Culture does not have available information on the website. In Brazil, the Sistema de Evaluación de la Educación Básica applies two complementary exams: the PROVA BRASIL (since 2005) and the SAEB (since 1999). The PROVA BRASIL was applied in the areas of Language and Mathematics between November 9 and 27, 2009, with a census character and involving all public urban and rural schools with more than 20 enrolled students in the 4th and 8th series (5th and 9th year). The SAEB, with a sample character, also involved students in the 3rd year of Secondary Education. The results were sent to the participating school networks in 2010, with explanatory material to guide the understanding and analysis of the results by the school communities.