The Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay (MEC), through the National Directorate of Education and the Embassy of Korea in Uruguay, conducted the Uruguay-South Korea Educational Forum, whose objective was to share experiences and challenges in education, and strengthen the historic collaboration of both countries in educational matters.

At the event, conducted in Montevideo on October 9th, 2015, the Regi<a name="_GoBack"></a>onal Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago) was invited, and presented the results of the Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (TERCE).

The opening was headed by the national director of education of the MEC, Juan Pedro Mir, and the ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Uruguay, Han Jun Yoo. The President of the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI), Sun-Geun Baek, began the presentations with “Dynamic education for national and individual development. The case of the Republic of Korea”, followed by the member of the Central Directive Council (CODICEN) of the National Administration of Public Education of Uruguay, Mag. María Margarita Luaces, with her presentation “Public education: new focuses in the design of its educational policies”.

TERCE Results

Atilio Pizarro, Section Chief for Planning, Management, Monitoring and Evaluation of OREALC/UNESCO Santiago, participated jointly with experts Andrés Peri and Álvaro Silva in the round table “International assessments: potentialities and limitations for comparative analysis”. Pizarro made reference to the Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (TERCE), with emphasis on the use of the data of large-scale learning assessments for the improvement of the quality of education. The specialist highlighted that UNESCO has placed special emphasis on the use of the results of the TERCE study for educational improvement and not for the establishment of rankings between countries.

Performance levels of the TERCE study test scores allow for a characterization of what students know and are capable of doing in each grade level evaluated.  “Three cut-off points for the exam were made, which established four performance levels, from the lowest to the most advanced (I to IV); the results that are delivered correspond to the percentage of students that fall into each one of the performance levels”, he explained.  In this context, the majority of students within the region, including those from Uruguay, fall within the lowest performance levels (level I and II); that is, there is an important gap in order for students to achieve learning fundamentals that reflect a greater mastery of knowledge and a development of the most advanced abilities in all areas and grades evaluated by the TERCE.

The expert also made reference to TERCE’s study of associated factors with learning achievement, a key element for the interpretation of student achievement results, as it allows for an understanding of the conditions under which the learning process takes place: “The conceptual base of the design of TERCE is the Context-Input-Process-Product model (CIPP), according to which learning depends on the specific social contexts, on the human resources and materials of the school, and especially, the processes that take place in the classroom and in educational establishments”, he added.

Within this framework, Pizarro went deeper into the subject of repeating a grade. “Even when this mechanism is utilized in many cases for its supposed remedial character, the results of TERCE indicate that in Latin America, students who have repeated a course obtained poorer results in all exams overall, particularly in Mathematics and Reading”, he said.

Additionally, Pizarro stressed the importance of this data, given that although in the region grade repetition rates have decreased in primary education (4.8% in 2012, and 7.2% in 2000), when compared with other regions in the world, Latin America and the Caribbean present the highest rates of grade repetition. According to figures from 2012, Uruguay is above the regional average for grade repetition, an aspect that contrasts with the low rates of Korea which, jointly with Germany, present the lowest rates within the OECD.

Data for intervention and improvement

The specialist from OREALC/UNESCO Santiago concluded that emphasizing the findings centered on performance levels and on the factors associated with student performance is a focus that can mobilize school systems towards internal improvement - including teacher practices -, and not towards competition.

Pizarro emphasized that the information provided by the TERCE study can help in this process, as it allows for the identification of key areas of intervention, basing themselves on solid empirical evidence available for decision-makers, teachers and school principals.  The data invites us to take urgent action in order to minimize inequality in educational systems and support the development of boys, girls, and youth. “In the case of repetition, for example, we can affirm that integral support mechanisms are needed for families, and in particular, for children that present learning difficulties, so that they might confront the problems that lead them to repeat a grade".

Andrés Peri, National Coordinator for Uruguay of the Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education (LLECE), entity coordinated by OREALC/UNESCO Santiago, which carried out the study, made reference to the assessment from the national perspective, placing emphasis on institutional learning and the necessary conditions so that participation in an international assessment will be of importance for Uruguay.  He insisted that “a key element in improving the quality of education in the country is the definition of integral mechanisms for improvement, with a focus on ‘curricular precision’ and on pedagogical practices”.

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The Uruguay-South Korea Educational Forum was supported by the National Administration of Public Education, the Universidad de la República, UNESCO, the Primary and Secondary Education Council, the Technical-Professional Education Council-UTU, and the Education Training Council.

More information:

• Uruguay-South Korea Educational Forum (Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay)
• Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education (LLECE)
• Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (TERCE)