The test that LLECE applies to monitor reading abilities, as part of its assessments of the quality of primary education in Latin America, has acquired "strong credibility" since its debut in 1997.

In a recent surveyhttp://blogdepreal.org/2014/04/17/sacando-a-la-calle-la-discusion-sobre-metas-de-aprendizaje/, conducted by the Inter-American Dialogue on education goals in Latin America, 97 % of those surveyed supported the application of LLECE’s test to monitor reading levels by the end of primary school.

The survey was taken in March this year with the aim to identify what those interested in educational issues in Latin America thought should be the new indicators to monitor progress in education.

An equal proportion of respondents believed that OCDE’s PISA test should be used to monitor the quality of education at age 15-and-older in secondary education.

These backings are positive signs for both sets of indicators to contribute to the monitoring of learning achievements in Latin America in the post-2015 development agenda, says LLECE’s coordinator at UNESCO’s Regional Office for Education, in Santiago de Chile, Moritz Bilagher.

"Learning should play a central role in the debate over the new international targets in global development post-2015. This underscores the importance of educational evaluation to monitor progress towards such a goal. So it is encouraging to see that several of the respondents in the Inter-American Dialogue survey recognize the validity of LLECE’s studies for this purpose”, Moritz says.

In this context, the Regional Bureau for Education of UNESCO in Latin America and the Caribbean calls for the development of a global indicator of learning in a post-2015 scenario to monitor achievements, taking into account the curriculum objectives of each country. More information.

LLECE’s reading test is part of a cycle of Regional Comparative and Explanatory Studies that since 1997 measures learning achievement in mathematics, reading and writing, and natural sciences - since 2006- in the third and sixth grades in countries in the region; both education levels are critical to the future of people in many ways.

These studies have been applied three times in the last sixteen years (PERCE, SERCE, and now TERCE), becoming the most important in the history of primary education in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In addition, by not imposing a different standard from the reality of their own education systems, LLECE’s studies are culturally appropriate for each participating country.

Its third version (TERCE) was implemented in 2013 in a total of 15 countries and the Mexican state of Nuevo León, results which will be released in December this year.

The information provided by TERCE will be comparable with the results obtained in the second study (SERCE), allowing an evaluation of the progress made by the region’s education systems since 2006.

Further information:

• Survey conducted by the Inter-American Dialogue on education goals
• Desarrollo internacional y el indicador global de aprendizaje (in Spanish)
  By Moritz Bilagher, Mauricio Holz & Juan Luis Iturria
• Education Assessment (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago)

*Notícia em Português (Representação da UNESCO no Brasil)