Teachers, Teacher Education, and Professional Development
Teacher Education Specific to Reading
Primary and lower secondary education teacher certification enables teachers to teach different subjects—including language and communication—from Grades 1 to 8 (basic education). Upper secondary (Grades 9 to 12) teachers are subject specialists who may teach only the subjects in which they are specialized.12
A professional certification is mandatory for qualifying as a basic education teacher, although the certification does not require an academic degree. There are several routes to obtain the certification—via universities, professional institutes, or special programs within these institutions. High school (upper secondary school) teachers may obtain their professional certification through combined teacher education programs in which they take disciplinary and pedagogical courses. Some institutions also offer a program for students who have already completed undergraduate studies in areas such as language, mathematics, and science. These programs last one to two years, and, following completion, students obtain a teacher professional certification that enables them to teach high school.
In 2009, the Ministry of Education implemented a new voluntary diagnostic assessment program called Inicia for students who have finished their studies to become teachers. This assessment does not have consequences for the practice of teaching, and its immediate goal is to provide universities with feedback on how well they are educating future teachers. Nevertheless, its ultimate purpose is to enhance the overall quality of the teaching profession in Chile through the creation of guiding standards for pedagogy.
Requirements for Ongoing Professional Development in Reading for Teachers
The Center for Pedagogical Improvement, Experimentation, and Research (CPEIP) is the institution within the many branches of the Ministry of Education in charge of designing, implementing, and evaluating professional development policies for teachers in order to improve the quality of education in the country. One of the CPEIP programs consists of B-learning Courses, part of a series of development programs that give online courses to teachers. Run by subject specialists who give tutorials and guides to teachers, these courses provide face to face and remote classes via the Internet about one specific theme. The courses have a duration of 80 to 140 hours and target subsidized schools’ teachers and education assistants. The Continuing Education Programs also grant disciplinary and pedagogical specialization to basic education teachers from public and private subsidized schools. This specialization was developed by accredited Chilean universities, and CPEIP acts as a technical counterpart.
Teachers from public schools are evaluated by a mandatory and formative evaluation system called Docente Más, which is administrated by CPEIP with an aim of strengthening the teaching profession and improving the quality of education. The evaluation consists of self, peer, and supervisor assessments with a portfolio assessment (including written and audiovisual materials). The results of this evaluation are provided to the assessed teachers, the school principal, the school management team, and the school administrator (municipality). Teachers who obtain positive results on the evaluation also may take a written test of disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge about their subject and grade of teaching, and those who obtain positive results on the test receive an additional yearly allowance called variable allowance for individual performance (Asignación variable por desempeño individual).
Finally, the Teaching Excellence Allowance Program (Asignación de Excelencia Pedagógica) aims to improve the quality of education by recognizing the professional excellence of teachers from public and private subsidized schools. To apply, teachers take a voluntary assessment consisting of a portfolio and a pedagogical and disciplinary test. Depending on their results, teachers may receive a bonus in addition to their incomes for a certain amount of time. Moreover, teachers who obtain distinguished results on the assessment can apply to form part of the Expert Teachers Network (Red Maestros de Maestros). This network, also launched by the Ministry of Education, aims to improve teachers’ professional careers by leveraging distinguished teachers’ capabilities to contribute to the professional development of teachers as a whole.
Although these programs are delivered to the entire primary and secondary educational sector for teachers of all grades and subjects, their main goal is to develop the knowledge and skills of teachers in their areas of specialty, such as language and communication.