New responsibilities for a New Public Education? Analysis of the Chilean accountability reform

Abstract

Since 2017, the Chilean school system has been undergoing reforms stemming from the New Public Education (NEP) project. This study analyzed the responsibilities of the new intermediate administrative level, known as Local Public Education Services (SLEP), as outlined in various government documents. A mixed-methods document review was conducted. The textual corpus included Law No. 21.040, the First National Public Education Strategy, and the three documents that outline the Performance Standards at the General, Early Childhood Education, and Technical-Professional Secondary Education levels. The content analysis was qualitative, followed by descriptive quantitative analysis to estimate the frequencies and proportion of responsibilities across five management dimensions: leadership, pedagogy, resources, territory, and school climate. The results identify 114 responsibilities, with an overrepresentation in the leadership and pedagogical management dimensions, to the detriment of the school climate dimension, as well as an imbalance in management tasks without clear accountability mechanisms. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for the reform of the Chilean educational quasi-market and the challenges that remain in moving towards an approach that challenges the current accountability model.