School inspection processes in Chile: A preliminary approach to the context of municipal and subsidized private institutions in the Metropolitan Region

Abstract

This research explores the performance of schools in two municipalities of the Metropolitan Region of Chile in Supervising Visits carried out by the Superintendence of Education. For this purpose, data from 731 visits to 95 schools corresponding to the period 2013-2015 were analyzed, compared according to administrative dependence, and correlated with variables such as the socioeconomic status. The results reveal that the supervising action promoted a rapid adjustment to meet regulations, since the performance expressed in instances non-compliance tended to level out, with no distinction between type of dependence or socioeconomic characteristics of schools. At the same time, it was observed that the municipal sector uses irregular practices to receive subsidies, while also having a low ability to provide necessary personnel and to improve the physical conditions of schools. Finally, the
private subsidized sector seems to be pressured by the requirements regulating undue commercial practices and arbitrary mechanisms of exclusion.