High-quality teachers in low-quality schools: understanding the variation in teaching quality in low-achieving Chilean schools

Abstract

The aim of this study is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of schools and provide inputs to better inform both research and public policies. To address this aim, 258 low-achieving Chilean primary schools and their 1,266 teachers were analysed. On the basis of a multilevel latent class analysis, we found four profiles of teaching practices. The proportion of teachers in the high-quality teacher category is unexpectedly high (38.37%), followed by the low-quality (25.61%), content-oriented (18.91%), and climate-oriented (17.12%) categories. Finally, several school-level variables were tested to explore the link between school practices and teaching quality categories. The results show that the quality of the school’s teaching practices related to their support for behavioural issues is associated with the probability of teachers belonging to the low-quality or climate-oriented categories. These findings can be valuable for policymaking, as they call for the development of strategies that strengthen teachers’ capacities within schools.