The present research addresses the diverse ways in which student assessment information can be used, exploring factors that facilitate or impede their use, in a group of schools that participate in the Sistema de Evaluación de Progresos del Aprendizaje (SEPA) [Learning Progress Assessment System], developed and implemented by the Measurement Center MIDE UC of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (www.sepauc.cl). Based on our own experiences and the literature, we anticipated that schools would have difficulties understanding and using the assessment information provided by SEPA. We conducted a descriptive exploratory study applying semi-structured interviews to 14 school managers and teachers pertaining to seven SEPA schools. As expected, we observed partial understanding of the introduced information, particularly of the more complex value-added indicators. The relationship that school staff establish with the evaluative information depends on the characteristics of the organization and its members. We identified different types of evaluation use that can be categorized as instrumental, legitimative, symbolic, persuasive or conceptual. Our findings are in line with previous research regarding the fact that the introduction of evaluative information is only the first step in the complex process necessary to influence school improvement.

Student learning assessment, evaluation use, primary and secondary education, Chile.