How much does the quality of teaching vary at under-performing schools? Evidence from classroom observations in Chile

Abstract

The present study aims to determine how much the quality of teaching varies among and within under-performing schools. 1266 classroom observations were conducted in 260 schools across Chile. An index of teaching quality was constructed to analyze its variance. It was found that only 4.8% of the variance is explained by the teacher’s school. This suggests that the variance in the quality of teaching is not among schools, but within teachers from the same school. These results are important for public policy, especially in the field of professional development, as they suggest that best practices can be found at under-performing schools.