Public Issues
www.lyd.org- Email:lyd@lyd.com
Nº 901 - December 24, 2008
Nº 888- September 26, 2008
ISSN 0717-1528
ISSN 0717-1528
PSU: Truths and Myths
evaluating knowledge that must be learned by
The recently released results from the
all high school students. Nevertheless, the rePrueba de Selección Universitaria (University
sults have been quite the opposite of what was
Selection Test), or PSU, have provided evihoped for. Tests for selection have the objecdence of the widening of gaps between private
tive of identifying who are the best-prepared, in
and municipal schools. That is, the opportunithis case predicting who will have the best perties for getting higher education are becoming
formance in higher education. Despite this obmore unequal. While in 2007
jective, it must be made sure
paid private schools accumuthat the test is as equitable as
lated 67% of the maximum
possible.
The scores will improve
scores, this percentage inonce the authority and the
creased to 74% this year.
The
PSU
measures
schools take charge of the cur- knowledge learned over the
In terms of average scores, for rent and varied shortfalls of the four years of high school. It is
system. Despite this, the PSU
the test taken in 2003 the difknown that the poor performing
may
not be the best instrument schools –among which a large
ference1 between municipal
for correctly selecting applischools and paid private
part of municipal schools are
cants to higher education. In
schools was 123 points (455
found- do not manage to cover
versus 578 points). For the test order to clear up these doubts it the whole curriculum. That sole
taken this year, it is 150 points. is essential to carry out an eval- reason (without taking into acuation of the test.
This increase is due to the betcount the depth to which the
ter performance of the paid pritopics are covered or the qualivate schools, which increased
ty of the teachers) already
their average up to 606 points,
places students who attend
while the municipal schools improved just one
those establishments at a disadvantage.
point over the same period. Likewise, the gap
between municipals and paid privates inSerious Consequences
creased 10 points with respect to the admisThis has brought on serious consesion process for 2007.
quences for the students and the educational
Background
system in general.
The change from the PAA to the PSU
sought to create a more equitable test, by
In this edition:

Financial Crisis in the United States and its effect on Chile

What is the focus of the Labor Ministry?
1
ments in their students’ incidence of enrollment
in higher education.
Table N. 1: Average PSU Scores by Dependency
Dependency
Language-Math (total) Average
Language-Math
Average (40 best
schools)
Subsidized Private
488.8
618.3
Municipal
456.5
574.3
Gap
32.4
44.0
For example, the percentage of municipal
schools in the total enrollment in higher education has fallen over time. From the test taken in
2004 until the one taken in 2008 the percentage of students from municipal establishments
fell by 2.1%.
This situation is more serious in the
country’s two main universities. In Universidad
de Chile, the proportion of municipal students
went from 33% (from the year that the last PAA
was taken) down to 21% for the 20082 process.
In Universidad Catolica the drop has also been
significant, going from 18% to around 10.8%
currently3. This situation should not change
with applications for the 2009 period. As such,
the students coming out of these schools are
unlikely to get into the best universities in the
country.
Source: Author’s compilation, based on information provided by
DEMRE
The students who come out of municipal
schools have low results. Obviously it is not the
test that is responsible, as it simply shows the
reality. The responsibility, rather, lies in the
hands of the school system, and in particular,
the municipal system.
Some 43% of students from municipal
schools do not reach the 450 points required
by the universities of the Board of Chancellors
in order to apply to their universities.
Dispelling Myths
In light of this result, the authorities have
suggested that the gaps were expected due to
the segregation of the school system and Chilean society in general.
This means that a significant portion of
those students cannot gain access to the majority of resources for scholarships and credits
provided by the State.
Along these lines, while in 2004 the students from vulnerable schools had a 60%
chance of getting more than 450 points, this
percentage has fallen to 58% for this year, a
percentage that has held constant since 2006.
In regard to this, some background information shall be pointed out and some
myths, dispelled:
1. The gap between paid private and
municipal schools has increased because
the former have been able to continually
improve and the latter have stagnated.
In turn, the paid private establishments
increased their probability of surpassing that
goal. Point in fact; while in 2004 some 90% of
their students surpassed 450 points, for the
test taken this year, 94% of them did so.
It is not true that the majority of students
that currently take the PSU are the cause of
the increase in the gap. Ever since the implementation of providing the test for free to students from municipal schools4, the average
scores of these students have shown practically no effect. Conversely, students from paid
All of these differences have been reflected in the results of municipal establish-
2
private schools have been able to increase
their scores.
Other comparisons can be made with the
ranking of schools according to dependency.
As such, if only the 40 best schools are considered the differences are much more significant, as shown in Table N. 1.
Furthermore, it is necessary to note that
there are many municipal and subsidized private schools that achieve good scores, even in
situations of scarce resources. Such is the
case with Liceo Nacional de Maipú (formed
under the wing of Instituto Nacional) which in
its first year of taking the test obtained 3 national scores and placed 7th among municipal
schools. There are several examples of success as in this case.
Proposals for Improvement
It is necessary to clarify whether or not
the PSU is satisfying its objective of being a
good predictor of performance of students in
higher education and also to determine the
2. The PSU is simply a barometer that
other effects that it can have (for example, in
reflects the poor state of
equality), for which the test
Chilean education. It is true
must be evaluated externally.
that the results reflect the poor
Having passed six years since
performance of our educational
its implementation, it is time to
system; however the “baromecarry out such a study.
The percentage of municipal
ter” does not appear to be well- schools in the total enrollment
calibrated. Based on the Beyer5 in higher education has fallen
data, it can be determined that over time. From the test taken in
In addition, the provision
the gaps in results have been 2004 until the one taken in 2008
of
information
by DEMRE6
widening with each passing the percentage of students from
leaves
a
lot
to
be
desired. Little
year, and have even grown in municipal establishments fell by
information
is
provided
and dacomparison with the results
2.1%.
tabases are not made availafrom the PAA.
ble. This prevents research
from being carried out and
concrete proposals from being
As pointed out above, the
made to improve this instrument in an effort to
PSU is not intended to reduce social inequalireinstill trust in this tool.
ties; however, the test should not make such
differences grow.
Likewise, other competencies, skills and
capacities, other than knowledge, should be
considered as predictors of good academic
performance, as is done in the rest of the
world, where tests of knowledge are part of the
selection process that also includes other types
of measurement.
3. It is argued that the subsidized private establishments are as bad as the municipal establishments. This is not true, as
the private schools that receive State subsidies
have remained around 30 points higher than
the municipal schools over the entire period in
which the PSU has been carried out.
Furthermore, these schools show a higher proportion of students that surpass the 450point minimum (70.37% versus 57.31%) for
application to universities of the Board of
Chancellors.
In terms of improving the school system,
progress must be made mainly in the municipal
and subsidized private establishments where
the worst performance is shown. Likewise, the
3
information provided to parents must be improved in order to generate more competition
and greater mobility so that students may go to
schools that yield better results.
Conclusion
The problem which the PSU reflects pertains to the entire school system. The scores
will improve once the authority and the schools
take charge of the current and varied shortfalls
of the system. Despite this, the PSU may not
be the best instrument for correctly selecting
applicants to higher education. In order to clear
up these doubts it is essential to carry out an
evaluation of the test.
Currently, the coverage of grade school
is practically the same for the different quintiles. In high school there are significant gaps
between the first and fifth quintile of income.
In terms of quality, the differences can be
seen in the 4th grade SIMCE test, where the
students from the first quintile of income show
much worse results than their peers with higher
income. For its part, the PSU as we see it
simply reflects that the school system, in several cases, is generating greater social inequality.
1 Average scores in Language and Communication
and Mathematics.
2 Newspaper
La Tercera, 11.30.2008
3 Information provided by the Directory of Services
and educational Records of PUC (Universidad Catolica).
4 Since 2006 the test is free for 80% of the poorest
students.
5 Harald
Beyer, La Tercera, 12.02.2007
6 Department of Educational Evaluation, Measurement and Registry of Universidad de Chile, entity in
charge of creating and correcting the PSU.
4