The changes in the tests also seek to understand the socio-emotional skills of students in the school environment.
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The Ministry of National Education and the Icfes, announced the main results of the Saber 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th Tests, in the School trajectories carried out during 2021, they were carried out on more than 112,000 students from 1,502 rectors and educational centers throughout the country.
This initiative seeks to provide information on the performance of students in fundamental areas of basic primary and secondary education, as well as socio-emotional skills and the factors that can influence the development of their learning, with which it will be possible to monitor the advances in the quality of education for public policy decision-making that affect the quality of education.
“The main interest in these last four years has focused on having rigorous information and evidence to take actions in favor of the quality of education at the primary and secondary levels. For this reason, from the beginning, priority was given to the return and redesign of the 3rd, 5th and 9th Saber Tests, which was achieved thanks to the coordinated work between the Ministry of Education and Icfes", assured the General Director of the Icfes , Mónica Ospina Londoño . "This firm commitment was maintained even with the pandemic, and thanks to this decision, the country today has rigorous information for making the necessary decisions to close the gaps and accelerate the learning of the most affected students because of the pandemic," he continued.
The official emphasized that the new design of the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th Saber Tests seeks to understand not only how the basic competencies of the students are, but to be able to complement it with other relevant aspects for the learning processes, such as socio-emotional skills and the school environment.
"In this new study we are committed to better understanding how the different components are related in the learning processes of our students, at a representative level by region and sector, which is an input of relevant information for the formulation of public policies, and that the country will have for the first time thanks to the transformation of the Saber 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th tests”, he stated.
The tests seek to determine the level of skills in fundamental areas such as: Mathematics, Communication Skills in Language (Reading and Writing), Natural Sciences and Environmental Education, and Citizenship Skills (Citizen Thought and Actions and Attitudes) of the students.
Some results of the study:
They found that the results by region are very different and therefore each region must be analyzed independently. Among the regions, only the Central East region shows results above the average in all the areas evaluated, while in the Pacific region they observe scores below the national average in all the grades analyzed.
They also observed that the gaps are greater as the degree increases, and that, in turn, the largest gaps occur by sector, that is, if it is official or unofficial, with a high correlation with socioeconomic level. These gaps are between 63-74 points and for almost all cases they are large.
On the other hand, the gaps by area, whether urban or rural, are medium, since they do not exceed 30 points, while those of sex are the smallest in the order of 10 points.
Socioemotional Outcomes:
The entities assure that with this study they were able to determine that self-motivation is the socio-emotional skill that has the greatest effect on basic skills, and this is largely explained by teamwork.
They also ensure that as students go through the educational level, from primary to secondary, they are less self-efficacy, which affects self-motivation and therefore performance in basic skills. The study shows that this is important because schools and parents can help develop these socio-emotional skills.
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