High-stakesaccountabilityand the expansion of a school improvement industry in Chile: A public-pr ivate sector comparison

Resorting to commercial ‘school improvement’ services, which in Chile are known as services of Educational Technical Assistance, is one of the main ways both public and private schools address accountability pressures. The chapter explores the conditions that have contributed to the expansion of the school improvement industry in Chile; and second, on the basis of survey and interview data, it analyses how school principals and teachers use and engage with the services offered by the Asistencia Tecnica Educativa (ATE) sector. It argues that school ownership, as a variable that clearly structures market positioning in a country like Chile, will condition patterns of ATE services consumption and engagement. The chapter also argues that while the use of ATE services is widespread across private and public schools in Chile, private schools have more autonomy in choosing the most relevant ATE services for the individual needs of their school, and thus have greater satisfaction with the ATE industry.