Profiles of successful rural schools: A proposed educational psychology to school closures

La política pública chilena ha optado por materializar el cierre de escuelas rurales argumentando su baja calidad educativa. Esto ha traído una serie de consecuencias para la comunidad en la que se inserta la escuela. Una forma de revertir esta situación, es mejorando la calidad educativa, para lo cual se identificaron y caracterizaron perfiles de escuelas rurales de alto rendimiento académico según sus resultados en la prueba SIMCE 2011. Se utilizó un análisis multivariado, que incluyó análisis por componentes principales y el método de clasification and regression trees. Los resultados evidenciaron dos perfiles de escuelas rurales exitosas, cuyas principales características se relacionan con la disciplina y la percepción de autoeficacia del estudiante. Estos factores se presentan como importantes elementos a potenciar en los planes de mejoramiento educativo, como alternativa al cierre de escuelas.The Chilean public policy has chosen to materialize the closure of rural schools arguing the low quality of its education. This decision has several consequences for the community in which the school is inserted. This situation can be address by improving the quality of education itself. For this purpose, in this study the profiles of rural schools with high academic performance were identified and characterized based on the results of the SIMCE 2011. A multivariate analysis was used including principal component analysis and the method of classification and regression trees. The results showed two profiles of successful rural schools, the main characteristics of them are related to the discipline and self-efficacy of the students. These factors are presented as milestones for the improvement programs for the education (promoted by the Ministry of Education throughout the country), as an alternative to the closure of the rural schools