UNESCO promotes the ERCE Escuelas project alongside the Dominican Republic

Between October 28 and 31, representatives from LLECE, the Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education, part of UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, visited the Dominican Republic to advance the management and development of the ERCE Escuelas project, which aims to support teaching staff in their educational work.

During this mission, UNESCO experts met with various officials from the Ministry of Education's Learning Assessment Directorate, where they reaffirmed their commitment to and ongoing collaboration with the country's educational challenges. They emphasised putting students at the centre of pedagogical practice, with a focus on developing innovative initiatives that enhance learning outcomes.

The ERCE Schools pilot project has been implemented in the Dominican Republic since 2023. It is a diagnostic evaluation with a formative purpose, aimed at improving the learning of third-grade students. The assessment measures students' knowledge levels at the beginning of the school year so that teachers can adjust and refine their teaching strategies if needed. At the end of the school year, the evaluation is administered again to measure students' progress in their learning.

Currently, ERCE Escuelas is being conducted in 30 schools across the country, where teachers have expressed appreciation for its contributions. "ERCE Escuelas supports students so that everyone can progress without leaving anyone behind. Its purpose is to provide a formative tool that reveals the current level of learning in Reading and Mathematics. In real time, teachers can see their students' status and, based on the evidence obtained from the assessment, adjust their teaching strategies," explained Carlos Henríquez, LLECE coordinator, who visited various schools in the Dominican Republic that are using the evaluation to gather feedback from teaching teams, school leaders, educational coordinators, and regional technical staff.

Yanile Valenzuela, Director of Learning Assessment at the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Education, highlighted: "This project helps drive improvement by providing guidance for teaching teams and a virtual module programme, which aids in reviewing the evidence around learning outcomes and making classroom decisions in order to promote evidence-based educational support for students."

Next year, the aim is to double the number of schools participating in this initiative in the Dominican Republic. Additionally, the ERCE Escuelas pilot will be expanded to include sixth-grade students as a way to increase its reach and support educational management both in the country and across the region.