College Board Latin America holds educational symposium in Panama

Having reliable and objective data that allows you to analyze trends and make informed decisions is the best tool to promote academic success. This was the topic presented by the non-profit organization College Board Latin America during an educational symposium in which several higher education institutions in the country participated, NGOs, such as Fundación Mentes Brillantes and EduPan, as well as the Ministry of Education (MEDUCA ).

According to the College Board academics in charge of the symposium, the system of instruments offered by the organization gives educational institutions access to objective and reliable information that allows them to carry out early intervention with the student. In addition, they offer data that facilitates academic planning and the identification of young people’s occupational interests for informed decision-making.
“College Board Latin America has a 60-year track record supporting public and private institutions in more than 10 Latin American countries to assess the competencies, abilities, and skills related to the academic potential of students. The more information the institutions can have, the greater the benefit will be to achieve the academic objectives”, highlighted Pablo Martínez, vice president of the organization.
The Latin American division of the College Board, whose headquarters are in Puerto Rico, is responsible for making standardized tests viable for the Spanish-speaking market. Currently ten countries, including Panama, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico,
The Dominican Republic and Uruguay use the tests.
Another of the topics presented was learning loss during the pandemic and how to use
data to meet the challenges in education. Among the recommendations offered are
providing students with personalized opportunities to accelerate learning,
integrate and prioritize the social, emotional, and academic needs of all students
and use high-quality formative and diagnostic assessments to inform and personalize the
instruction.
Martínez urged Panamanian institutions to continue prioritizing the issue of education
and counting on the College Board as an ally so that more students can connect with the
success in college and career opportunities