The school improvement strategy in Chilean educational system has been developed through, on the one hand, an accountability system, which standardizes the assessment of schools’ performances; and on the other, through a quasi-market schools’ system, in which schools are funded by a voucher policy, and families access to schools through a free school choice policy. Rooted during the 80s in the Pinochet’s dictatorship, the rationale of this strategy assumes that schools will compete and improve their educational offer in order to catch more students (vouchers). In this context, the continuity of the schools depends on the enrolment rates -poor enrolment implies less vouchers, which can lead to financial deficits- and on their performance -an insufficient assessment during four consecutive years leads to the definitive closure of the school. Placed in the Chilean southern city of Punta Arenas, in this research we studied the institutional and emotional responses of five schools which are following a declining trajectory in these two aspects: their enrolment rates are strongly diminishing in the last five years, and their performance evaluation is categorised as insufficient in two of the last three years. Through in-depth interviews to schools’ managers and teachers, we analysed how the educational communities react before their disadvantaged situation and the risk of institutional discontinuity. The findings show that in these schools, the national schools’ improvement strategy instead of opening possibilities of improving, it presses and contributes to deepening their crises. These crises have fostered scenarios of conflict and frustration among the practitioners, which in cases have provoked proactive and creative responses, but in others paralyzation and hopelessness.

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