Physical inactivity is a major concern and poor adherence to exercise programs is often reported. The aim of this paper was to systematically review published reviews on the study of adherence to physical exercise in chronic patients and older adults and to identify those adherence-related key factors more frequently suggested by reviews for that population. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Results were classified considering the target population and participants’ characteristics to identify the most repeated factors obtained for each condition. Fifty-five articles were finally included. Fourteen key factors were identified as relevant to increase adherence to physical exercise by at least ten reviews: (a) characteristics of the exercise program, (b) involvement of professionals from different disciplines, (c) supervision, (d) technology, (e) initial exploration of participant’s characteristics, barriers, and facilitators, (f) participants education, adequate expectations and knowledge about risks and benefits, (g) enjoyment and absence of unpleasant experiences, (h) integration in daily living, (i) social support and relatedness, j) communication and feedback, (k) available progress information and monitoring, (l) self-efficacy and competence, (m) participant’s active role and n) goal setting. Therefore, adherence to physical exercise is affected by several variables that can be controlled and modified by researchers and professionals.

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The work done here involved estimating the extent of bullying in Latin American schools and its impact on the academic achievement of primary school students. Pupils' socio-demographic characteristics were analysed and linked with bullying. Three-and four-multilevel models were applied to data from the Second Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (serce) conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (unesco), analysing 2,969 schools, 3,903 classrooms and 91,223 sixth-grade students in 16 Latin American countries (not including Mexico for the association between school bullying and academic performance). The study found that bullying is a serious problem throughout the region; students who suffer peer aggression yield a significantly lower performance in reading and math than those who do not; and those in classrooms with more episodes of physical or verbal violence perform worse than those in less violent classroom settings.

La brecha entre lo que se considera calidad de la educación y las acciones que se toman para evaluarla en América Latina es cada vez más amplia. Desde esa perspectiva, en este artículo se plantea la necesidad de asumir un enfoque global e integrador de la evaluación. Para ello se proponen principios y criterios que deben sostener esta evaluación y ser coherentes con los principios de aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida, una educación para todos y el desarrollo integral de los estudiantes como finalidad. También se sugieren cuatro temas que parecen prioritarios para avanzar en la mejora de la evaluación de la calidad de la educación: evaluar a los docentes, a los estudiantes en sus escuelas y al funcionamiento de las administraciones educativas; valorar la participación de la sociedad en la evaluación; abordar el estudio de factores asociados, y plantear la necesidad de la participación social en el diseño de las políticas de evaluación.