EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN MEXICOLAURA MCCAMBRIDGE

HDFS 892

JUNE 22, 2013

SCHOOL SYSTEM IN MEXICO

• Primary School: Grades 1-6• Junior High: Grades 7-9• High School: Grades 10-12• Public and private schools available• Much of the material focuses on culture

and heritage (Levison, 2001).• Memorization of material is more often

taught instead of ways to solve problems (Rama, 2011).

THE PROBLEM

• Many schools in Mexico lack buildings; must hold classes outside

• Lack of drinkable water • Teacher absenteeism (Agren, 2012).• Mexican children receive an average of

only 8 years of school (13 years in the U.S.)

• Only 50% of students attend high school• Mexico ranks among the lowest

according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, an international economic advisory group (Agren, 2012). • Only .7% of Mexican children reach

the advanced math level in Program for International Student Assessment

• 10% of children in the U.S. reach this level (Agren, 2012).

THE UNION

• Teachers are often absent• They work for the union, which

protests teacher evaluations• Union is currently a dictatorship run

by Union president Elba Esther Gordillo (“La Maestra:” The Teacher) (Rama, 2011).

• Arrested earlier this year for embezzling $2 million, but still has many followers

• Mexico spends about 5% of their budget on education (comparable to other countries)• Much of this money doesn’t

translate to educational gains because of corruption (Rama, 2011).

SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

• Focus on teacher education• Schools must be more holistic- take into

account children’s role in the labor force with their educational achievement

• Governmental reform!!!• Educational policies must be more

transparent• Data and educational research

needs to be more readily available to educators and public

• Policy making must become more democratic

• The positive: Mexico is currently ranked #2 in science, math, and reading for the Latin America region (behind Chile) (Santibañez, et al., 2005).

EXISTING SOLUTIONS

APOYO A LA GESTIÓN ESCOLAR (A.G.E. – SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SUPPORT)

• Gives funds to parent associations• They can invest in materials and/or infrastructure to improve their schools• Improves drop-out rates and student engagement (Gertler, 2008).• Gives important stakeholders (i.e. parents) more voice in important

decisions involving their children’s education (Economist, 2011).• Randomized trial of the program from 2007-2010 shows improvement in

test scores; drop out rates fell by 1.5% in most schools (Patrinos, 2012).• Beneficial program, but only improves parent engagement and

empowerment; teacher accountability must also improve (Gertler, 2008)

ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)

• Published a report emphasizing the importance of teacher accountability and more teacher training in Mexico

• Teachers must be evaluated based on performance and skills• “Content needed to better identify strengths and weaknesses (Solano, 2013)”• Evaluations include:

• Classroom observations• Self-evaluations• Extent to which teacher is prepared for class

• Teachers who do not meet a minimum score on evaluations after 3 times will not be eligible for a permanent position (Solano, 2013).

• Teachers and schools should agree on whether teacher’s position is a good fit, instead of basing decision solely on teacher’s preference (Solano, 2013).

“ADOPT AN ACADEMY” PROGRAM

• Established as a partnership between the Cisco Networking Academy, Fundación Televisa, and the Unión de Empresarios por la Tecnología y la Educación (UNETE)

• Established to help schools integrate technology into their learning (Cisco, 2008).

• Students improve their understanding of technology through practical experiences and hands-on activities

• Students who attend the academy then travel to local schools and provide technology training to teachers and other students (Cisco, 2008).

• Organization has also donated equipment and computers to many schools

• Educates about 100 students per year who pass on their knowledge to others (Cisco, 2008).

• This program is beneficial, but mostly only available to schools with existing technology

IN CONCLUSION

• In the context of Latin America, Mexico’s educational system is doing fairly well.• In the context of the rest of the world, Mexico’s education of their children is

falling far behind.• There must be significant governmental reforms to see a vast improvement in the

quality of education• Teachers must be made more accountable and the Union must have the

education of children as their main goal, instead of selfish monetary gains• Many organizations have sought to improve the education system, and they are

inspiring with what they have done so far!• With continued development and reform, Mexico can provide more resources,

infrastructure, and effective teachers for its children to receive a quality education

RESOURCES

• Agren, David (2012, March 30). Education System Holding Mexico Back, Critics Say. USA Today. Retrieved June 15, 2013 from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-03-21/mexico-education/53872544/1

• Levison, D., Moe, K. S., & Marie Knaul, F. (2001). Youth education and work in Mexico. World Development, 29(1), 167-188.

• Rama, Anahi (2011, April 11). Factbox: Facts About Mexico’s Education System. Reuters. Retrieved June 15, 2013 from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/13/us-mexico-education-factbox-idUSTRE73C4UY20110413

• Santibañez, L., Vernez, G., & Razquin, P. (2005). Education in Mexico.• The Economist (2011, May 12). Education in Mexico: Schooling the Whole Family. The

Economist. Retrieved June 15, 2013 from http://www.economist.com/node/18682699• Patrinos, Harry A. (2012, January 25). Empowering Parents to Improve Schooling: Powerful

Evidence from Rural Mexico. Education for Global Development. Retrieved June 15, 2013 from http://blogs.worldbank.org/education/dmblog/empowering-parents-to-improve-schooling-powerful-evidence-from-rural-mexico

RESOURCES

• Gertler, Paul J. (2008). Promising Practices. Harvard Family Research Project. Retrieved June 18, 2013 from http://www.hfrp.org/evaluation/the-evaluation-exchange/issue-archive/building-the-future-of-family-involvement/empowering-parents-to-improve-education-evidence-from-rural-mexico

• Solano, Laura Poy (2013, June 19). OECD Urges Mexico to Maintain and Improve Teacher Evaluation. Mexico Voices. Retrieved June 20, 2013 from http://mexicovoices.blogspot.com/2013/06/oecd-urges-mexico-to-maintain-and.html

• Cisco (2008). Academy Outreach Program Improves Learning in Mexico. Cisco. Retrieved June 20, 2013 from http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/success_stories/caseStudies/docs/mexico.pdf