Education Quality in Rural and Indigenous Communities:

The Case of Chiapas

A study conducted by Fundación IDEA

March 28, 2011

1

Despite a wealth of natural and cultural resources, Chiapas faces low education

quality indicators

2

Students in “general” schools have results

similar to the country average

Over 60% of students in indigenous and CONAFE

schools do not have sufficient reading skills in

Spanish

0 20 40 60 80 100

Nacional

Chiapas

Chiapas - General

Chiapas - Indigena

Chiapas - Conafe

Students in the Insufficient Level in Reading (Spanish) (%)

Source: ENLACE, 2010 (4th grade results)

Poor education performance is related to higher dropout rates

Begin primary school

100 Complete Primary91 Complete

Secondary68

Begin Primary School

100 Complete Primary

79 Complete Secondary

59

Average estimated progression* for students in indigenous schools:

Average progression* of students in Mexico:

Source: INEE, 2009 and SEP 2008-09

* In up to eight years in primary, and five in secondary 3

This will affect their

opportunities for progress

The study explored what explains poor performance of students in rural and

indigenous schools

Does it matter for learning whether a student has a certain kind of teacher?

What kinds of teachers appear to be more effective with these populations?

Is it primarily due to student and family factors?Is it primarily due to community factors? Or to teacher factors?All of the above?

Maker recommendations

to improve learning and decrease

inequality

4

To answer these questions, data were collected as part of the “Encuesta de Calidad

Educativa en Chiapas” (ECECH, 2010)

ECECH (2010)

Students Parents

TeachersPrincipals

ENLACE 2010 &

2009School census

Information is linked using individual student and school identifiers 5

Total: 2,500 students in 240

schools, representative by school

type

Key Findings

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A good teacher can make a big difference for student performance

Median Student (50

pct) Student with “Top” teacher

(72 pct)

* These results control for student and school characteristics, and are similar for Spanish (reading) and Math

Results suggest thatan average student assigned to a top

teacher would go from the 50th to the 72nd

percentile of achievement in 1 year

Good teachers are found across the

state, in all kinds of schools

Good teachers could help bridge historical achievement gaps

* High-quality teachers are defined as those being one standard deviation above the mean in teacher effectiveness estimate. These simulations are based on a pessimistic scenario of low-effects based on this study and the teacher value-added literature.

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If indigenous or rural students

had high quality teachers*

The achievement gap with

urban, non-indigenous

students could be bridged in 3-4

years

It is all about placing good

teachers where they are needed

the most

In indigenous and CONAFE schools learning appears to be higher if teachers speak and

indigenous language

If teachers and students speak the same indigenous language, there appear to

be marginal positive benefits for math

achievementHowever, only 2 in 5

students in indgenous schools have a teacher who speaks their same

language

Teaching in rural and indigenous areas, suffers from serious limitations

• Teachers are not adequately prepared for rural, multi-grade and indigenous environments – Almost all indigenous teachers get some training on

how to teach in a bilingual model, after they have been hired

• In CONAFE schools recruitment and training are particularly limited, resulting in high variation in instructor quality – Instructors receive 7 weeks of training before sent to

their schools

– Selection is non-competitive as many states struggle to fill demand for CONAFE school instructors 10

1 in 4 parents of CONAFE students thinks the quality of the instructor is

regular or badCalificación del Instructor

Type of School

Bad Regular Good Excellent

General 1% 10% 60% 4%

Indigenous 1% 13% 53% 12%

CONAFE 5% 19% 60% 3%

Source: ECECH, 2010Note: Percentages do not add up to 100% because there are parents who chose not to answer this question.

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Unfortunately, it is precisely in poor communities, where teaching quality

matters most

Poverty conditions in rural areas make recruitment and retention of good

teachers a difficult task

• 70% of CONAFE instructors in Chiapas leave after their first year (ECECH, 2010)

• 30% of CONAFE instructors nationwide leave duringtheir first year of teaching (IADB, 2008)

– This is mainly due to poor living conditions,

insecurity and the difficulty of the job 12

The bilingual education model is an expensive one

• The physical conditions of indigenous and CONAFE schools are very poor, there are few resources

The physical condition of your school is….

Type of School

Bad Regular Good Excellent

General 4% 29% 42% 5%

Indigenous 9% 25% 27% 1%

CONAFE 20% 38% 27% 3%

Source: ECECH, 2010Note: Percentages do not add up to 100% because there are parents who chose not to answer this question.

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Over half of CONAFE parents think that the physical conditions of their

schools are bad or regular

There is a need for short-term reforms that improve quality with equality

• Having poor results does not have to be the norm for students in rural and indigenous areas

• However, fundamentally improving teacher quality in indigenous and rural areas will take time

• An alternative for TODAY is to generate a parallel reinforcement and remediation system– Identify “red flags” (schools, students) with available

data, and implement evidence-based interventions to help them

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Chiapas cannot afford having a substantial number of children going to school and learning so little

The solution requires widespread participation

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Unversities, and research centers

• Identifying “red flag” schools

• Training ministry teams in data analysis

• Researching programs that could work best in Chiapas

NGOs

• Organizing grass roots efforts “Remedial brigades”

• Spearheading innovative efforts, serving as liason between government and communities

Foundations, Business Orgs, Socitey

• Funding parallel support interventions

• Provding targeted resources “Adopt a CONAFE instructor”

• Monitoring efforts, putting public pressure to hold govt accountable

Thank You

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We acknowledge the generous support of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation for this study. All errors remain our own.

Principal InvestigatorLucrecia Santibañez

Research AssistantsAna Paola Ramírez

Esther Ongay

Fundación IDEA, A.C.Mexico D.F.