Education Quality in Rural and Indigenous Communities:
The Case of Chiapas
A study conducted by Fundación IDEA
March 28, 2011
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Despite a wealth of natural and cultural resources, Chiapas faces low education
quality indicators
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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
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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
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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.