Modernizing schools in Mexico: The rise of teacher assessment and school-based management policies

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the evolution of the teacher assessment policy and the origins of school-based management initiatives in the Mexican education context from the late 1980s until the last 2012 – 2013 Education Reform (RE2012–2013). Mexico joined the Global Education Reform Movement during the 1990s through the National Agreement for the Modernization of Basic Education, under which the program Teachers Career Services was created to increase teacher quality. Later, the Quality School Program was implemented in order to decentralize school management and increase school accountability. Lastly, the institutionalization of Monitoring and Evaluation in the Mexican Education System gave birth to the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education. Using a documentary analysis, we review the origins of such accountability policies in order to map out the involved stakeholders, and identify how these influenced and effected the development and implementation of last 2012-2013 Education Reform’s teacher high-stakes assessments. Finally, we outline the results and consequences of such policies as they have been implemented and provide a contextual analysis of the implementation and resistance to the latest reform in some regions of Mexico.