ISBN: 9789264172630
Publication: 06/11/2012

OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education: Mexico

Student learning outcomes in Mexico are considerably below the OECD average. However, trend analyses of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results have shown some encouraging improvement in student learning outcomes, particularly in the area of mathematics. Despite the impressive expansion of the education system in the last few decades, educational attainment remains a challenge and the high share of students leaving the education system too early with low skills remains also a major problem. In addition, there are indications that student results are strongly influenced by socio-cultural factors. The role of evaluation and assessment as key tools to achieve quality and equity in education is reinforced by a range of policy initiatives. Mexico has recently introduced an extensive curricular reform to improve the coherence of the system and its focus on student achievement: the Comprehensive Reform of Basic Education (RIEB). Also, the federal government funds public education partly through targeted educational programmes, which typically include an important evaluation component. While there are provisions for evaluation and assessment at student, teacher, school and system levels, challenges remain in strengthening some of the components of the evaluation and assessment framework, in ensuring articulations within the framework to ensure consistency and complementarity, and in establishing improvement-oriented evaluation practices.