Hola! haven’t been publishing in my blog for a few day. disculpe!
I attended a conference and then became very ill (the last few days are a blur) so in lieu of writing about my own ideas and adventures I have decided to share some recent top education news stories in Mexico.
Back beginning in 2009, the SEP (Federal Department of Education of Mexico) passed a series of education reforms to improve/evaluate teaching performance at all public school levels. One important component was to test teachers directly in content knowledge and methodology. The idea of mandatory testing for evaluations was met with widespread protests across Mexico. The federal government has pushed forward, and beginning in November the evaluation was administered.
This article helps with giving context to the powerful forces behind the teachers unions. It's great commentary on the issues at hand. Instead of working (in my opinion) with the teachers to create fair methods of evaluation, or even addressing the corruption prevalent in the union, The federal government provided safe haven for teachers to take the test anonymously.
"Evaluations Go Ahead Without Incident"
http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/evaluations-go-ahead-without-incident/
"In an effort to uphold the peace, IEEPO, the Oaxaca institute of education,
provided ”confidential and safe“ accommodation, meals and transportation to all teachers
who requested it. "
In January results regarding the evaluations began to be reported. The first news was that 3,000 teachers (out of 1.5 million) refused to take the test...There was plenty of speculation on whether the teachers who "opted out" would be fired. More recently, the results of the tests were published:
51.5% Teachers need to improve scores. http://www.cnnexpansion.com/economia /2016/02/29/515-de-los-maestros-con-una-pobre-evaluacion-docente
"Overall, the results were that 15.3% of participants obtained a insufficient rating",
40.5%, with good results and 8%, with an excellent grade or higher.”
It was reported that teachers with insufficient ratings will need to repeat the test in less than a year while receiving training to improve their performance. Also reported, is that the official number of protesting teachers is 3,360 teachers (2.2% of the total). Teachers that did not test were discharged from their duties on March 1st.
Also making national news was reports that the large scale programs initiated by the Federal Government to address dropout rates and low graduation rates does have not been successful. In Mexico there is a well known issue regarding the "nini" generation which are adolescents to young adults ages 16 to 29 that are not actively involved in the community. "Nini" signifying those neither in school nor employed. Many of the educators I have interviewed have mentioned this phenomenon. According to recent studies by the OECD, over seven million young adults are actively part of the Nini generation in Mexico.
Mexico Youth Training Programs Guarantee Neither Education Nor Employment
http://mexicovoices.blogspot.mx/2016/03/mexico-youth-training-programs.html
The government initiated four programs to improve education at the secondary and university level: Skilled Based Human Resource Training, Expansion of Educational Opportunities, Training and Certification for Employment, Increased technology training and resources. According the results of the audit, in most cases, indicators and data was not provided. It was, it seems, impossible to measure success and in many cases the provided goals were not reached.
"Even though there are programs, the outlook for youth is discouraging, as school drop out
reaches nearly 50% [after middle school, ninth grade], one of the highest rates in Latin
America, according to the OECD. In turn, this has repercussions for those trying to obtain
employment, as 30% of Mexican businesses say that they have problems contracting capable
staff.
It is disheartening to read, but I recommend the articles. They will give context to upcoming blog posts about school visits and classroom observations. Nos Vemos!
I attended a conference and then became very ill (the last few days are a blur) so in lieu of writing about my own ideas and adventures I have decided to share some recent top education news stories in Mexico.
Back beginning in 2009, the SEP (Federal Department of Education of Mexico) passed a series of education reforms to improve/evaluate teaching performance at all public school levels. One important component was to test teachers directly in content knowledge and methodology. The idea of mandatory testing for evaluations was met with widespread protests across Mexico. The federal government has pushed forward, and beginning in November the evaluation was administered.
This article helps with giving context to the powerful forces behind the teachers unions. It's great commentary on the issues at hand. Instead of working (in my opinion) with the teachers to create fair methods of evaluation, or even addressing the corruption prevalent in the union, The federal government provided safe haven for teachers to take the test anonymously.
"Evaluations Go Ahead Without Incident"
http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/evaluations-go-ahead-without-incident/
"In an effort to uphold the peace, IEEPO, the Oaxaca institute of education,
provided ”confidential and safe“ accommodation, meals and transportation to all teachers
who requested it. "
In January results regarding the evaluations began to be reported. The first news was that 3,000 teachers (out of 1.5 million) refused to take the test...There was plenty of speculation on whether the teachers who "opted out" would be fired. More recently, the results of the tests were published:
51.5% Teachers need to improve scores. http://www.cnnexpansion.com/economia /2016/02/29/515-de-los-maestros-con-una-pobre-evaluacion-docente
"Overall, the results were that 15.3% of participants obtained a insufficient rating",
40.5%, with good results and 8%, with an excellent grade or higher.”
It was reported that teachers with insufficient ratings will need to repeat the test in less than a year while receiving training to improve their performance. Also reported, is that the official number of protesting teachers is 3,360 teachers (2.2% of the total). Teachers that did not test were discharged from their duties on March 1st.
Also making national news was reports that the large scale programs initiated by the Federal Government to address dropout rates and low graduation rates does have not been successful. In Mexico there is a well known issue regarding the "nini" generation which are adolescents to young adults ages 16 to 29 that are not actively involved in the community. "Nini" signifying those neither in school nor employed. Many of the educators I have interviewed have mentioned this phenomenon. According to recent studies by the OECD, over seven million young adults are actively part of the Nini generation in Mexico.
Mexico Youth Training Programs Guarantee Neither Education Nor Employment
http://mexicovoices.blogspot.mx/2016/03/mexico-youth-training-programs.html
The government initiated four programs to improve education at the secondary and university level: Skilled Based Human Resource Training, Expansion of Educational Opportunities, Training and Certification for Employment, Increased technology training and resources. According the results of the audit, in most cases, indicators and data was not provided. It was, it seems, impossible to measure success and in many cases the provided goals were not reached.
"Even though there are programs, the outlook for youth is discouraging, as school drop out
reaches nearly 50% [after middle school, ninth grade], one of the highest rates in Latin
America, according to the OECD. In turn, this has repercussions for those trying to obtain
employment, as 30% of Mexican businesses say that they have problems contracting capable
staff.
It is disheartening to read, but I recommend the articles. They will give context to upcoming blog posts about school visits and classroom observations. Nos Vemos!