Professional Development and Incentives for Teacher Performance in Schools in Mexico

Abstract

The quality of education is a determining factor in competitiveness. In order to globally compete, Mexico would have to raise its standards beyond its current low achievement. Several innovations at federal and state levels have been developed to raise the quality of basic education. One example is Carrera Magisterial (CM), which is a professional development program that was created as part of the National Agreement for the Modernization of Basic Education in 1992. This program is aimed at raising the quality of basic education through teachers' professional training, new learning presence in schools, and improving working and salary conditions. Lopez-Acevedo evaluates the impact of CM. She shows several important results. First, teacher's enrollment in the CM program has a positive impact on learning achievement. Second, family characteristics are important in explaining students' achievement. Third, investment in primary school teachers is most effective when targeted toward increasing teachers' practical experience and developing content-specific knowledge. And fourth, students in schools with a high degree of supervision on the part of the school principal achieve better scores.

This paper - a product of the Poverty Sector Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region - is part of a larger effort in the region to understand the factors that contribute to increase the quality of education.

JEL Classification: D00