Compensatory Education for Disadvantaged Mexican Students: An Impact Evaluation Using Propensity Score Matching

Abstract

This paper uses propensity score matching to evaluate the effectiveness of CONAFE, a compensatory education program in Mexico, in improving student test scores and lowering repetition and failure rates. We find that CONAFE is most effective in improving primary school math learning and secondary school Spanish learning. Telesecundaria education and bilingual education for indigenous students are both shown to improve student achievement. CONAFE also lowers primary school repetition and failure rates. We conclude that this compensatory education program can effectively improve shortterm learning results for disadvantaged students, but that improvement varies by the subject of instruction and the demographic of student taught.

A House of Mirrors: Seeing Myself, Seeing Mexican American Children

“…It is no wonder that many Mexican American children never engage in school to begin with, although we have heard many educators say "disengaged" and in need of "remediation" (Helgesen 2009;Reardon and Galindo 2009;Shapiro and Trevino 2004). Of course assimilated students are more "successful," moving on from elementary to middle and high school and ultimately graduating (Macias 1990;Reardon and Galindo 2009).…”

“…In 2000 my current university employer hired me as a coordinator for Career Ladder, a Title Three grant to recruit bilingual public school teachers. I was officially becoming part of the national push to find ways to educate Mexican American students (e.g., Reardon and Galindo 2009;Rodríguez 2002;Shapiro and Trevino 2004).…”

No Small Matter: The Impact of Poverty, Shocks, and Human Capital Investments in Early Childhood Development

“…Conceptually, there may also be inputs in schooling that substitute for early child investments and, thus, compensate for limited amounts of inputs earlier. Indeed, researchers have found positive impacts of compensatory interventions in primary education in Latin American countries (see, for example, McEwan 2008; Shapiro and Trevino 2004).…”

“…In the case of Head Start, students showed noticeable improvement in test scores and dropout and repetition rates, but again, the effects dissipated by the third grade, and Head Start students were no more likely than other students to complete high school. These fi ndings suggest that compensatory programs such as Head Start may need to stay in place for longer periods to produce long-term effects (Shapiro and Trevino 2004).…”

More Harm than Good?

“…Second, empirical evaluations of school-based compensatory education measures have not reach a consensus either. Programs that intervene very early in primary or in pre-primary education seem to have positive and somewhat large effects on pupils' performance (Dobbie and Fryer, 2011;Shapiro and Moreno, 2004;Tokman, 2002). But many place-based compensatory education programs have limited results.…”