Assessing the Telesecundarias School Program In Chiapas, Mexico

In 1969 the Mexican government created a distance-learning program called Telesecundarias in an effort to meet the needs of rural populations in a cost effective manner. While it is the fastest growing modality of education and has been very effective at improving access to secondary education, it has not proven effective in regards to quality of education when compared to educational outcomes of the traditional secondary schools and the technical secondary schools. There are several possible reasons for Telesecundarias low achievement outcomes, however little research has been done to determine causal relationships. Understanding these barriers to success could help to improve educational outcomes in rural and marginalized areas of Mexico.

Working closely with Foundation Escalera and the researchers, the SIPA team performed preliminary qualitative research (e.g. interviews and focus groups) in a small sample of Telesecundarias in Chiapas, Mexico. The results of this preliminary investigation informed the second phase of the project: the design of an intervention to be implemented in a larger number of schools. The yearlong pilot phase of the intervention will begin fall of 2012. The pilot intervention includes by design a randomized experiment to evaluate the program. This evaluation will be the third phase of the project, and will require three rounds of panel data that will be collected during the 2012-13 academic year before, during and after the intervention (i.e. treatment). Finally, the results of the experiment will allow the Aurora team to make recommendations concerning the improvement of continuation rates from Telesecundarias to high school.