TVET – Evaluating Admissions to TVET Secondary Schools in Mexico

TVET - Evaluating Admissions to TVET Secondary Schools in Mexico

Americas

2015 - 2019

Countries

Mexico

Lead M&E Consultant(s)

Jimena Hernandez

Project Overview

Funded by the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology, this evaluation analysed the admissions and selection processes used for recruitment in TVET secondary schools in Mexico. The evaluation compared the populations at TVET lower secondary schools (where there are no entry exams) with upper secondary schools (where the processes of selection are varied). The evaluation showed that entry exams adversely affect students from the poorest backgrounds, who are far less represented in TVET upper secondary schools. On the other hand, the volume of students from middle class backgrounds increases at TVET upper secondary schools, suggesting that socioeconomic and other factors favour their admission to these schools.

Approaches & Outputs

M&E Lead Consultant Jimena Hernandez designed the evaluation framework and quantitative data collection instruments, to undertake an evaluation of the admission procedures and processes used in the Mexican TVET secondary school system. The evaluation utilised a political economy approach to study the way transitions are made between lower and upper secondary school. In the first stage of data collection, a documentary analysis was performed with admissions records, examination results and enrolment processes. Subsequently, a sample of relevant cases in each Mexican state was chosen to identify further characteristics of the admission processes; here qualitative data collection included interviews with students at TVET schools, and with teacher and headteachers. Additional quantitative data collection included PISA and Excale Data (national examinations at the time) results, both of which include data on students’ type of school, academic achievement, and socioeconomic background. A dataset was constructed with information about lower secondary students in their last academic year and students at upper secondary TVET schools who were in their first academic year. The analysis included a comparison between the two groups and a difference in distributions approach was taken to perform the analysis using advanced econometric modelling such as sensitivity models and quintile regression. The evaluation was therefore able to identify the effects of admission processes at TVET upper secondary schools on students’ socioeconomic selection, academic achievement, and educational expectations for the future. Outputs included a Doctoral Thesis, three academic papers and two seminars.

Impact On

TVET upper secondary schools in the Mexican public school sector.

Challenges

Data collection at national level was challenging, as there was no source of official information on applicants for TVET upper secondary schools. This necessitated gathering and reviewing achievement assessment data from other sources, and constructing a dataset based on (i) the type of admission process used in each Mexican state and/or (ii) the admissions process of individual schools, based on documentary evidence. As a result, a new dataset, built from scratch, enabled comparisons of the effect of admission processes by looking at the changes in the distributions using advanced econometric modelling.

TVET – Evaluating Admissions to TVET Secondary Schools in Mexico