El programa EDUCO, las evaluaciones de impacto, y la economía política de la reforma educativa global

Abstract

During the 1990s and 2000s, a policy known as Education with Community Participation (EDUCO) not only became the cornerstone of education reform in El Salvador but also became a global education policy, one which is known for decentralizing to rural families the responsibility for hiring and firing teachers. As is shown in this paper, its rise to fame was not only a product of the particular political-economic context in which it was borne, but was also a product of the impact evaluations produced by the World Bank, which served as the evidence base through which this and other international institutions could legitimately promote the neoliberal model of community involvement represented by EDUCO. Problematically, however, a reappraisal of these impact evaluations reveals, first, that their findings and conclusions around significant effects were not warranted and, second, that the entire impact evaluation enterprise is fundamentally flawed due to the financial-political-intellectual complex out of which these studies emerged and back into which they fed as they were used to advocate for market-oriented policy solutions around the world. Thus, in addition to explaining the reform dynamics that gave rise to EDUCO, this paper (a) systematically reviews the findings and limitations of each of the six impact studies that constitute the international knowledge base around this policy, (b) reconsiders what we can reasonably claim to know about EDUCO, (c) reflects on the national and international implications of the critical review presented here, and (d) remarks on the shortcomings of—and the alternatives to—impact evaluations as a means to produce policy-relevant findings.

World Bank Influence on Policy Formation in Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Finally, we note that World Bank research, due to its highly credible nature (Edwards & Loucel, 2016) and perceptions of it being “irrefutable” (Bonal, 2002, p. 9), has an impact on other donor organizations. Also relevant here is the fact that, in the post–Great Recession context, other donor organizations are both hiring more generalists who are not specialists in education and investing less in research.…”

“…As a result of these World Bank evaluations, the program has received “great international legitimacy” (Luschei, 2004, p. 419). The approach of community-based management of education in El Salvador has similarly been “certified” thanks to the positive outcomes that were claimed in a series of World Bank studies (Edwards & Loucel, 2016; Edwards et al, 2015). These positive findings helped to attract attention from around the world, in addition to giving confidence to the borrowing government that they were pursuing a worthy reform.…”

Responsabilidad social del estudiante universitario en El Salvador: Género y territorio/ Social responsibility of the university student in El Salvador: Gender and territory

“…Ahora bien, las políticas educativas a nivel Latinoamericano se han caracterizado gracias a los diversos encuentros nacionales, regionales y mundiales (Vallaeys, 2014;Gaete y Álvarez, 2019). Lo anterior, ha permeado en El Salvador, cuyas políticas educativas buscan una transformación a través de planes estratégicos basados en una educación integral, universal, descentralizada y de calidad (Edwards, Martin y Victoria, 2014;Edwards y Loucel, 2016;Muñoz, 2019). En la educación superior se han desplegado diversas reformas que responden al refortalecimiento de las instituciones públicas producto de su consideración como eje fundamental para el progreso salvadoreño (Gómez, 2011;Santiago, 2020).…”

The Global Education Policy of School-Based Management in Conflict-Affected Contexts: A Cautionary Tale

“…(4) Nevertheless, the critiques and conclusions presented here are relevant to the other studies, as well. A full discussion of all six studies can be found in Edwards and Loucel (2016).…”