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Title:
Amidst reforms
Mexican Teacher Evaluation and Professional Development from the perspective of teachers,
headteachers, and policymakers.
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Amidst reforms: Mexican Teacher Evaluation and Professional Development from
the perspective of teachers, headteachers, and policymakers.
Artemio Arturo Cortez Ochoa
A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for
award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the Faculty of Social Science and Law,
School of Education, April, 2020.
Word Count: 79,100
i
Abstract
Current knowledge regarding Teacher Evaluation Systems (TES) as a suitable approach to quality
education improvement suggests that the relationship between teacher monitoring and
enhancement is far from straightforward. Yet, developing countries such as Mexico have
uncritically employed variants of these reforms since the early 1990s to bring about change with
regards to levels of quality teaching and learning. Although teachers and headteachers are in
everyday contact with education policies, these actors are rarely consulted regarding TES
development. Therefore, this exploratory research examined teachers’, headteachers’ and
policymakers’ perspectives concerning the strengths, weaknesses, and unintended consequences
of a new TES called the Mexican Teacher Evaluation (MTE). Since full implementation of MTE
started in 2015, the availability and impact of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) on the
teachers’ practice before and after MTE (i.e. the academic years 2014-2015 and 2016-2017) were
investigated. This sequential mixed-methods research collected data via an online survey of
primary teachers across Mexico using online teachers’ networks (n=367) and semi-structured
interviews (n=13). Of the total participants, n=131 participated in MTE and provided an insight into
the procedures of the new TES as well as opportunities for CPD after the evaluation. Descriptive
and inferential statistical analyses of quantitative data and a thematic analysis approach of
qualitative data were employed.
The findings indicated that in 2014-2015, overall teacher participation was lower than previous
records from a TALIS-Mexico report (Backhoff & Pérez-Morán, 2015). Nevertheless, most common
CPD topics are like those in previous literature and were perceived impactful on the practice.
Furthermore, a series of preparatory courses tailored to MTE emerged during 2014-2015.
Concerning the strengths of MTE, the new TES was perceived as a better scheme for teacher hiring
and promotion as compared with the former method where the teachers’ union held significant
power. However, only half of the surveyed MTE participants highlighted the value and positive
nature of feedback following assessments. Regarding the weaknesses, MTE lacks classroom
observations, tailored CPD following the evaluations, and appropriate follow-up of Newly Qualified
Teachers (NQT) and in-service teachers after the assessment. Regarding the unintended
consequences, MTE might have negatively impacted the teachers’ wellbeing at various points of
MTE implementation; however, the TES might have encouraged teachers to become involved in
their preparation for the assessments. There is evidence that teachers focused on the summative
aspects of the evaluation more than the developmental ones, although the rationales varied. This
research concluded that TES in Mexico is not yet fit for purpose after both positive and negative
aspects of new MTE policies were observed. Moreover, additional reforms to support educational
quality improvement are required. The teachers’ self-perceived needs in terms of CPD, as well as
standards that recognise professional development according to teaching experience, seem
essential for success.
ii
Dedication
To my beloved wife, Carolina.
I've made a place where you can go back to remember that these have been the happiest years
of my life; do you know why? Because of you. Indeed, the PhD journey has been the most
challenging episode of this story so far, but one that I enjoyed every single day; do you know
why? Because every morning, afternoon and evening you were there, you and your loving
arms. My joy is yours, and my biggest accomplishment is to gain your love. Because I give you
all of me, and you give me all of you, wherever you are I call it home.
iii
Acknowledgements
I wish I had the words to express my gratitude to the School of Education and its passionate
academics for guiding me in the most exciting journey I have ever imagined to undertake. My
sincerest thanks to Professor Sally Thomas for her dedication in every aspect of my academic
development and for her care when I felt down. Likewise, I want to thank Dr Liz Washbrook for her
patience and detailed attention to my progress throughout these years in the PhD programme.
My stay at the University of Bristol could not have been possible without the support of the
Mexican government through CONACYT. I feel indebted to Mexico’s people who contribute to
these scholarships. Also, I want to thank the Secretariat of Education in Colima, Mexico for allowing
me to undertake these doctoral studies abroad, and to the National Union of Education Workers
(SNTE) section 39 for their continuous support in every aspect.
I want to thank my parents Artemio Cortez and Rosa Delia Ochoa for their love and for being always
present in the celebration of my triumphs. To my brothers, Humberto and his family, as well as
Javier, for trusting my dreams. Special thanks to my grandma Tina ( ) and my aunt Carolina ( )
whose smile and advice keep them alive in me. This PhD was blessed by the kind and loving care
of my new family, teachers Patricia Celis and Elias Valladares my parents-in-law who welcomed me
in their house during the various research field trips. Thanks to Paty and Ivette Valladares and their
families, especially Osval Montesinos for their kindness and support as well.
This PhD received vital support from several friends in Mexico and the UK to whom I will be forever
indebted. Teachers Dolores Jáuregui, Irma Vargas, and Evelia Trujillo who provided valuable insight
into the Mexican education system. My deepest gratitude to Israel Moreno and Claudio Frites for
their interest in my academic development. María Guerrero, Charlotte Flothmann, Betzabé Torres,
Suh-Keong Kwon, Jane Nebe, Tanyapon Phongphio, Hong Zheng, Askhat Zhumabekov, Karina
García, and Sister Judith Guevara for their time and sincere feedback on my early drafts of the
thesis. This dissertation could not have been complete without the stern questioning of Dulce
Rodríguez, Jessie Bryant, Trang Tran, Beatriz Gallo, and Martin Preston. I thank you all sincerely.
My gratitude to Dr Andrés Sandoval and Rafael Mitchell, my external and internal examiners, for
their thoughtful questions that made me think about further objectives in my academic journey.
Finally, I want to thank all the research’s participants from across Mexico who generously provided
their perspective on the topic.
iv
Author’s Declaration
I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements
of the University's Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that
it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific
reference in the text, the work is the candidate's own work. Work done in collaboration with,
or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation
are those of the author.
SIGNED: …………………………………………………………………… DATE: ………………………………………….
v
Table of Contents
Acronyms .................................................................................................................................. xii
List of tables ............................................................................................................................ xiv
Table of figures ......................................................................................................................... xv
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 The research problem .................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Academic rationale ...................................................................................................... 4
1.3 The national rationale - Mexico .................................................................................... 7
1.4 The rationale on a personal level ................................................................................ 10
1.5 Aim and objectives..................................................................................................... 11
1.6 Theoretical and conceptual frameworks: an overview................................................. 12
1.7 Research design and Research Questions.................................................................... 12
1.8 The organisation of the thesis .................................................................................... 15
2 Research context .............................................................................................................. 18
2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 18
2.2 An overview of the Mexican education system ........................................................... 18
2.2.1 Teachers and teacher organisations ............................................................................................. 20
2.2.2 The right to education before the reform of 2013 ....................................................................... 21
2.2.3 Initial Teacher Education before the reform ................................................................................ 21
2.3 Issues on education quality before the reform ............................................................ 24
2.3.1 Contextual issues related to education quality ............................................................................ 26
2.4 Previous teacher evaluation programmes ................................................................... 27
2.4.1 Carrera Magisterial: a teacher professional career ladder ........................................................... 27
2.4.2 The entrance examination ............................................................................................................ 28
2.4.3 The universal teacher evaluation .................................................................................................. 29
2.5 State-provided CPD before the reform........................................................................ 30
2.5.1 Collective forms of teacher development .................................................................................... 32
2.5.2 Individual-oriented teacher development .................................................................................... 33
2.5.3 Teacher CPD before the reform: evidence from TALIS 2013 ........................................................ 34
vi
2.5.4 Concluding statements on CPD before the education reform of 2013 ........................................ 35
2.6 The education reform of 2013 .................................................................................... 36
2.6.1 Initial Teacher Education following the reform of 2013 ............................................................... 37
2.6.2 The right to quality education ....................................................................................................... 38
2.7 Mexican Teacher Evaluation (MTE) ............................................................................. 38
2.7.1 Teaching standards in MTE ........................................................................................................... 40
2.7.2 MTE phases: the teacher evaluation instruments ........................................................................ 41
2.7.3 Teachers’ results in MTE ............................................................................................................... 44
2.7.4 Summative consequences in MTE ................................................................................................ 45
2.7.5 Formative components of MTE: feedback report and CPD .......................................................... 45
2.7.6 Implementation issues .................................................................................................................. 46
2.7.7 Critiques of MTE concerning years of teaching experience ......................................................... 47
2.7.8 Existing research about MTE ......................................................................................................... 48
2.8 State-provided CPD after MTE .................................................................................... 51
2.8.1 Collective forms of teacher development .................................................................................... 51
2.8.2 Individual-oriented teacher development .................................................................................... 52
2.8.3 Teacher study groups, freelancers and the teachers’ union ........................................................ 54
2.9 Summary of the Chapter ............................................................................................ 55
3 Literature review .............................................................................................................. 58
3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 58
3.2 Quality education ...................................................................................................... 59
3.2.1 The human rights and the human capital approaches to quality education................................ 60
3.2.2 The UNESCO and the OECD in matters of quality education ........................................................ 61
3.2.3 Educational Effectiveness Research in matters of quality education ........................................... 63
3.2.4 Concluding statements on quality education ............................................................................... 67
3.3 Two models of teacher quality that inform this research ............................................. 67
3.3.1 Naylor and Sayed (2014) conceptual framework of teacher quality ............................................ 68
3.3.2 Goe (2007): teacher quality as inputs, processes and outcomes ................................................. 69
3.3.3 Teacher quality considering inputs ............................................................................................... 71
3.3.4 Teacher quality considering processes ......................................................................................... 75
3.3.5 Teacher quality as students’ gains ................................................................................................ 80
3.3.6 Concluding statements on approaches to evaluating teacher quality ......................................... 82
3.4 Teacher standards and frameworks ............................................................................ 83
3.4.1 Critiques of teaching standards and frameworks ......................................................................... 85
vii
3.5 Teacher Evaluation Systems: a response to low-quality education............................... 85
3.5.1 Evidence on the positive impact of TES for teaching improvement ............................................. 87
3.5.2 Formative, and summative consequences of TES......................................................................... 88
3.5.3 Unintended consequences of TES ................................................................................................. 90
3.5.4 Concluding statements on TES ...................................................................................................... 91
3.6 Teacher Continuing Professional Development ........................................................... 92
3.6.1 Conceptualising teacher development ......................................................................................... 92
3.6.2 Rationales underpinning CPD in education policy and the self .................................................... 93
3.6.3 Theoretical approaches to teacher and student learning ............................................................ 95
3.6.4 Formal and informal CPD .............................................................................................................. 98
3.6.5 Collective CPD: Professional Learning Communities and Communities of practice..................... 99
3.6.6 Individual-oriented CPD .............................................................................................................. 101
3.6.7 Successful CPD: a pathway .......................................................................................................... 104
3.6.8 Concluding statements on teacher Continuing Professional Development ............................... 107
3.7 Summary of the Chapter and Research Questions (RQs) ............................................ 108
4 Methodology .................................................................................................................. 112
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 112
4.2 Philosophical framework .......................................................................................... 112
4.2.1 Pragmatism in this PhD research ................................................................................................ 115
4.3 Research design ....................................................................................................... 117
4.3.1 Data collection methods: an overview ....................................................................................... 119
4.4 Online questionnaire: instrument rationale, and development ................................. 120
4.4.1 Instrument rationale ................................................................................................................... 120
4.4.2 Instrument development (online questionnaire) ....................................................................... 122
4.5 Interviews: instrument rationale, and development ................................................. 126
4.5.1 Instrument rationale ................................................................................................................... 126
4.5.2 Instrument development (semi-structured interviews) ............................................................. 127
4.6 Online questionnaire sampling, data collection, and participants’ demographics ....... 130
4.6.1 Sampling strategy: online questionnaire .................................................................................... 130
4.6.2 Data collection procedure: online questionnaire ....................................................................... 131
4.6.3 Survey participants’ demographics ............................................................................................. 132
4.7 Interviews recruitment, data collection, and participants’ characteristics .................. 135
4.7.1 Recruitment strategy: interviews................................................................................................ 135
4.7.2 Data collection procedure: interviews ........................................................................................ 137
viii
4.7.3 Interview participants’ characteristics ........................................................................................ 137
4.8 Quantitative data analysis ........................................................................................ 138
4.8.1 Descriptive statistics.................................................................................................................... 139
4.8.2 Inferential statistics: tests of association and difference ........................................................... 140
4.9 Qualitative data analysis .......................................................................................... 141
4.9.1 Steps one to three of thematic analysis ..................................................................................... 142
4.9.2 Steps four to six of thematic analysis and the generation of common and other themes ........ 144
4.10 Mix or integration .................................................................................................... 145
4.11 Quality of data, analysis, and findings....................................................................... 146
4.12 Ethical considerations .............................................................................................. 147
4.12.1 Access to online communities and interviewees ................................................................... 147
4.12.2 Consent forms for both data collection methods and the right to withdraw ....................... 148
4.12.3 Right to anonymity and confidentiality throughout the research ......................................... 148
4.12.4 Data protection and data storage .......................................................................................... 149
4.13 Methodological limitations ...................................................................................... 149
4.13.1 Scope and sample size ............................................................................................................ 149
4.13.2 Survey design.......................................................................................................................... 150
4.13.3 Self-report data ...................................................................................................................... 151
5 CPD before 2015-MTE findings ....................................................................................... 152
5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 152
5.2 Findings regarding CPD opportunities before 2015-MTE ............................................ 153
5.2.1 The extent of participation in formal individual-oriented CPD opportunities ........................... 153
5.2.2 Most common formal individual-oriented CPD-formats ............................................................ 155
5.2.3 Most prominent CPD providers arranged by the State .............................................................. 156
5.3 The perceived impact, pertinence, and quality of CPD before 2015-MTE .................... 158
5.3.1 Take-up in formal individual-oriented CPD-subjects and perceived impact on the practice ..... 158
5.3.2 Participation and perceived impact on the practice regarding formal workplace CPD ............. 163
5.3.3 Participation and perceived impact on the practice regarding informal CPD ............................ 167
5.3.4 The pertinence of formal CPD delivery-modes ........................................................................... 172
5.3.5 A summary of participants’ views about the quality of formal CPD before 2015-MTE ............. 176
5.4 Key findings of this Chapter ...................................................................................... 178
6 MTE and the feedback report findings ............................................................................ 181
ix
6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 181
6.2 Strengths of MTE ..................................................................................................... 182
6.2.1 [C] – MTE was perceived as an appropriate framework for teacher hiring and career
improvement ............................................................................................................................................. 182
6.2.2 [C] - The procedures of MTE, including the feedback report, were perceived as appropriate to
enhance teaching ...................................................................................................................................... 184
6.2.3 [O] – MTE contributes to enhancing the teachers’ professional status ..................................... 187
6.3 A summary of the identified strengths of MTE .......................................................... 187
6.4 Weaknesses of MTE ................................................................................................. 188
6.4.1 [C] – Some aspects that MTE might have neglected due to a lack of consultation ................... 189
6.4.2 [C] – Issues related to the feedback report and its connection with CPD. ................................. 193
6.4.3 [O] – The little consideration of teachers’ experience in MTE ................................................... 197
6.4.4 [O] – Lack of transparent management of MTE’s budget and posts allocation ......................... 198
6.5 A summary of the identified weaknesses of MTE ...................................................... 199
6.6 Unintended consequences of MTE ............................................................................ 200
6.6.1 [C] – Potential negative impacts on the teachers’ wellbeing ..................................................... 201
6.6.2 [C] – Teacher preparation for MTE via study groups: rationales and actors .............................. 204
6.6.3 [C] – The general result in MTE as the most important goal teachers followed ........................ 205
6.6.4 [O] – MTE might contribute to a type of inequality .................................................................... 207
6.7 A summary of identified unintended consequences of MTE ...................................... 207
6.8 Key findings of this Chapter ...................................................................................... 209
7 CPD after MTE findings ................................................................................................... 211
7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 211
7.2 Findings regarding CPD needs and take-up in 2016-2017 ........................................... 212
7.2.1 MTE participants’ self-perceived needs regarding formal individual-oriented CPD-subjects in
2016-2017 .................................................................................................................................................. 213
7.2.2 The extent of participation in formal CPD after MTE ................................................................. 217
7.2.3 Formal CPD formats and subjects after MTE .............................................................................. 221
7.2.4 Perspectives on the introduction of new formal CPD relevant to the workplace ...................... 222
7.2.5 CPD providers after MTE ............................................................................................................. 225
7.2.6 Reasons not to participate in formal CPD after MTE .................................................................. 227
7.2.7 Participation in informal CPD after MTE ..................................................................................... 228
7.3 The perceived impact, pertinence, and quality of CPD before and after MTE ............. 229
x
7.3.1 Perceived effects of CPD after MTE ............................................................................................ 230
7.3.2 The pertinence of formal CPD delivery modes during 2016-2017 ............................................. 231
7.3.3 MTE participants’ perceptions on the quality of CPD after MTE ................................................ 232
7.4 Key findings of this Chapter ...................................................................................... 233
8 Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 235
8.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 235
8.2 Formal and informal CPD opportunities before 2015-MTE ......................................... 238
8.2.1 Formal CPD opportunities before 2015-MTE.............................................................................. 238
8.2.2 Informal CPD opportunities before 2015-MTE ........................................................................... 240
8.3 Perceived impact, pertinence and quality of CPD before 2015-MTE ........................... 241
8.3.1 Impact of CPD before 2015-MTE ................................................................................................ 242
8.3.2 The pertinence of CPD delivery modes before 2015-MTE ......................................................... 244
8.3.3 Quality of CPD before 2015-MTE ................................................................................................ 244
8.4 Participation and perceptions of CPD impact on the practice according to teaching
experience before 2015-MTE ................................................................................................ 247
8.5 The strengths, weaknesses and unintended consequences of MTE ............................ 249
8.5.1 Strengths of MTE ......................................................................................................................... 250
8.5.2 Weaknesses of MTE .................................................................................................................... 253
8.5.3 Unintended consequences of MTE ............................................................................................. 260
8.6 Teachers’ CPD needs and participation in further training in 2016-2017..................... 266
8.6.1 CPD self-perceived needs after MTE ........................................................................................... 267
8.6.2 Formal individual-oriented CPD opportunities in 2016-2017 ..................................................... 268
8.6.3 A contrast of old and new formal CPD formats after MTE ......................................................... 270
8.6.4 Changes regarding CPD provision after MTE .............................................................................. 271
8.6.5 Deterrents on participation in formal CPD after MTE ................................................................ 271
8.6.6 Informal CPD after MTE .............................................................................................................. 273
8.7 A comparison between CPD before and after MTE regarding impact, pertinence and
quality 274
8.7.1 Impact of CPD after MTE in 2016-2017 ...................................................................................... 274
8.7.2 The pertinence of CPD delivery modes after MTE ...................................................................... 275
8.7.3 Quality ......................................................................................................................................... 275
8.8 Conclusions of this discussion Chapter ...................................................................... 277
8.8.1 Concluding statements regarding research question 1 and sub-questions ............................... 277
xi
8.8.2 Concluding statements regarding research question 2 .............................................................. 278
8.8.3 Concluding statements regarding research question 3 and sub-questions ............................... 279
9 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 282
9.1 A summary of the contribution of this research ........................................................ 283
9.2 Recommendations for policy and practice ................................................................ 295
9.2.1 Recommendations regarding future reform to TES.................................................................... 295
9.2.2 Recommended changes to teacher preparation processes in Mexico....................................... 297
9.2.3 Suggested approaches to CPD after MTE ................................................................................... 298
9.3 The learning acquired and limitations of this research .............................................. 299
9.4 Recent policy changes in Mexico .............................................................................. 301
9.5 Recommendations for future research ..................................................................... 304
10 References ...................................................................................................................... 305
11 Appendices ..................................................................................................................... 338
Appendix 1. CENEVAL, who are they? ................................................................................... 338
Appendix 2. The technical assistance to the school system and escuelas al cien ..................... 339
Appendix 3. The secondary laws, the cogwheels of the education reform .............................. 342
Appendix 4. The scope of MTE .............................................................................................. 343
Appendix 5. The feedback report: an example ...................................................................... 344
Appendix 6. The framework for Teaching (FfT) (Danielson, 2013) .......................................... 345
Appendix 7. Piloting the questionnaire ................................................................................. 346
Appendix 8. Piloting the interview protocols ........................................................................ 347
Appendix 9. Research questionnaire and raw data ................................................................ 348
Appendix 10. Interview schedules ........................................................................................ 363
Appendix 11. Survey distribution campaign: a summary ....................................................... 366
Appendix 12. A comparison of the number of days in CPD in 2014-2015 and 2016-2017......... 372
Appendix 13. A summary of the codes integrating each theme .............................................. 374
Appendix 14. Ethical considerations of this research ............................................................. 376
Appendix 15. Informal CPD correlations ............................................................................... 382
xii
Acronyms
ALSPAC Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
BERA British Education Research Association
BOS Bristol Online Survey
CEMABE Mexican Census of Teachers and Schools
CNSPD National Coordinator of the Teaching Professional Service
CNTE National Coordinator of Education Workers
CPD Continuing Professional Development
DOF Official Gazette of the Federation
EER Educational Effectiveness Research
ENLACE National Examination of School Achievement
FfT Framework for Teaching
GDP Gross Domestic Product
ICT Information and Communication Technology
IDB Inter-American Development Bank
INEE National Institute of Educational Evaluation
INEGI National Institute of Geography and Statistics
INSET in-service education for teachers
IOs International Organisations
ISCED International Standard Classification of Education
ITE Initial Teacher Education
LLECE Latin American Laboratory on Quality Education
MET Measures of Effective Teaching
MINEDUC Minister of Education from Chile
MMR Mixed Methods Research
MTE Mexican Teacher Evaluation Policy (2013)
MVS Maximum Variation Sampling
NQT Newly Qualified Teacher(s)
NBPTS National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OEI Organisation of Iberic-American States
OREALC Regional Bureau of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean
xiii
PISA Programme for International Student Assessment
PLC Professional Learning Communities
SEN Special Education Needs
SEP Secretary of Education (Mexico)
SER School Effectiveness Research
SINADEP The teachers’ union Continuous Teacher Professional Development System
SIR School Improvement Research
SNTE National Union of Education Workers
SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
TA Thematic Analysis
TALIS Teaching and Learning International Survey
TES Teacher Evaluation System(s)
TIMSS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
TPA Technical Pedagogical Advisors
UK United Kingdom
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UoB University of Bristol
USA United States of America
VAM Value-Added Models
xiv
List of tables
Table 2.1. National statistics of primary education teachers’ degree-level qualifications.............. 24
Table 2.2. Five dimensions of the teaching profile for primary. ....................................................... 41
Table 2.3. The four phases in MTE. ..................................................................................................... 42
Table 2.4. Teacher evaluation phases in 2015 & 2016 and 2017. .................................................... 43
Table 2.5. National statistics of 2015 & 2016 MTE results of primary education participants. ...... 44
Table 2.6. Critical pre-reform and post-reform changes in the education system.......................... 56
Table 4.1. Data collection instruments and sample: a summary. ................................................... 119
Table 4.2. Teachers’ academic degree in the sample. ..................................................................... 133
Table 4.3. MTE participants in 2015 & 2016. ................................................................................... 135
Table 4.4. Teachers and headteachers who participated in interviews. ........................................ 138
Table 4.5. Headteachers and policymakers who participated in interviews. ................................. 138
Table 4.6. A common theme relating to MTE strengths and corresponding codes. ..................... 144
Table 4.7. Thematic areas and the number of themes reported in each one. .............................. 145
Table 5.1. CPD-formats teachers undertook during 2014-2015. .................................................... 156
Table 5.2. CPD-providers arranged by the State during 2014-2015. .............................................. 157
Table 5.3. CPD-subjects and perceived impact on teachers’ practice. ........................................... 159
Table 5.4. CPD-subjects’ impact on practice according to teaching experience in 2014-2015. ... 161
Table 5.5. Formal workplace CPD options and self-perceived impact on teacher practice. ......... 163
Table 5.6. Participation in formal workplace CPD and perceived impact considering teaching
experience. ......................................................................................................................................... 165
Table 5.7. Informal CPD options and self-perceived impact on teacher practice. ........................ 168
Table 5.8. Participation in informal CPD and perceived impact considering teaching experience.
............................................................................................................................................................ 169
Table 5.9. The extent of participation and perceived pertinence for development of CPD delivery-
modes according to years of experience. ........................................................................................ 176
Table 5.10. Good quality and low-quality CPD from a teachers’ perspective. ............................... 177
Table 5.11. CPD evaluation modes. .................................................................................................. 178
Table 6.1. Common and other themes regarding the strengths of MTE. ...................................... 182
Table 6.2. Feedback report sections; informativeness for detecting areas for improvement. .... 185
Table 6.3. Common and other themes regarding the weaknesses of MTE. .................................. 189
Table 6.4. The utility of the feedback report for CPD decision-making.......................................... 195
xv
Table 6.5. Common and other themes regarding the unintended consequences of MTE. .......... 200
Table 7.1. CPD before 2015-MTE and the one needed after MTE. ................................................ 213
Table 7.2 Formal individual-oriented CPD-subjects needed in 2016-2017 according to teaching
experience. ......................................................................................................................................... 215
Table 7.3. CPD-subjects that interviewee headteachers and teachers undertook after MTE. ..... 222
Table 7.4. Reasons not to participate in CPD after MTE. ................................................................ 228
Table 9.1. A comparison of education policy reform 2013 vs 2019. .............................................. 301
Table of figures
Figure 2.1. Mexico’s map with political divisions. .............................................................................. 19
Figure 3.1. An integrated model of school effectiveness. ................................................................. 65
Figure 3.2. The Dynamic Model of Educational Effectiveness. ......................................................... 66
Figure 3.3. Conceptual Framework: teacher quality and the factors that influence it. .................. 69
Figure 3.4. Conceptual framework: teacher quality and components. ............................................ 70
Figure 3.5. How teacher professional development affects student achievement. ........................ 96
Figure 3.6. The black boxes of teacher and student learning. .......................................................... 97
Figure 4.1. Dewey’s model of experience. ....................................................................................... 114
Figure 4.2. The methodology and methods of this study................................................................ 118
Figure 4.3. Research design: sequential Mixed-Methods Research. .............................................. 118
Figure 4.4 Gender and teaching experience distribution (n=367). ................................................. 133
Figure 4.5 MTE participants’ gender and teaching experience distribution (n=131). ................... 134
Figure 4.6 Braun and Clarke TA approach. ....................................................................................... 142
Figure 5.1 Number of participants in CPD in 2014-2015 by years of experience. ......................... 154
1
1 Introduction
Policy must be seen as a dialectic process in which all those affected by the policy will be
involved in shaping its development. Policy development is therefore both a continuous
and a contested process in which those with competing values and differential access to
power seek to form and shape policy in their own interests (Bell & Stevenson, 2006, p. 2)
This doctoral research investigates a national Teacher Evaluation System (TES) in Mexico called the
Mexican Teacher Evaluation (MTE), which was used for hiring, retention, and promotion of
teachers in the state-funded education sector from 2014 to 2019 (DOF, 2019c; INEE, 2019). This is
a timely, necessary, and original investigation into the teachers’, headteachers’, and policymakers’
perspectives of MTE as a suitable means for teacher enhancement, and overall, quality education
improvement. Like no other existing study, this piece of research addresses the strengths,
weaknesses, and unintended consequences of MTE, as well as teacher participation in Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) before and after the assessment.
The next section is a summary of the research problem. The rationales at an academic, national,
and personal level follow. Subsequently, the aim and objectives of this inquiry, as well as the
theoretical and conceptual frameworks chosen for this investigation, will be presented. A summary
of the research design undertaken, and three research questions and sub-questions are posited.
The Chapter concludes with a summary of the anticipated contribution to knowledge, policy, and
practice, as well as an outline of the remaining Chapters of this thesis.
1.1 The research problem
The Mexican Federal Congress passed MTE in 2013 as part of a broader programme of education
reform intended to improve the quality of education (Rivas, 2015; SEP, 2016b) and regain control
Introduction
2
of the state-funded education affairs from the teachers’ union (Arnaut, 2014; Cuevas, 2018; DOF,
2013a; Ornelas & Luna Hernández, 2016; Pérez Ruiz, 2014). However, the reform lacked
consultation among teachers and other stakeholders in the education system (Cuevas Cajiga &
Moreno Olivos, 2016; Ramírez & Torres, 2016). Therefore, there are critical knowledge gaps
concerning the actual contribution of the new TES for teaching improvement from the perspective
of those in everyday contact with education policies. This inquiry addresses some of those
unexplored perspectives and provides new insights into matters of TES enactment and
implementation.
In mid-2014, Newly Qualified Teachers (NQT)
1
and in-service teachers with temporary contracts
sat MTE in order to enter the system (DOF, 2013a). Additionally, every year, starting from 2015,
approximately 10% of the 1.5 million teachers working in state-funded schools would be required
to demonstrate suitability to retain the position according to new standards of teaching.
Evaluations for in-service teachers were mandatory at least every four years and incorporated
high-stake consequences for the teachers’ job positions, such as potential removal from teaching
for underperformers already in-service, and dismissal for those who entered to the education
system during the time of the new policy (DOF, 2013a). Provision of feedback for all MTE
participants and mandatory CPD for underperformers in MTE also followed (ibid).
Arguably, MTE was coupled with a government perception of a deficit on the part of teachers’
knowledge, skills, and dispositions that the evaluation was intended to identify and correct via CPD
(INEE, 2016c; SEP, n.d.-b, 2017d). Nevertheless, teacher evaluations for quality education
I In Mexico, there are no teacher certification processes such as a PGCE in the UK context because graduates
from the teacher training colleges are considered fully qualified to teach upon graduation from a bachelor’s
degree programme (see more in section 2.2.3). In this thesis, NQT will be used to refer to the group of
teachers who are new to the education system.
Introduction
3
improvement are not new to Mexican teachers. Since the early 1990s, teacher assessments have
been used to make decisions on salary increments, to regulate entry into the state-funded
education sector, and for formative appraisals. Similarly, there is a long history of state-funded
teacher CPD before the education reform in 2013 that included collective forms of teacher
development as well as individual-oriented CPD. Although the focus of this PhD research is on
state-funded (formal) CPD, the study also provides new knowledge on the informal CPD teachers
accessed before and after MTE.
Following the introduction of MTE and onwards, teacher evaluations became the only legal
procedure for working in the state-funded education system, in contrast with the former method
through the teachers’ union, which was entitled to assign teachers via agreements with the
secretariat of education (Estrada, 2015). Teacher evaluations of in-service personnel became
mandatory and high-stake consequences were attached, as previously mentioned. Regarding
state-funded CPD
2
, the education reform of 2013 expanded collective forms of teacher
development from five to thirteen days per year (DOF, 2017b; SEP, 2013), and reframed
professional development directed to individual teachers via an array of public-private providers
(SEP, 2013, 2017b). Furthermore, it made participation in CPD compulsory for underperformers in
MTE (DOF, 2013a), and instructed CPD providers to require teachers to develop school-based small
research projects as part of the training (SEP, 2017b).
Despite these changes aimed at improving quality education, policy and practice do not always
work in tandem (Bell & Stevenson, 2006; Murray & Swennen, 2019; Reynolds et al., 2014), and
2 In this thesis, state-funded CPD or training managed by the state is named formal CPD and distinguishes
between collective (staff development), and individual-oriented CPD.
Introduction
4
there is vast local and international experience pointing to the need of teachers’ and other
stakeholders’ insights into matters of education policymaking that require targeted research
(Flores, 2011; Ramírez & Torres, 2016; Tornero & Taut, 2010; Tuytens & Devos, 2009), mainly in
the context of the recently introduced Mexican Teacher Evaluation.
1.2 Academic rationale
In the last decades, access to education and the amount of time people spend in schools have
steadily increased in most countries (Roser & Ortiz-Ospina, 2019), this not only contributes to
fulfilling a human right, but also to the enhancement of the overall preparation of people to
undertake unforeseeable challenges in their future lives. Nevertheless, modern approaches to
economic theory argue that the number of years of education is a less precise predictor of the
growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than, for instance, measures of academic achievement,
such as PISA tests (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2010; Hanushek, Ruhose, & Woessmann, 2016).
Therefore, developing and developed economies have undertaken actions to improve the quality
of their students’ outcomes, including attainment on various subjects, creativity, and emotional
development, which are all often used as a proxy for quality education (UNESCO, 2000, 2004b).
In this regard, the perspective of international corporations, such as the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), have actively proposed that teachers matter when
addressing the issues in quality education, as one influential report posits (OECD, 2005). Likewise,
research shows that teachers are one of the most critical factors in students’ achievements (Barber
& Mourshed, 2007; Muijs et al., 2014; Reynolds, Chapman, Kelly, Muijs, & Sammons, 2012).
Therefore, Barber and Mourshed (2007, p. 13) have argued ‘the only way to improve outcomes is
to improve instruction’. In other words, it is still believed that quality education issues can be
tackled if teachers’ knowledge and general capacities are monitored and supported, and the less
Introduction
5
capable are removed (Callahan & Sadeghi, 2015; Marzano, 2012; Popham, 1988). This is essentially
the strategy proposed by the MTE policy and the matter of critical review of this research.
Despite the influence of international testing, there are substantial debates in the literature
regarding the use of students’ results in international comparative assessments for the prediction
of economic growth as a means to define education quality and to introduce reforms (Breakspear,
2012; Meyer, 2014; Moreno, 2019a; Schmelkes, 2018; Volante, 2017). It is therefore essential that
when reviewing the practical implications of the most recent policy changes in Mexico, the context
is sufficiently considered and put into perspective with the goals of the reform. Similarly, there are
contrasting viewpoints about teacher accountability as the only means for attaining ambitious
learning and economic outcomes (Hargreaves, 2012; Sahlberg, 2006). Although traditionally,
schools have been screened via standards, frameworks, and school inspections (Ehren, Jones, &
Perryman, 2006; Martinez, Taut, & Schaaf, 2016; Martínez Rizo, 2016; Ofsted, 2019), TES are
increasingly considered appropriate methods to improve the indicators of quality education.
Complementing this, a mounting body of literature, mainly from Educational Effectiveness
Research (EER), indicates that the effects of teachers and schools on students’ development, and
consequently, on quality education, depend on several factors. These include the professional
development available to teachers, the students’ backgrounds, and the broader context where
learning happens which is beyond the control of teachers or schools (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2006;
Mortimore et al., 1994; Muijs, Kelly, Sammons, Reynolds, & Chapman, 2011; Reynolds et al., 2014;
Sammons, 1999a; Scheerens, Glas, & Thomas, 2003).
To know more about teachers’ formal appraisal and other professional-related issues, a growing
number of economies have joined the triennial OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey
Introduction
6
(TALIS)
3
. The OECD’s survey aims ‘to provide robust international indicators and policy-relevant
analysis on teachers and teaching in a timely and cost-effective manner’ (OECD, 2014, p. 27). TALIS
has started to collect data from primary teachers; however, its emphasis has been, and continues
to be, on secondary education. Arguably, the professional needs of primary teachers (generalists)
are different from those of their counterparts in secondary education (subject teachers). In TALIS,
formal teacher appraisals are defined as a review of the teacher’s practice by an authority or
colleague (OECD, 2014), however, since the research problem examined in this thesis relates to a
national teacher evaluation which includes other means for teacher assessment, adapting the
original TALIS questionnaire might be needed to explore teachers’ perspectives in the context of
MTE.
Adaptations of TALIS questionnaires have been used in a local context to tackle knowledge gaps
concerning teacher participation in CPD (Elizondo & Gallardo, 2017). Nevertheless, no research has
gathered information on the professional development available to Mexican teachers prior to MTE,
and the subsequent suitability of further CPD to tackle teachers’ needs as identified via the TES or
as self-perceived by teachers. This research addresses some of those knowledge gaps.
Opposing views between those who argue that teaching requires a set of generic assets, and others
that contend for a teacher career-stages-conscious approach (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2006;
Danielson, 2007b; Education Services Australia, 2012; Johnston, 2015), deserve further analysis in
the context of MTE as well. These are often political decisions that dispense with the perspectives
of teachers and other stakeholders in the education system (Flores, 2011; Ramírez & Torres, 2016;
3 A total of 24 countries participated in TALIS 2008. In TALIS 2013, ten more economies undertook the
survey. The international survey seeks statistical representativeness; the ‘target sample size: 200 schools
per country; 20 teachers and 1 school leader in each school’ (OECD, 2014, p. 27). Mexico has been
participating since 2008.
Introduction
7
Tornero & Taut, 2010; Tuytens & Devos, 2009) despite their close contact with the effects of
education policies in schools and classrooms (Goe, Holdheide, & Miller, 2014; Santiago &
Benavides, 2009). With this in mind, the next section tackles the rationales at a national level
underpinning this research.
1.3 The national rationale - Mexico
The education reform of 2013, which includes MTE, originated from a political agreement at a
federal congress level. Lack of consultation with teachers or other actors about the content and
implications of the policy generated resistance to the evaluation (Ramírez & Torres, 2016), physical
confrontation (The New York Times, 2016), and some casualties (Echávarri & Peraza, 2017; Urrutia
de la Torre, 2015). At a national level, this underpinning rationale is essential to gain knowledge
about the implications of MTE from the perspective of those directly experiencing the new TES.
This research is also inspired by previous calls for further research on matters concerning the
practical implications of MTE for the teachers’ practice (Salmeron, 2015, cited in Cordero &
González, 2016), in particular, the review of ‘a whole MTE cycle: evaluation, appointment, training
and re-evaluation’ (Cordero & González, 2016, p. 17).
Previous quantitative and qualitative studies on MTE led by Mexico’s National Institute for
Educational Evaluation (INEE), which were published after the beginning of this study, focused on
MTE participants’ satisfaction with the evaluation for improvement (INEE, 2016b, 2016c). The
literature generated by the INEE presented valuable data about the difficulties that teachers
encountered in the assessments (Beltrán, 2016; Gil, 2013; Rodríguez, 2013). However, these
previous studies did not address the teachers’ former training opportunities. Knowledge of teacher
Introduction
8
CPD before 2015-MTE
4
is essential to understand how teacher training after the evaluation may
tackle professional development needs that have not been fully addressed in the past. This
research addresses that gap.
The INEE research was unable to gather evidence regarding the most commonly taken teacher
development options, or the most in need after 2015-MTE, due to a shortage of CPD at that time
(Cordero, Jiménez, Navarro, & Vázquez, 2017). In fact, up until April 2016, most teachers were not
aware of any options available to them (INEE, 2016c). Furthermore, the INEE noted that the
research participants provided little insight into how MTE could contribute to their professional
development through one of its formative components, namely the feedback report. This study
tackles those knowledge gaps by exploring the informativeness of the feedback report and its
relationship with available teacher CPD after the teacher evaluation.
In the INEE studies, teachers classified as underperformers expressed that their socio-economic
and geographic settings, as well as their actual classroom practice, were not considered in the
grading of the evaluation. This is important to investigate in order to understand what makes the
TES (in)valid from the teachers’ perspectives. Overall, the INEE’s report stated that the teachers
were not against MTE and that their claims concentrated on the technical and bureaucratic issues
around the evaluation (ibid). Therefore, this research focused more on exploring MTE participants’
perspectives on professional development opportunities offered to them based on the outcomes
of the assessment.
4 In this thesis, before 2015-MTE will refer to the academic year 2014-2015. The first major national teacher
evaluation took place in 2015, and included evaluations for NQT, promotion and mandatory for in-service
teachers.
Introduction
9
Another key study on MTE, which arose at the beginning of this PhD research, was commissioned
by the Regional Bureau of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO, 2016).
The study revealed a series of technical pitfalls of the evaluation, mainly concerning a written exam.
This report reviewed the theoretical foundations of MTE, such as the Mexican standards for
teaching and their connection with the evaluation instruments. The UNESCO report, as well as
those carried out by the INEE, revealed useful data on the operative pitfalls of MTE; however,
mixed findings were found on the value of MTE for improving teaching. For instance, such research
was unable to investigate the relationship between MTE outputs, i.e. the feedback report, and the
availability and impact of teacher CPD on the practice in further detail. Further insight into these
seminal studies concerning MTE is provided in the context Chapter.
Therefore, this research investigates Mexican teachers, headteachers, and like no other study on
the topic, policymakers’ perspectives from three institutions directly concerned with the
implementation of MTE, i.e. the Secretary of Education (SEP), the National Institute of Educational
Evaluation (INEE), and the main teachers’ union (SNTE). These views are examined to elaborate on
the strengths, weaknesses, and unintended consequences of MTE in order to compare teachers’
professional development before and after MTE
5
, as well as study how this teacher evaluation can
inform subsequent CPD. Additionally, evidence concerning the relationship between teacher
participation in CPD and years of experience will be explored.
This issue is seldom covered in local research, however, it is amply discussed in the international
research regarding teacher quality and improvement (Day & Sachs, 2004; Mitchell, 2013; Sandoval-
5 In this thesis, after MTE will refer to the academic year 2016-2017, and alludes to data regarding teacher
CPD during that academic year from participants who sat the 2015-MTE or 2016-MTE.
Introduction
10
Hernandez, Jaschinski, Fraser, & Ikoma, 2015; Thomas, Zhang, & Jiang, 2018). This research
provides fundamental and timely knowledge on the topic that presents local/national
policymakers, practitioners, and researchers with a baseline for further exploration of TES in
Mexico and other latitudes. In 2019, following the recent appointment of president Andres Manuel
López Obrador from the left-wing MORENA political party, the education reform of 2013 was
cancelled. Still, teacher evaluations will continue (DOF, 2019c), which means that this research
remains current and relevant to further policy developments on teacher quality issues. Significant
changes to TES in Mexico following this recent reform will be explained towards the end of this
thesis.
1.4 The rationale on a personal level
Various motivations underpin the researcher’s interest in this project. First, his experience as a
primary school teacher in Colima, Mexico, from 2008 to 2014 enabled him to develop an
understanding of the expectations and challenges in the Mexican state-funded education system.
Therefore, when MTE was introduced for quality education improvement, his experiences
underlined that the new policy neglected the material constraints of the communities and the
students he worked with, most of them from deprived neighbourhoods in the periphery of the city.
Similarly, the new mandate seemed not to adequately consider prior deficiencies in the teachers’
training and overall preparation for teaching. This initial awareness resulted in a series of questions
about the origins of education policy; thus the researcher started to explore the issue via a Master’s
dissertation where the theoretical foundations of the teaching standards used for MTE were
untangled (Cortez, 2015). Such inquiry revealed potentially borrowing policies from the United
States of America’s (USA) and Chile’s policies on teacher assessment, mainly, the Framework for
Teaching of Charlotte Danielson (2007a), and the Good Teaching Framework from Chile (MINEDUC,
2008). The following step was to explore how MTE would contribute to improving teacher practice,
Introduction
11
given its strong focus on the individual teacher as an essential component for quality education
enhancement.
For the researcher, it remained unknown how the new TES would supersede the pitfalls of previous
initiatives concerned with quality education improvement. This is because different programmes
on teacher CPD and assessments were implemented before the reform of 2013. However, the
discourse underpinning the need for change suggested that teachers were not good enough to do
the job; therefore, accountability and further training were essential for improvement. Another
rationale which prompted his interest in the research topic was the contradictory narrative used
by the teachers’ union that was for the TES and not for the defence of the teachers’ rights.
Therefore, it was essential to contrast teachers’, headteachers’, and policymakers’ views about the
developmental, or otherwise threatening, stance of the teacher evaluation.
1.5 Aim and objectives
This research has the following aim and objectives:
Aim: To investigate Mexican teachers’, headteachers’, and policymakers’ perceptions of the
strengths, weaknesses, and unintended consequences of MTE. Also, to compare CPD before and
after MTE and examine whether the teacher evaluation and feedback report can inform
subsequent CPD routes to enhance teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical skills for quality
education improvement.
Objectives:
• To review the international academic literature on the relationship between quality education,
teacher evaluation, and CPD.
Introduction
12
• To examine and document the nature of the specific research and policy context in Mexico
relating to quality education, teacher evaluation, and CPD.
• To carry out empirical, sequential mixed method research (MMR) on teachers’, headteachers’,
and policymakers’ perspectives on MTE and CPD involving a survey and semi-structured interviews.
• To explore the implications of the study’s findings for policy and practice in Mexico and similar
country contexts, the existing theoretical literature, and further research.
1.6 Theoretical and conceptual frameworks: an overview
The general concern of this research is the concept of quality education as it is the rationale often
used to justify the enactment of TES, and the main change entailed in the education reform of
2013 (see section 2.6.2). This construct is problematised in light of the human rights, and human
capital approaches, and the contribution of Educational Effectiveness Research (EER) to provide a
background to the different aspects of TES and CPD that are subsequently reviewed. After this,
models of teacher quality are addressed as essential foundations of TES. A review of standards and
frameworks for teaching also contribute to this inquiry. Another focal area of analysis relates to
the theory regarding teacher CPD for practice improvement. In this part, models of teacher and
student learning are analysed to provide further methodological support towards the research on
teachers’ perspectives regarding matters of professional learning opportunities. Theoretical and
conceptual frameworks are intended to contrast research findings and advance knowledge arising
from the MTE experience.
1.7 Research design and Research Questions
This exploratory enquiry was conducted via sequential mixed methods research (MMR). That is,
quantitative and qualitative data were collected chronologically and integrated throughout the
Introduction
13
analysis and discussion stages to address the research questions (Creswell, 2014; Johnson &
Onwuegbuzie, 2004). Similar studies have found limitations when conducted using mono-method
research (see, for example, Taut, Santelices, Araya, & Manzi, 2011; Tuytens & Devos, 2009), mainly
because the breadth and depth of data collected tend to be a trade-off when deciding between
large-scale survey studies and in-depth qualitative research. Therefore, within the scope of PhD
research, using mixed methods provides a balanced and more comprehensive approach to
exploring the research problems from various angles.
Pragmatism, as a philosophical framework, was chosen given the outcome-oriented aim of the
research. Using pragmatism facilitated inquiring into practical ways of change and improvement
concerning, in this case, a teacher evaluation policy (Goldkuhl, 2012). This choice allowed further
exploration of a wide range of the participants’ views and provided detailed accounts on the matter
using quantitative and qualitative methods, given the pluralistic nature of the approach to research
(Creswell, 2014; Dewey, 1908; Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004; Mertens, 2016; Peirce, 1878).
Methodologically, the TALIS teacher-questionnaire (OECD, 2014) guided the initial outlines of a
teacher survey. Subsequently, the instrument was piloted with primary teachers in Mexico and
adapted accordingly. Furthermore, drawing on existing research about TES and CPD, semi-
structured interview protocols were designed and refined during pilot trials (Harris, Day, Goodall,
Lindsay, & Muijs, 2006; INEE, 2016c). The empirical quantitative data of this research was gathered
via convenience sampling (Etikan, 2016) from primary teachers and headteachers with four years
of professional experience or more at the time of data collection (total sample n=367). A third of
them were evaluated in MTE-2015 or MTE-2016 (n=131). Also, eight teachers, two headteachers,
and three policymakers were invited for an interview using purposive sampling (ibid). These
Introduction
14
decisions were appropriate to achieve a balanced degree of scope and richness in the data
collected.
Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS software. Descriptive and some inferential statistics
were used to explore and provide an interpretation of key patterns in the data, but no claims of
causality were made given the study was primarily exploratory (Banerjee & Chaudhury, 2010; Field,
2009). Qualitative data were analysed using NVivo software following a thematic analysis approach
(Braun & Clarke, 2006). The findings were integrated and reported in three Chapters in line with
the following research questions and sub-questions.
RQ1: What were the opportunities (formal and informal) for CPD that teachers had before 2015-
MTE?
RQ1a: What do teachers say about the impact of CPD before 2015-MTE on their practice,
its pertinence and quality?
RQ1b: Did the extent of participation and perceptions of how CPD impacts on their practice
vary according to teachers’ experience?
RQ2: What are the strengths, weaknesses, and unintended consequences of 2015 & 2016 MTE in
informing further CPD decisions and improving teacher performance?
RQ3: What CPD options did MTE participants need and take after the evaluation, particularly in
2016-2017?
RQ3a: Did perceptions of CPD needs after MTE vary according to teaching experience?
RQ3b: How does CPD in 2016-2017 compare to CPD before 2015-MTE regarding impact,
pertinence, and quality?
Introduction
15
This investigation seeks to present an original contribution to knowledge, policy, and practice in
various respects. Unlike related studies that have been published since this inquiry commenced
(Cordero et al., 2017; Cuevas, 2018; INEE, 2016b, 2016c; OREALC/UNESCO, 2016), this research
contrasts under-researched perspectives of teachers with those of headteachers and high-ranking
policymakers regarding MTE. This approach provides new insights into MTE and its implications for
quality education improvement. The methodological contribution of this research involves the use
of an adapted version of TALIS questionnaires to explore the extent of participation in CPD in the
wake of teacher assessments with high-stake consequences. Furthermore, unlike existing records
of TALIS-like surveys in the local context (Elizondo & Gallardo, 2017), this research examines
teachers’ experience vis-à-vis perceptions of the impact of CPD on the practice. Such knowledge is
essential for decision-making regarding future teacher training provision.
This research proposes various ways forward on TES concerned with teacher practice
improvement, as well as areas for further inquiry. In sum, within the scope of PhD research, this
exploratory study provides new evidence concerning teacher CPD in Mexico that policymakers can
use to revise professional development on offer, as well as an assessment of the strengths,
weaknesses, and unintended consequences of MTE.
1.8 The organisation of the thesis
The remainder of this thesis is organised as follows:
Chapter 2 provides the research context and is organised into three parts. The first part presents a
summary of relevant information concerning the Mexican education system. The other two parts
give an overview of the pre-2013 reform and post-2013 reform affairs regarding state-funded
education in Mexico, TES policy, and CPD programmes.
Introduction
16
Chapter 3 is a review of the literature, which includes the theoretical and empirical research
relevant to this study, including key literature on quality education, teacher evaluation systems,
approaches to teacher quality, and teacher continuing professional development. Based on the
research aim and objectives and the literature supporting this research, at the end of the Chapter,
three research questions and sub-questions will be reiterated to guide the present study.
Chapter 4 is concerned with the methodology and methods chosen for this research. The Chapter
begins with the philosophical approach of the research, supported by relevant literature. After this,
the research design is explained in detail, including how and where the quantitative and qualitative
findings are integrated. Next, the rationales for data collection methods, followed by thorough
explanations concerning instrument development, data collection procedures, and analyses. A
dedicated section regarding the quality of data, analysis, and findings justifies the credibility of this
research. The concluding parts of the Chapter embrace a series of ethical considerations and
methodological limitations of this research.
Chapter 5 presents the findings on the first research question, which is concerned with the CPD
opportunities teachers had before 2015-MTE, particularly in the academic year 2014-2015.
Findings Chapters describe the data and present tentative explanations that are further discussed
in Chapter eight.
Chapter 6 is concerned with the findings on the second research question, which addresses the
strengths, weaknesses, and unintended consequences of MTE, as well as the usefulness of the
feedback report for CPD decision-making.
Introduction
17
Chapter 7 presents the results on the third research question, which was aimed at gathering data
about CPD after MTE, for the academic year 2016-2017.
Chapter 8 is a discussion with the purpose of contrasting the findings with the current academic
information on the research topic. The strengths, weaknesses, and unintended consequences of
MTE are debated. Moreover, CPD before and after MTE are discussed in line with the research aim
of this study.
Finally, Chapter 9 is a series of conclusions and recommendations for policy, practice, and future
research.
18
2 Research context
2.1 Introduction
This Chapter presents an overview of Mexico and its education system, including relevant data on
the state-funded education sector and the teacher workforce. After this opening section, two
general parts address the circumstances prevailing before and after the education reform of 2013.
The legal right to education in Mexico is reviewed with regard to the pre-reform matters. A brief
examination of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and some documented issues on education quality
and contextual challenges follow. A summary of the pre-reform policy on teacher performance
evaluation is presented, and this section concludes with an evaluation of teacher CPD before the
reform of 2013.
The post-reform snapshot includes a brief review of the education reform of 2013; the legal right
to education and the emergence of MTE. After a thorough study of the new TES, several aspects
concerned with state-provided CPD following the reform will be reviewed. The Chapter concludes
with a comparative chart showing the main differences between pre- and post-reform in the
education system.
2.2 An overview of the Mexican education system
Mexico is a 2 million square kilometres territory divided into 32 federal states (see Figure 2.1). In
this country, the right to an education is legally binding, and it is funded through taxes and
managed by the central federal authority through the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP in
Spanish). Mexico’s education system is organised as follows: basic education (pre-school (3-6 year-
olds), primary (6-12 year-olds) and lower-secondary (12-15 year-olds)); upper-secondary (15-18-
Research context
19
year-olds), and higher education. Basic education and upper-secondary are mandatory. In the
academic year 2016-2017, mandatory state-funded education was provided in more than 240
thousand schools, which matriculated more than 30 million pupils (INEE, 2018). Of the total
provision, ‘90.7% of primary education is state-funded’ (INEE, 2018, p. 15). The SEP determines the
curriculum for each of these educational levels, but universities are autonomous (DOF, 2019b).
Education services are provided via three modalities: general, indigenous, and communitarian
schools. General schools are mainly located in the cities and larger rural areas, and targeted to
mestizo-Spanish-speakers; thus, these schools have the largest numbers of students, teachers and
facilities as of ‘93.5, 91.5, and 79% of the total, respectively’ (INEE, 2018, p. 15). Conversely,
indigenous and communitarian schools are typically placed in small, scattered rural areas of less
than 2,500 inhabitants (INEE, 2017a). These two latter types of schools provide education, mainly,
to indigenous and nomadic populations (INEE, 2018) who reside in communities with high or very
high poverty. Mandatory primary education in Mexico is mainly delivered via two schedules, i.e.
morning schools and afternoon schools, which provide 4 hours of teaching each and students are
required to attend one of these shifts. Most teachers work in morning schools (75%), a shift
disproportionally staffed by female teachers (SEP, 2017d).
Figure 2.1. Mexico’s map with political divisions.
Source: geology.com.
Research context
20
Of the total primary schools in the state-funded education sector, ‘43.2% are multi-grade type
schools’ (INEE, 2018). At these schools, ‘one, two or three teachers oversee two or more school
grades at the same time’ (INEE, 2015c, p. 315) and this typically occurs in the same classroom.
Teachers working in multi-grade schools often deal with material constraints as well as the
challenge presented by working with students of different ages and levels of academic progress
(Inclán, 2016; Ruiz, 2018). Indigenous education, which represents 2% of the national provision at
primary level, is mainly provided via multi-grade schools (ibid). In Mexico, Spanish is the most
widely spoken language, but there are 70 additional indigenous languages spoken by 7.4 million
people across the country. Indigenous students usually receive education in their language;
however, 15% of indigenous schools have a teacher who does not speak the language of the pupils
(INEE, 2017a).
2.2.1 Teachers and teacher organisations
The federal authority mainly pays teachers' salaries; however, there are also teachers employed
by the States who may receive different wages and other benefits compared with those who work
for the central, federal government (Barrera & Myers, 2011). Most Mexican teachers working in
state-funded schools are unionised under The National Union of Education Workers (SNTE in
Spanish). The SNTE represents 1.5 million teachers, the number of teachers working in basic
education during the academic year 2016-2017 (INEE, 2018). A third of them work at the primary
level (CEMABE-INEGI, 2014).
The median teachers’ age at the primary level is 39 years-old, with female teachers making up 67%
of the total (INEE, 2015b, p. 31). Approximately 74% of the teachers in primary education hold a
permanent contract (Backhoff & Pérez-Morán, 2015, p. 26); and 64% of them are full-time teachers
(ibid, p. 25). The SNTE was created in 1943, but in 1979, the so-called National Coordinator of
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21
Education Workers (CNTE) emerged, made up of dissident members of the main teachers’ union
to challenge corporate malpractices of the SNTE (CNTE-blog, 2012; López, 2013; Sánchez & Corte,
2015). The CNTE represents more than one hundred thousand teachers (Excelsior, n.d.) from the
poorest states of Mexico. The organisation’s main agenda challenges neoliberal policies and other
government initiatives that give higher regard to the technocratic, but not to the humanist,
currents in education (de Ibarrola, 2018).
2.2.2 The right to education before the reform of 2013
The people’s right to primary education has been present in article 3 of the Mexican Constitution
since the early 20th century (Congreso Constituyente, 1917), and has undergone eight amendments
before the reform of 2013. The 2012 modification was as follows:
Every person has the right to receive an education. The State – Federation, States, the
Federal District and Municipalities –, will provide pre-school education, primary, lower and
upper-secondary education. The pre-school, primary and lower-secondary education
integrates the basic education; this and upper-secondary education are mandatory (DOF,
2012).
Arguably, until 2012, the main concern of article 3 of the Constitution was access to education. To
secure the education system’s needs of schoolteachers, the State has been a prominent provider
of teacher training programmes through normal schools which have endured various modifications
over time as is presented next.
2.2.3 Initial Teacher Education before the reform
Initial Teacher Education in Mexico (ITE) has a long tradition. Following the Independence of the
country from Spain in 1822, the first ‘normal schools, meaning, a place where teaching is normed’
(IEESA, 2012, p. 2) were established. Here student teachers learned how to lead the instruction
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through ‘a course of four to six months in duration’ (ibid, p.3). Subsequently, during the late 19th
century, and after the Mexican Revolution of 1910, more normal schools, particularly those
targeting rural areas emerged (ibid). ITE was traditionally provided via a three-year programme.
Given the high rates of illiteracy in the country, during the late 1940s, the provision at primary level
expanded radically, and graduates from existing normal schools as well as individuals without
training joined the workforce (ibid). Since 1969, ITE in Mexico takes four years to complete, and, in
1979, the National Pedagogical University of Mexico was created to standardise those without a
degree level qualification (ibid). Nevertheless, before an education reform in 1984, student-
teachers completed only lower-secondary education before entering a normal school. After this
reform, the aspirants to an ITE institution were required to complete an upper-secondary
programme before enrolment (ibid).
The curriculum of normal schools was changed in 1997 to focus on teaching, reducing the number
of academic units, research content and theory (IEESA, 2012). In 2012, the curriculum was modified
again, and the pathway for primary education was organised in five learning areas as follows:
Psycho-pedagogy with 16 units; teaching and learning preparation, 20 units; additional language
(English) and ICT, 7 units; four optional units; and professional practice with 7 units. Although the
introduction to classroom practice starts from the first semester, this is increased further in the
last semester to 20 hrs per week for 16 weeks. The drafting of a short dissertation leads to a
professional title (SEP, n.d.-a). In section 2.6.1, ITE in normal schools will be revisited with regard
to the changes arising from the education reform of 2013.
2.2.3.1 Teacher licencing: entry to the education system
There are no certification processes after graduation from an ITE institution. However, the
education authority and the teachers’ union typically negotiated on teacher hiring via the so-called
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joint committees
6
. In 2008 and before MTE, both parties agreed on an entry examination for
newcomers and in-service teachers who lacked a permanent post but were interested in working
in the state-funded education sector (Cordero & Luna, 2014; SEP-SNTE, 2008) see section 2.4.2.
Such a standardised exam, which ‘was the only instrument used across the country to select the
best candidates to a teaching post’ (Luna, Cordero, López Gorosave, & Castro, 2012, p. 237) was
designed and implemented by an external examination institute (see Appendix 1). Luna et al.
(2012) documented that the exam included 80 multi-choice items and covered the following areas:
I) curricular content knowledge; II) specific intellectual skills; III) didactic competence; and IV) the
norms, management and teacher’s ethics.
According to Barrera and Myers (2011), although the entry exam was perceived as a suitable
approach to hiring teachers via a meritocratic method, the test lacked reliable references of
expected performance (ibid). Moreover, there were no clear rules about the minimum score
needed to obtain a position in the education system, and the vacancies were filled according to
supply and demand in each state. In other words, if in a given year there were sufficient vacancies
to offer a place even to those who failed in more than half of the exam items, they were offered a
position (ibid). Furthermore, the teachers’ union continued to appoint teachers, disregarding the
official evaluation, suggesting widespread malpractice and inconsistency in the hiring process
(ibid). The intervention of the union in the allocation students to ITE without an entry examination,
6 The co-participation of the education authority and the union in matters of teacher hiring is known as the
joint committee, and entitled 50% of the vacancies in the education system to the union (Barrera & Myers,
2011; Estrada, 2015). The teachers’ union and the political party in the power for more than seventy years
− Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) − ‘set corporate agreements which allowed the government to
maintain the control of a good proportion of the teacher workforce in exchange for rewards, such as the
political promotion of the union’s leaders’ (Pérez Ruiz, 2014, p. 116). This relationship continued through
the two presidential periods of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), from 2000 to 2012. This situation
helps to understand why, before the reform of 2013, the union effortlessly promoted the automatic
entrance of graduates from normal schools and other related degree credentials to the education service
(Estrada, 2015; Pérez Ruiz, 2014).
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as well as in hiring, fostered the politicisation of pre-service teachers (Civera, 2013). This way, the
union secures the adherence of NQT once in the service.
Other unlawful practices to obtain a post that were tolerated by the authority and endorsed by the
union included inheritance; selling and buying places, and bonds of friendship with the teacher
organisation (INEE, 2017b; Torres, 2019). In sum, before MTE, the joint committees owned the
power regarding teacher hiring, and corrupt practices were prevalent, such as selling and buying
teaching posts. From 2008 to 2013, an entrance examination was agreed to make this process
more meritocratic. However, the exam lacked references of good teacher performance, and the
results of the test were not observed. That is, the teachers’ union continued to interfere in the
appointment of teachers to available positions.
Given the proportion of teachers who obtained a post via the pre-1984 policy, the distribution of
in-service primary teachers’ credentials is as shown in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1. National statistics of primary education teachers’ degree-level qualifications.
Total
(per
cent)
Upper-
secondary
Normal or
bachelor’s
incomplete
Normal
pre-school
complete
Normal
primary
complete
A degree from
the National
Pedagogical
University
Bachelor’s
degree
complete
Postgraduate
degree
492,042
(100.0)
14,028
(2.9)
1,363
(0.3)
2988
(0.6)
81,817
(16.6)
43,264
(8.8)
249,228
(50.7)
48,274
(9.8)
Source: (INEE, 2015b, p. 41). Percentages in parentheses. Percentages do not sum up to 100% due to missing
data.
2.3 Issues on education quality before the reform
In 2006, the National Examination of School Achievement (ENLACE in Spanish), the first student
national examination was implemented, and the results reported per individual student and school
annually (SEP, 2014a). In primary education, the test targeted years 3rd to 6th. Although ENLACE
was not meant to link students with their teachers, school league tables were published for the
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staff to compare and make decisions about their teaching upon these reports. There is evidence
that teaching to the test and cheating
7
occurred in ENLACE (Pérez Ruiz, 2014; Santiago, Mcgregor,
Nusche, Ravela, & Toledo, 2012); thus, the results showed a trend of improvement in areas such
as language and maths that contradicted other international surveys, for instance, SERCE and
TERCE, organised by the UNESCO in 2006 and 2013 (Rivas, 2015). Furthermore, the lower
performance of Mexico in comparative studies has been consistent since the beginning of its
participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (ibid). For instance, in
2015, Mexico obtained the lowest position out of 34 OECD members (OECD, 2016); and again in
2018, at that point, out of 36 country members (OECD, 2018).
In the two examples given, one concerning a national student assessment, and the other, an
international exam, Mexico seemed to perform persistently lower than expected (OECD, 2012,
2016). This situation was actively used to justify the reform of 2013, and MTE (Nava Amaya &
Beltrán, 2014). For instance, the former president of the INEE stressed that ‘the results of the
students show the areas where teachers have to reinforce their professional development’
(Schmelkes, 2018, p. 17). An intense campaign against teachers would follow; De Ibarrola (2018,
p. 16) explains, ‘a clear example is the movie “De Panzazo” [A Barely Passing Grade], a documentary
made by Mexicanos Primero (similar to the American “Waiting for Superman”) that was shown in
movie theaters all across the country in 2012’. A similar situation occurred in Korea with the media
branding issues of education quality a ‘school collapse’ or ‘classroom collapse’ (Yoo, 2019, p. 94).
Nevertheless, various academics contested these views arguing the essential role of contextual
7 Although cheating might help to explain the discrepancy between national and international student
assessments, according to De Hoyos, Garcia Moreno, and Patrinos (2015, p. 15) ‘ENLACE uses two algorithms
to detect cheating and results are invalidated when it happens’.
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constraints that might also be relevant to understanding issues on quality education (Barrera &
Myers, 2011; Gil, 2016). The next section explores some of these aspects.
2.3.1 Contextual issues related to education quality
There are critical societal limitations to the improvement of learning outcomes in Mexico, such as
more than 43% of the population living in poverty (World Bank, 2019). Furthemore, more than 30
million of those 15 years and older individuals who did not have access to formal education or did
not complete it at least at a basic level (Gil, 2018a; INEE, 2017a). Existing research in England using
the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) concluded that parental income and
multiple child outcomes, e.g. cognitive, non-cognitive and health-related are positively associated
(Washbrook, Gregg, & Propper, 2014). These findings resonate with local research on the socio-
economic factors related to students’ results in a national examination for entry to higher
education (Hernández, Márquez, & Palomar, 2006). Regarding people from indigenous
backgrounds, ‘9 out of 10 indigenous students in Mexico live in localities with high or very high
indicators of marginalisation’ (INEE, 2018, p. 16), and these populations report ‘2.5 fewer years in
formal education than the rest of the population in Mexico’ (ibid, p. 19). These data show important
factors affecting the academic attainment of the less affluent and those from different ethnic
backgrounds that negatively impact the academic achievement in comparative assessments. Still,
most importantly, they illustrate serious issues related to the inequity of the Mexican education
system and student outcomes.
Furthermore, a sizable proportion of schools have to deal with a lack of access to running water,
electricity, toilets and the Internet to differing extents (CEMABE-INEGI, 2014). In addition to this,
issues of education quality in Mexico have been a prominent concern that can be traced back to
the early 1990s, as will be discussed next.
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2.4 Previous teacher evaluation programmes
2.4.1 Carrera Magisterial: a teacher professional career ladder
To improve the quality of education, the secretariat of education and the teachers’ union signed
an agreement in 1992. Part of the deal included the creation of a teacher career development
programme namely Carrera Magisterial (Gluyas & Gonzalez, 2014), and the decentralisation of the
responsibilities on teacher development from the federal government to the states (UNESCO/UDP,
2009). The programme targeted basic education teachers working in state-funded schools who
voluntarily competed for salary improvements via a points-based evaluation in five categories (A,
B, C, D, E) (Cordero, Luna, & Patiño, 2013; Santibañez & Martínez, 2010). Taking a primary teacher
contract as a baseline — 25 hours per week contract — the programme represented increments
to the salary of ‘36% more in level A, 70% in level B, and up to 158% in level E’ (INEE, 2015b, p. 64),
but the rewards depended on annual budgets; therefore, a limited number of increments were
granted every year. The criteria for the teachers to progress in the five-level salary ladder included:
teachers’ years of experience, their academic degree, participation in training, such as workshops
and diplomas, and a standardised exam (CREFAL, 2017).
The last rounds of this programme considered the unadjusted students’ raw results in national
exams, e.g. ENLACE, as part of the individual teacher scores (Cordero & González, 2016; Cordero
et al., 2013). Nevertheless, empirical research found that the students of teachers rewarded by the
programme did not perform significantly better than students of teachers who did not participate
(Escárcega & Villarreal, 2007; Santibañez & Martínez, 2010; Santibañez et al., 2007). Criticism
about the use of ENLACE to make decisions on teachers’ salaries included the lack of consideration
of socio-economic and cultural factors of the students that might influence their academic results
(Barrera & Myers, 2011). Similarly, the risk that ENLACE became a learning reference, and
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therefore, teaching to the test and cheating were contested (ibid). Additionally, several academics
maintained that far from improving the salaries of teachers as a community, the Carrera
Magisterial, contributed to the division of teachers who benefited from the programme, and those
who did not (Cerón & Corte Cruz, 2006; Escárcega & Villarreal, 2007). The programme was
terminated during the 2012-2018 federal administration and substituted by a rewards programme
based on the teachers’ performance in MTE
8
.
2.4.2 The entrance examination
As presented in section 2.2.3.1, teacher evaluations for entering the service and obtaining a post
were introduced in 2008 (SEP-SNTE, 2008). A small-scale study with data from telesecundaria
teachers
9
using a difference-in-difference statistical approach found that the students of teachers
who were hired via the entry examination obtained better results in ENLACE than the other
students whose teachers were appointed discretionally, e.g. via joint committees (Estrada, 2015).
Such differences were of ‘.52 standard deviations for mathematics and .31 standard deviations for
Spanish’ (Estrada, 2015, p. 20). Interestingly, Estrada (2015) maintains that entry examinations
were not designed to identify teacher effectiveness, or the potential of NQT to positively and
significantly impact on the students’ academic outcomes. Nevertheless, teachers appointed via an
exam might be conscious of the value placed on test results, as their position was gained that way.
Therefore, a more intense ENLACE-focused instruction may prevail among these individuals that
did not occur among others who got the post via discretionary methods.
8 In the academic year 2011-2012, 36.5% of the in-service teacher workforce in basic education got a
category in Carrera Magisterial; of them, ‘54% had a level A, and only 4% achieved the top level E’ (INEE,
2015b, p. 64).
9 These teachers are lower-secondary education educators who work in remote rural communities with less
than 1,500 inhabitants and typically teach all the academic subjects of at least one school grade (7th, 8th or
9th grade) with the support of distance education technology (i.e. a television) (Estrada, 2015).
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The entrance examination was also meant to replace the so-called escalafón, a vertical professional
career ladder created in the 1970s and managed via the joint committees whereby in-service
teachers aspiring to a leadership role, e.g. headteacher, superintendent, applied for assessment.
Yet, this part of the evaluations was never carried out, and the discretionary methods continued
(Cordero & Luna, 2014).
The criteria in the escalafón were as follows:
• Knowledge 45% (including teacher credentials and CPD certificates)
• Aptitude 25% (willingness, hard work, efficiency and other activities)
• Professional experience 20%
• Discipline and punctuality 10%
(Martínez Méndez, 2015, p. 177).
2.4.3 The universal teacher evaluation
In 2012 the universal teacher evaluation, which was intended to provide data on teacher CPD
needs, was introduced (Cordero et al., 2013). This assessment included similar evaluation
instruments to those of Carrera magisterial and was made compulsory. Nevertheless, the teachers’
union disagreed with the evaluation, which might explain why only 52.2% of teachers sat the exam
(Informador, 2012). The universal teacher evaluation was short-lived and discarded during the
federal administration 2012-2018. As observed by Cordero et al., (2013, p. 14) ‘both, Carrera
magisterial and the universal teacher evaluation seem to depart from the presumption that, the
more training teachers receive, the better the academic achievement [of students] will be’. The
problem is, that up to the time before the reform of 2013, CPD provision was more focused on the
number of hours teachers dedicated to CPD, and less on the actual quality of those training options
and the impact they had on the teachers’ practice and the students’ outcomes (ibid).
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In sum, before the reform of 2013, in-service teacher evaluations were voluntary (Cuevas, 2018)
and mainly used for career development, e.g. Carrera Magisterial. Although there was an attempt
to regulate entrance to the education system, the teachers’ union continued to incorporate
personnel to the education system discretionally. Universal teacher evaluation for formative
purposes was not supported and rapidly discarded. Thus, before the reform of 2013, ‘about 60%
of the total education staff in basic education [did] not go through an appraisal process’ (Santiago,
McGregor, Nusche, Ravela, & Toledo, 2012, p. 110). However, a common feature of all the previous
policies on teacher evaluation was that neither the teachers’ performance in standardised
assessment, nor their students’ results in ENLACE had implications for their permanence in the
service (Cordero & González, 2016; Santiago, Mcgregor, et al., 2012). The next section addresses
teacher CPD before the reform of 2013.
2.5 State-provided CPD before the reform
Teacher CPD in Mexico has traditionally been a responsibility of the State and the local education
authorities (Cordero et al., 2017); its functioning is inherently linked to political agreements
between the Secretariat of Education and the teachers’ union. Two key examples are the launch
of a federal institute for training the teacher workforce in 1943, which aimed to harmonise
education in the rural and the urban areas of the country, and the creation of the already
mentioned National Pedagogical University in 1979 (IEESA, 2012). To a large extent, teacher CPD
has been used in Mexico to compensate for teachers’ different preparations for the job and
differences in credentials arising from past education policy.
In 1995 the so-called teacher centres as state-funded CPD providers were institutionalised (Valdez,
2017). These centres were dedicated organisations whose task it was to keep in-service teachers
updated on CPD. According to a census covering up to 2006, the teacher centres were known for
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their professional development assistance in three main areas 1) training in the use of a computer-
in-the-classroom programme called Enciclomedia
10
; 2) school staff development in situ; 3)
counselling tailored to Carrera Magisterial (OEI, 2007). Most commonly, these centres offered one-
to-one advise on teaching (ibid). The same research revealed that before 2006, ‘these institutions
addressed the continuing professional needs of 20% of the teachers in basic education’ (OEI, 2007,
p. 132)
11
; and that ‘83.4% of them considered that the counselling, workshops and courses they
received at these institutions were appropriate’ (OEI, 2007, p. 129).
From 2008 to 2012, 67% of the CPD providers were state-funded, and the rest from the private
sector (Corder, Patiño & Cuti, 2013, cited in Cordero et al., 2017). Among the state-funded CPD
providers, personnel from the secretariat of education and the local authorities contributed with
22.2% of total CPD provision; state universities with 21.6%; and institutes/technology universities
with 18.4% of the CPD provision. The participation of teacher centres during the same period
dropped to 8% (ibid). Normal schools represented less than 5% of the total CPD provision which
could be in part because their main role is to provide ITE; still, 30% of the teacher centres had set
collaboration agreements with normal schools up to 2006 (OEI, 2007). The training delivery modes
during that period were in-person (face-to-face), blended and online learning (Cordero et al.,
2017).
10 This programme targeted 5th and 6th years of primary education; thus, not all teachers received this
training.
11 On average, each teacher centre serves 267 basic education schools and teacher training colleges, and
three-quarters of them have no more than ten staff members (Backhoff & Pérez-Morán, 2015).
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The next sections address teacher development before the reform of 2013 in terms of the
programmes intended for school improvement, and those targeting individual teachers.
Distinctions between mandatory and voluntary training are highlighted.
2.5.1 Collective forms of teacher development
The Consejo Técnico Consultivo, which was effective until the academic year 2012-2013, required
teachers and the headteacher to hold a meeting at least once a month (DOF, 1982) to provide
technical insight into any of the following matters:
I.-Curriculum; II.-Teaching methods; III.-Evaluation of the programmes; IV. -In-service
teacher training; V.-Purchasing educational materials, and VI.-Other matters of educational
concern (ibid, bold added).
Although teacher training was part of the goals of these meetings, in practice, these spaces were
mostly used for organisational and administrative tasks and were held outside of teachers’
schedules who were not renumerated for their time (Ezpeleta, 1990). Furthermore, since the era
of Carrera Magisterial, the teacher career ladder, teachers interested in obtaining salary
increments through this programme had to participate in individual training (see next section) and
in the so-called Talleres Generales de Actualización (CREFAL, 2017). These workplace gatherings
were a collective form of teacher CPD, which was centrally steered, and mandatory for all in-service
teachers. The courses took 12 hours to complete and were undertaken the week before the
beginning of every academic year (SEP, 2012). Starting in 2008-2009, Talleres Generales de
Actualización were replaced by a 40-hour
12
mandatory course called Curso Básico de Formación
Continua de Maestros en Servicio, which, like its predecessor, consisted of staff development the
week before the commencement of a new academic year (ibid).
12 In this report, 8 hours of CPD content equal one day of training.
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2.5.2 Individual-oriented teacher development
In 2008 a national system for teacher professional development was created (SEP-SNTE, 2008). A
dedicated department of the secretariat of education was in charge of designing and implementing
teacher training for all basic education teachers (Backhoff & Pérez-Morán, 2015); workshops,
diplomas, masters and PhD degrees were offered as part of this new system (Cordero et al., 2017;
Valdez, 2017) via a national catalogue issued annually (UNESCO/UDP, 2009). The goal was to
deliver ‘80% of the courses on subjects such as mathematics, sciences, Spanish, history, and civic
education’ (SEP-SNTE, 2008, p. 15). Furthermore, certification of skills would be issued, and
teachers whose students performed low in ENLACE would be allocated to specific training (ibid).
These latter two aspects, however, were never fully applied (Cordero et al., 2017). In the academic
year 2009-2010, there were more than seven hundred programmes on offer which were delivered
by national and international institutions. Furthermore, 42 of them were considered quality
postgraduate programmes by the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT in
Spanish), and 227 courses targeted Spanish, Maths and Sciences (UNESCO/UDP, 2009, p. 18).
Participants of Carrera Magisterial had to take training because it was part of the points-based
evaluation for salary improvement (CREFAL, 2017). However, teachers who did not participate in
the programme could join training voluntarily besides compulsory staff development at the
beginning of the school year (Santiago, McGregor, et al., 2012). This was so because, from the
outset, participation in additional training ‘collocated teachers in a situation of self-development
processes’ (OEI, 2007, p. 153), making the individual self-accountable for their improvement. In
sum, before the reform of 2013, participation in CPD outside the work schedule was voluntary as
it was heavily oriented to the teachers who participated in the incentives programme (SEP, n.d.-b).
One of the critiques about CPD before the reform of 2013 is that teachers had no chance to
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feedback what their needs were and the type of training they considered to be appropriate (Ruiz
Cuéllar, 2012a; UNESCO/UDP, 2009). In that sense, TALIS filled some knowledge gaps in this matter.
2.5.3 Teacher CPD before the reform: evidence from TALIS 2013
Mexico participated in TALIS in 2008 (OECD, 2010); and most recently, in 2013 (Backhoff & Pérez-
Morán, 2015; OECD, 2014) and 2018 (OECD, 2019). Given that MTE for entrance to the education
system was first implemented in 2014, the data regarding TALIS 2013, which was subsequently
reported in a TALIS-Mexico paper (Backhoff & Pérez-Morán, 2015), will be considered here as
related to the pre-reform era.
In TALIS-Mexico 2013, primary school teachers reported a very high (97%) participation in CPD
during the year explored, and 30% of them expressed that duties at home undermined
involvement in training (Backhoff & Pérez-Morán, 2015). It was observed that workshops and
diploma courses were the most popular CPD formats among the participants of the study (91% and
55% respectively) (p. 81). The three most common CPD subjects which were also perceived
impactful on teachers’ practice were as follows; primary school curriculum; pedagogy/instruction;
content knowledge. The average participation in CPD among primary teachers was 23 days, far
higher than eight days in training among secondary teachers from the country participants in TALIS.
According to Backhoff and Pérez-Morán (2015), such high a number in CPD was possibly the result
of a sum of training in workshops, diploma courses and school staff CPD meetings. Regarding
appraisal conducted by an authority or colleague, the study showed that up to 80% of teachers
received feedback after being observed in the classroom and reported a positive impact on their
teaching practice. Finally, TALIS-Mexico also revealed that Mexican teachers needed more CPD on
subjects such as teaching students with special education needs (SEN), and teaching in
multicultural settings.
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2.5.4 Concluding statements on CPD before the education reform of 2013
Before the education reform of 2013, teacher CPD was prevalent in collaborative forms but also
targeted to the individual. All the above types of staff development required the training of higher
authorities first, such as superintendent s and headteachers, in a cascade fashion, and the use of
booklets to guide the delivery of the courses to the teachers (SEP, 2012). It was noted that CPD
providers tended to be more attentive to the number of hours of delivery than the actual
application of new knowledge and skills in the teachers’ practice (Cordero et al., 2013). This is an
example of insufficient monitoring and evaluation (Cordero et al., 2013; Tejedor, 2012), and hence,
the application of new knowledge or evidence of impact on the students’ outcomes remains a
knowledge gap concerning CPD in Mexico. In this sense, TALIS provided some insight into where
the CPD was concentrated, which forms were perceived most impactful, and of teachers’
professional development needs. Targeted research on the CPD opportunities before and after
MTE might reveal in what ways the new TES tackles the past pitfalls of training and how it may
address teacher development needs unsatisfied by previous reforms.
Notably, up to 2006, the State had the control of CPD, e.g. via teacher centres and state-run
providers; however, during the federal administration 2006-2012, the participation of the private
sector on matters of teacher professional development became more evident. Furthermore, since
teacher development was typically addressed via national catalogues (Ruiz Cuéllar, 2012b;
UNESCO/UDP, 2009), the teachers’ needs according to teaching experience and differences in ITE
backgrounds, among other components might have been overlooked. These issues are carefully
considered in this PhD research. The following section addresses the central point of this research,
namely, Mexican Teacher Evaluation, its origin as part of the education reform of 2013 and the
subsequent changes to the education system it represented.
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36
2.6 The education reform of 2013
In December 2012 the former president of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto from the PRI party
announced an education reform to guarantee the right to quality education (see next section
below) and help the State recover control over education affairs from the teachers’ union (Arnaut,
2014; Cuevas, 2018; Ornelas & Luna Hernández, 2016; Pérez Ruiz, 2014). MTE was central to the
reform, as well as changes to teacher CPD. Nevertheless, the reform also included a system for the
technical support of schools via intervention projects (SEP, 2017e), and a cash transfer to the
school programme called Escuelas al Cien (ASF, 2018). These two latter are briefly reviewed in
Appendix 2 as they are beyond the scope of this PhD research. Subsequently, in an event named
Pacto por México (Pact for Mexico), the president and the leading political parties in the Federal
Congress, endorsed the reform.
The legislative initiative was passed and published in the Federal Official Gazette on 26th February
2013 (DOF, 2013a). The same day, Elba Esther Gordillo, who had been the leader of the main
teachers’ union (SNTE) since the early 1990s was incarcerated (Ornelas & Luna Hernández, 2016).
‘Gordillo was arrested and charged with embezzling nearly 95 million USD in union funds. With this
move, a major political player was ousted after 23 years of leading SNTE thus, warranting with this
practically no opposition from the teacher union to the new reform’ (Echávarri & Peraza, 2017, p.
11). Thus, the reform suggested the rupture of a longstanding relationship between the
government and the union.
This post-reform section of the Chapter explores ITE and the legal right to education in Mexico.
The enactment and enforcement of MTE and new standards for teaching follow. The procedures
of the evaluation, including the summative and formative components of the TES, and
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implementation issues, are addressed. Existing research about MTE is also referred to in this
section, followed by teacher CPD in the post-reform era.
2.6.1 Initial Teacher Education following the reform of 2013
Since 2018, the curriculum of normal schools must match the teaching profiles arising from MTE
(see section 2.7.1). Thus, the most recent bachelor's degree programme for primary education
includes theoretical-methodological bases for teaching with ten units; preparation for teaching and
learning, twenty units; professional practice, eight units; four optional units; and English with six
units (CEVIE-DGESPE, n.d.). As the former programme, the 2018 version addresses classroom
practice across the four-year degree and emphasises it during the last semester with 20 hrs per
week for 16 weeks in total. The procedures to receive the bachelor’s degree title are similar to
those of the 2012 curriculum reform (ibid).
2.6.1.1 Normal schools and universities concerning ITE
Recent data reveal that ‘in Mexico, there are 446 normal schools, of which 59% (n=263) are state-
funded, and 41% (n=183) are private’ (SEP, 2017c, p. 72); also, ‘86% of the students are enrolled
in state-funded normal schools, and the rest in the private ones’ (ibid). Nevertheless, not all state-
funded teacher training institutions are equal. Some of them emerged to address specific
circumstances, such as the normal schools which were set up in rural communities during the post-
revolution period, and other schools concerned with the specialisation on various academic areas
(Inclán, 2016). Moreover, the universities, both state-funded and private, have played a small part
in ITE in Mexico since the creation of the National Pedagogical University. As shown, Mexican
teachers are diverse in the ITE they received, which could potentially exacerbate inequity between
applicants to a teaching post in the MTE time.
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2.6.2 The right to quality education
There had been a general interest in education quality since the 1990s, e.g. as in Carrera
Magisterial; however, before 2013, the term was not mentioned in the Constitution, where access
to education as a legal right was the prime concern. Following the education reform of 2013, article
3 of the Mexican Constitution included quality in its ninth reform:
The State will guarantee the quality of compulsory education so that the materials,
educational methods, the school organisation, the educational infrastructure and the
suitability of the teachers and headteachers ensure the maximum learning achievement of
the pupils (DOF, 2013b).
Nevertheless, López (2013, p. 64) argues that ‘quality education is not yet defined, nor the
educational means to make it possible’, and a similar perspective is held by Cordero and González
(2016). A document from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) provides evidence in favour
of this last argument. The IDB granted a loan to the INEE for ‘the design, development and
validation of a quality education indicator’ with the amount of US$335,000 (IDB, 2015, p. 2). The
potential implications of a definition such as the above regarding the appropriate means to achieve
quality education are further problematised in section 3.2. Complementary legislation relating to
MTE can be consulted in Appendix 3.
2.7 Mexican Teacher Evaluation (MTE)
MTE was a legally binding TES grounded in the Professional Teaching Service Law, which was set
to improve the quality of state-funded education by determining suitable teaching standards and
rewarding merit (DOF, 2013a; Ramírez & Torres, 2016). MTE regulated entry to the professional
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education service (hiring), including regulation of temporary contracts
13
; career development
pathways (i.e., promotion); and ongoing in-service teacher performance appraisal, at least every
four years, with consequences for the job (i.e. retaining the post) of basic education and upper-
secondary state-funded institutions’ personnel. In contrast, private schools autonomously
determine their means of hiring, evaluating, and replacing their workers, and hence, MTE did not
apply in such cases (DOF, 2012, 2019b).
In brief, the education authority, represented by the secretariat of education was in charge of the
design and implementation of the TES; the INEE validated a series of teaching profiles (see next
section), and the evaluation instruments (Ramírez & Torres, 2016). Finally, the teachers’ union
(SNTE) had an active role in promoting MTE among teachers and offered training related to the
assessments. Further details are provided throughout this Chapter. Appendix 4 presents a
summary of the scope of MTE.
Concerning in-service teacher evaluations, it was possible to volunteer or wait to be called via a
draw. Given the size of the teacher workforce in Mexico, each year, a proportion of the teachers
would be called for assessment; for instance, in 2015, the first round of MTE for in-service, more
than 134 thousand educators were evaluated, representing 10% of the teaching workforce (Padilla
Medina, 2016b). A third of those in the first selected sample were primary education teachers
(INEE, n.d.-b). These teachers were chosen among those of 6 to 23 years of experience, who
worked in areas of more than 100,000 inhabitants; they also had to hold a permanent contract in
the state-funded education sector, and be 30-45 years’ old (OREALC/UNESCO, 2016; Padilla
13 Therefore, it is possible that teachers with some years of teaching experience working in the state-funded
education sector decided or were selected to sit MTE to regularise their temporary contracts. Also, it was
not necessary to undergo MTE prior to participation in the evaluations for promotion. Thus, there might be
cases of promoted headteachers and superintendent who never sat MTE for retaining the post purposes.
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Medina, 2016b). Participation in MTE 2016 was only voluntary and for those in their second
opportunity to obtain a result above insufficient (see section 2.7.3). This situation may explain why
slightly more than fifty thousand teachers sat MTE (INEE, n.d.-b); of which, only 10 thousand
primary teachers participated in that year (Bravo, 2016).
Nevertheless, for the 2016 round, the local education authorities and the union were active
advocators of MTE, which might have driven teachers to feel compelled to participate. For
instance, calls for participants in each Mexican state, which can be consulted online, did not state
the voluntary nature of MTE explicitly in 2016. Therefore, this research may have gathered some
participants who perceived their partaking in 2016-MTE as a result of a draw rather than voluntary
(see research sample in section 4.6.3.1). Before the education reform, there were no references
of what constitutes ‘good’, ‘suitable’, or ‘acceptable teaching’ in Mexico (INEE, 2015d;
OREALC/UNESCO, 2016); instead, the teacher workforce was regulated by a code of conduct, which
posited a series of rights and duties (Barrera & Myers, 2011; Cuevas, 2018; DOF, 1946). Therefore,
a series of teaching profiles were generated in the wake of MTE to standardise the expectations of
teachers' performance.
2.7.1 Teaching standards in MTE
In February 2014, the Teaching profiles, parameters and indicators for teachers and Special
Education teachers (teaching profiles in short) were issued (SEP, 2014c). The teaching profiles ‘are
the references for MTE, because they define the characteristics of a good teacher in terms of
knowledge, skills and professional responsibilities oriented towards quality teaching’ (INEE, n.d.-a,
p. 8). The teaching profiles were arguably based on Danielson’s Framework for Teaching and draw
on a similar experience in the region, such as The Good teaching framework from Chile (Barrera &
Myers, 2011; Cortez, 2015). The profiles distinguished between generalist and subject teachers,
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giving rise to ‘33 teaching profiles in basic education, and six more in upper-secondary education’
(INEE, n.d.-a, p. 9). The teaching profile for primary school teachers is divided into five dimensions,
16 parameters, and 56 indicators (see Table 2.2).
Table 2.2. Five dimensions of the teaching profile for primary.
Dimension 1
A teacher that knows his/her students knows how they learn and what they
must learn.
Dimension 2
A teacher that organises and evaluates the educational work and makes
pertinent didactic interventions.
Dimension 3
A teacher that self-recognises as a professional who continuously improves to
help their students to learn.
Dimension 4
A teacher that takes the legal and ethical responsibilities inherent to their
profession for the good of the students.
Dimension 5
A teacher that participates in the efficient functioning of the school and
fosters a link with the community to ensure that all the students succeed.
Source: (SEP, 2014c, p. 10).
A comprehensive report that included documentary analyses and interviews with teac