Empirical Information and the Development of Educational Policies in Latin America

This paper discusses the links between empirical information and the development of educational policies in Latin America. The data presented in this paper comes from responses to a questionnaire sent to Vice Ministers of Education in six countries of the region: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The study's principal objectives were to describe what information was available and to understand how the information available in their countries proved useful in the design and evaluation of programs and policies. The results are presented with both statistics and qualitative analysis, and include formal evaluation mechanisms, achievement assessments on a national scale, and examples of policy development. This paper was prepared for the Hemispheric Meeting of the Regional Policy Dialogue held on November 7th and 8th, 2005 in Washington, DC.