The authors evaluate whether increasing school resources and decentralizing management decisions at the school level improves learning in a developing country. Mexico's Quality Schools Program (PEC), following many other countries and U.S. states, offers US$15,000 grants for public schools to...

The authors use propensity score matching to evaluate the effectiveness of CONAFE, a compensatory education program in Mexico, in improving student test scores and lowering repetition and failure rates. They find that CONAFE is most effective in improving primary school math learning and...

A substantial gap in test scores exists between indigenous and non-indigenous students in Latin America. Using test score data for 3rd and 4th year primary school pupils in Guatemala and Peru, and 5th grade pupils in Mexico, the authors assess the magnitude of the indigenous and non-indigenous...