Strategic Review of the EDUCO Program - EQUIP123.net

Strategic Review of the EDUCO ProgramJuly 2010• Development of a culture of teacher performance evaluation (focusing on classroom practice andstudent academic outcomes), as part of the strategic line for teacher advancement.• Professionalization of teacher supervision responsibilities and strengthening of the role ofprincipals (from their selection, appointment, advising, and evaluation), as part of the strategicline for strengthening school institutional and curriculum management.• Encouraging the participation of teachers, families, and local communities in schoolimprovement and in the implementation of strategies to improve school performance.The Social Education Plan emphasizes strengthening the participation and supervisory capacities ofthe members of the local school administration bodies, especially parents, as part of the strategic lineto strengthen institutional and curriculum management in schools and as a driving force. Henceforth,we will use these goals and elements from the Plan to ascertain the extent to which EDUCO is or is notconsistent with the Plan. We remind the reader that the idea is not to evaluate EDUCO based on originalgoals, but rather based on social goals or needs.Programmatic Frame of Reference: EDUCO and its Contribution tothe Salvadoran Education SystemIn this section, the research team placed EDUCO in the context of the existing types of school organizationin El Salvador. Hence, it reconstructed the history and development of EDUCO based on a literaturereview, meetings with the Committees, and interviews with stakeholders who participated in thecreation of EDUCO and stakeholders who have aided in its development. In addition, the team visitedschools and conducted interviews that inquired into the general perception of EDUCO that participantshave developed over its history of more than 17 years. For the purpose of organizing EDUCO’s developmentin a simple manner, the research team divided the 17 years of its history into four main periods:1990-1994, 1995-1999, 2000-2004, and 2005-2009. Following is a brief overview, accompanied by asummary in Table 1.EDUCO and Other Types of School OrganizationTo explain how the education system is organized, it needs to be understood that El Salvador has differenttypes of school administration bodies for its over 6,000 schools—public and private, rural andurban: the Consejos Directivos Escolares (CDE: School Administration Boards); Consejos EducativosCatólicos Escolares (CECE: Catholic School Educational Councils), which are government subsidizedprivate schools; Asociaciones Comunales para la Educación (ACE: Community Education Associations)for EDUCO schools; and Consejos Institucionales Educativos (CIE: Institutional Educational Councils),which operate in prisons. These bodies have similarities and differences among them: they are mainlydifferentiated by their membership and responsibilities. For this review, the research team focused on10