A history of the education systems of
Mexico and the US.
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A 2005 poll by UNICEF comparing the child
poverty rates of 20 rich countries placed the
United States 19th out of 20, only ahead of
Mexico. With this in mind, just how similar are
the US and Mexican education systems? Are
these alarming child poverty rates and
education systems related?
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Mexico and the US have a long history of
cultural, economic and educational
interdependence. This economic
interdependence has created a steady flow of
Mexican labor into the US. This influx of
immigrant workers necessitates a cooperation
between the two countries to help maintain a
consistent level of education amongst the
children.
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As a teacher in Stamford, I have a unique
perspective on this growing population of
Hispanic immigrants. The Stamford Advocate
quoted Census Bureau statistics stating that as
of 2011 25.4% of the city’s population identified
itself as Hispanic. I interact with many
Hispanic kids every day in my art class, and
they come with a rich artistic culture, most
from Mexico.
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1867: Benito Juarez declared that primary
education would be nonreligious, free and
obligatory.
1917: Article 3 of the constitution gave the
federal government great power over
education and made all private schools subject
to government regulation.
1992: The constitution and related policies were
changed to require education
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Preschool and Primary:
 Pre-Escolar- Federally funded programs for ages 4-5
 Primaria- Schools with grades 1-6 and one teacher per grade.
 Multigrados- One room schools, grade 1-6, with one teacher, or multi grade schools with
several teachers each teaching more than one grade.
Middle Grades (7-9):
 Secundarias- Enroll most nonrural students including those who are college bound.
 Tecnicas- Schools that provide vocational training for non-college bound students.
 Telesecundarias- Rural schools that offer a televised curriculum. These cover most rural
students.
High School (10-12):
Preparatorias and Bachilleratos- College bound youth. Student choose one of four areas.
Physical-Mathmatics, checmical-biological, economic-administrative, humanities.
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Technologicas and Comercios- Students who have a particular vocational career in mind.
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Mexican schools have a national education
mandate. Since 1964, the Federal Government
has provided free textbooks for students in the
primary grades while grades 7-12 pay for their
books.
Learning focuses on Spanish and math,
geographic and ecological knowledge, and
health and human sexuality.
There is a national exam at the end of each
year. Students scoring less than 6/10 are
retained.
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Secondary School is divided into content areas.
In grades 7-8 students take algebra and geometry
while in grade 9 students take trigonometry.
Students study foreign language every year and
science is required but limited by facilities.
Students also take 2-3 hours in the arts and tech
each week, but again, this is hampered by the lack
of proper facilities.
By the time they enter high school students choose
between college study, technical or business.
http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/mexico.html
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National Curriculum and Free Text Books
Free and Mandatory Preschool to 9th grade.
Divided into levels: Preschool, Middle, High,
Jr. College, Vocational, and University
Very few students progress past 9th grade
Arts and enrichment are mandatory but limited
due to unavailable resources
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1647 The Massachusetts law was passed requiring all towns of 50 or more
to have a school master
1734 Christian von Wolfe develops Faculty Psychology which sets the
basis for American Education. This consists of tedious drill and repetition
of basic tasks leading towards higher learning.
1827 Massachusetts passes a law requiring all towns with 500 families to
have a high school.
1852 Massachusetts enacts the first mandatory attendance law, all states
follow suit by 1918
1859 Darwin’s Origin of the Species is published, setting the stage for
public school controversy that persists to this day
1868 The 14th Amendment is passed granting all people born in the states
citizenship, due process and equal protection under the law.
1926 The SAT is first administered
1946 The US District Court in LA rules that educating children of
Mexican descent in separate facilities is unconstitutional, thus prohibiting
segregration in CA schools.
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1948 The US Supreme Court rules that “release time” is
not allowed, stopping religion from being studied in
public schools.
1953 Skinner’s Science and Human Behavior is
published, greatly influencing American Education
1957 Federal Troops are used to enforce integration in
Arkansas
1964 The Civil Rights law is passed, prohibiting any
sort of discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion
or national origin
1982 Louisiana’s “creationism act” is invalidated,
stopping the practice of teaching creationism wherever
evolution is taught
2001 No Child Left Behind is approved by congress
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In comparing and contrasting the US and Mexico, the
first major difference I have found is in the
development of the education systems themselves. It
seems that there are many more important milestones
in the US education history than Mexico. While many
of the US milestones focus on Civil Rights, it seems that
the US has placed more emphasis on not only content,
but the practice of education. It seems that Mexico has
historicly placed less emphasis on education in terms
of math and science (though they are catching up), and
focused more on simply preparing it’s students to
function in the world. This indeed causes a problem for
immigrants going to school in the US.
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Based on the constitution, the US has a decentralized system that reserves
the power over education for each state. In general, there are several
stages, Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle, High and Post High school.
There are private and public schools. Public schools are paid for through
local taxes.
Early Childhood: Preschool is not required for ages 1-4. However, most
schools allow the enrollment of 4 year old kids who turn 5 by certain
dates into Kindergarten.
Elementary School: Grades K-5 or 6. Kids are divided into classes within
the school with each class containing one or more teachers, with many
specialist teachers who either enter the classroom, or have their own
room where the students visit
Middle School: Depending on location, grades 5, 6, 7, 8. In most schools,
students travel to different subjects like Science, Math and Art.
High School: At this level, these tend to be comprehensive schools
enrolling students of widely different interests and capabilities who
follow different educational tracks within the same school.
Post High School: College and Universities, Vocational School, and many
other options exist for post high school education. USNEI
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There are many options in the us other than public education.
Private Schools: Determine their own policy and curriculum and are free
from government regulation and funding. However, they do pay close
attention to local public school curriculum to maintain equity for ease of
transferring, and graduation requirements.
Charter Schools: Public schools established by parent groups to serve
special needs or populations. They receive public funding but are free
from district regulations. They typically receive a charter that defines how
they will operate and must maintain this code in order to maintain the
charter, funding and freedom of policy.
Magnet Schools: Public schools that maintain a special purpose or
curriculum that receive public funding and are free to enroll students
from the entire district.
Home Schooling: School performed at home, taught by parents, that still
meets the local requirements for graduation and admission into college.
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Schools in Mexico and the US follow the same basic structure of Early Childhood,
Primary/Elementary, Secondary and post. However the regulations are slightly
different. In Mexico, school is required for all students from age 4-14 (9th grade) and
made free by the government. However, there are no requirements for education beyond
grade 9. The US requires school for all students aged 5-18.
Mexico has few options with most students attending public school. Do the isolation of
much of it’s population, Mexico provides distance learning for students up to grade 9
and beyond. There are few private schools. The US has many options, sometimes many
options within a single district or even school building.
Mexico has limited means. While education in the arts and humanities is required, there
is often little resource to implement this. It instead focuses on basic mathematics and
sciences in order to prepare it’s 9th graders to enter the workforce.
US schools receive funding through State governments. Most schools have plentiful
funding to support all areas of the curriculum to some degree.
While elementary level students can make a transition into US schools without a major
gap in learning, high school students find it difficult to integrate due to the lack of focus
on education at that level in Mexico vs the requirement for them to enroll in school in the
US.
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There is no national curriculum in the US, however
states, districts and national association do require
or recommend certain standards be used to guide
instruction. In addition, federal law mandates that
state standards be developed and maintained in
order for states to receive federal assistance.
All states have a wide variety of content standards
for an equally wide variety of subject areas from
Art to Dance to Mathematics and Science. In
general, most states require a comprehensive
education covering most or all humanities and
sciences.
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In general, the US has a much wider, more
comprehensive and required set of standards than does
Mexico. Mexican students are prepared to enter the
limited Mexican workforce after grade 9 and their
schooling up until that point covers mathematics and
science as well as some enrichment like Art. While
Mexican standards are limited, they also seem to be
more accepting of topics such as sexuality than the US.
Essentially, Mexican schools teach their children how
to succeed as adults by the age of 14 with little focus on
post graduate education especially in the rural areas,
while US schools focus on preparing students to enter a
highly skilled workforce at age 18, or go to higher
education. Few students in Mexico get that option.
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Mexico
Population 116m
Median Age 27.4
Literacy rate 86.1
Literacy rank 145
Life expectancy 48/194
Infant Mortality
112/194
Internet Access 26.98%
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USA
Population 317m
Median Age 37.2
Literacy rate 99
Literacy Rank 26
Life Expectancy 38/194
Infant Mortality 46/194
Internet Access 78.06
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While the US as a world power has a lot of room for
improvement, it still stands well above Mexico in terms
of education. Here are some final facts about Mexico
who strives to become a world power.
The number of Mexican students has surged by over
29 million since 1950
Most young students attend primary school however
only 62% reach secondary school and only a quarter of
them achieve college education
About 45% of Mexicans finish Secondary school
asopposed to 75% of US students
Mexican students perform poorly on the OECD
education exam administerd to 65 world countries. 46
in reading, 49 in math and 51 in science
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Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.) The World Factbook- Mexico. Retrieved from Central Intelligence
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Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.) The World Factbook- USA. Retrieved from Central Intelligence
Agency Website: http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world0factbook/geos/ch.html
Gordon, M. (2013, Feb) Stamford schools face a changing tide in demographics. The Stamford Advocate,
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OECD (2013, November). Education Policy Outlook: Mexico. www.oecd.org. Retrieved November,
2013, from
http://www.oecd.org/edu/EDUCATION%20POLICY%20OUTLOOK%20MEXICO_EN.pdf
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/13/us-mexico-education-factboxidUSTRE73C4UY20110413
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www.unitedwaywinecountry.org. Retrieved from
http://www.unitedwaywinecountry.org/files/mexico_us_educational_systems.pdf
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