This Monday the country began administering the ENLACE test. Educational authorities did not care that the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) considers it to be an instrument of indirect discrimination. Nor that hundreds of thousands of teachers think that it is an unfair and anti-pedagogical assessment model. Even less that prominent specialists confirm that it generates major problems. It did not care to make public the report of massive [illegal] sales of the test. Simple-minded officials simply moved forward.
ENLACE stands for National Assessment of Academic Achievement in Schools, a standardized test of 120 multiple choice questions that is administered to almost 15.7 million students. Eighty-four million of those tests were administered between 2006 and 2012.
For several years the national education system has suffered from a serious disease: evaluationitis. This evil is to try to solve the major education problems facing the country by taking continuous standardized mass measurements. Through them a commercialized education model is promoted. ENLACE is one of the most accomplished expression of this evil.
ENLACE is a measurement tool that labels students and teachers, and it makes them compete for resources, wage incentives and supplies. Through it is established which are "good" schools and "which" are the bad ones. It distinguishes teachers who are "worthwhile" and those who are "worthless". It separates "exemplary" students from the "donkeys".
As the researcher Manuel Gil Anton states, ENLACE has become the true curriculum of basic education, which guides the work of teachers every day. The education project has been emptied. The test results have become the main objective of Mexican educational policy.
As the researcher Manuel Gil Anton states, ENLACE has become the true curriculum of basic education, which guides the work of teachers every day. The education project has been emptied. The test results have become the main objective of Mexican educational policy.
In fact, ENLACE promotes educational simulation. The work of teachers is measured and in part rewarded financially based on this test, so many dedicate their classes not to engage their students to learn the skills they need to face the challenges of life and the world of work, but to prepare them to respond satisfactorily on the test.
It happens that there are teachers who encourage disadvantaged students not to attend school on test day so they do not lower the class average. Others provide students the correct answers to the questions. As demonstrated by the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), copies of the test can be illegally purchased online.
It happens that there are teachers who encourage disadvantaged students not to attend school on test day so they do not lower the class average. Others provide students the correct answers to the questions. As demonstrated by the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), copies of the test can be illegally purchased online.
A thriving private business has emerged around the ENLACE. On one side are the companies that develop and edit the test, and that produce guides to prepare students and teachers. On the other side is the network of educational officials and corrupt union leaders who sell it fraudulently.
Many experts have noted that the ENLACE is an instrument that has not really been evaluated. It does not understand the different educational realities that exist in the country. The language used to formulate the test questions is, very often, inappropriate, confusing and meaningless. Usually, many of the questions are mere bright ideas or they have several possible answers.
Many experts have noted that the ENLACE is an instrument that has not really been evaluated. It does not understand the different educational realities that exist in the country. The language used to formulate the test questions is, very often, inappropriate, confusing and meaningless. Usually, many of the questions are mere bright ideas or they have several possible answers.
In addition, ENLACE discriminates against indigenous peoples and communities. On June 21, 2008, teachers in the bilingual primary school El Porvenir, of the Nichteel community in the municipality of San Juan Cancuc, in Chiapas, filed a lawsuit with the CONAPRED against the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) for linguistic and cultural discrimination in the administration of this test.
Almost three years later, on February 28, 2011, the CONAPRED made a Resolution for Disposition, which established that the SEP had committed an act of indirect discrimination by being responsible for designing and implementing the first version of the ENLACE test as an evaluation tool standardized across the country. This [Resolution], on the grounds that it failed to tailor the evaluation to the needs, characteristics and cultural diversity of the country's indigenous peoples and communities.
According to CONAPRED, by administering standardized tests, the ENLACE caused inequitable treatment among children from indigenous schools, where their native language is spoken and the cultural context is different from that of urban communities.
According to CONAPRED, by administering standardized tests, the ENLACE caused inequitable treatment among children from indigenous schools, where their native language is spoken and the cultural context is different from that of urban communities.
Although the SEP formally accepted the CONAPRED's Resolution, the same test, with various changes, continues to be administered in schools to indigenous students. The commission decided that the Secretariat together with the National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI), and the National Institute of Geography and Statistics might conduct a study with respect to the native languages that predominate by geographic location. This study has not been performed.
The General Committee of Bilingual Intercultural Education (CGEIB) was appointed by the Secretary of Education to tend to the Resolution. However, the National Congress of Indigenous and Intercultural Education, a broad convergence of Indian agencies, schools and civic associations argues that the CGEIB maintains with them
The General Committee of Bilingual Intercultural Education (CGEIB) was appointed by the Secretary of Education to tend to the Resolution. However, the National Congress of Indigenous and Intercultural Education, a broad convergence of Indian agencies, schools and civic associations argues that the CGEIB maintains with them
"a relationship unresponsive and disrespectful of the proposals discussed, hindering social participation, unilaterally deciding topics not to be discussed, and interpreting government action in a capricious and poorly documented manner (...) that they violate the right of indigenous peoples to culturally relevant education."
In Chiapas, tired of this situation, the parent association of the Tzotzil communities of Jocosic in Huixtán, and Jerusalem in Las Margaritas, filed two new requests for protective injunctions against ENLACE.
Not only has the ENLACE failed to solve national educational problems, but it has made them worse. Instead of allowing an understanding of the variety of knowledge and learning that actually exist, it produces a biased and discriminatory snapshot of educational reality, while imposing a foolish curriculum. It is time to abandon this ship. A ship that has wrecked national education. Spanish original