The Life and Death of Educational Reforms: A Comparative Study of Policy Trajectories in Latin America

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Twelve
  In Roundtable Session: Stakeholders' Perspectives on National Education Policies (Table 7)

Abstract

Educational reforms have uncertain ramifications. This paper is the result of a large research project on education policy trajectories in six Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. We use Compton and ‘t Hart (2019) theoretical model, centered on four dimensions of policy success: programmatic, process, political and endurance. We selected and studied 33 educational reforms based on a qualitative methodology, which included interviews with 185 key actors in the six countries. The paper analyzes what factors were present in the educational reforms that achieved continuity over time during minimum of five years. We find institutionalization factors based on the construction of state government capacities and a dynamic linked to path dependency theories.

Author

• Axel Rivas, Universidad de San Andres
  Presenting Author