Research Article
An Overview of School Dropout in Central America: Unresolved Issues and New Challenges for Education Progress

Melissa A. Adelman, Miguel Szekely

1907 2222

Article Metrics

Views

 

1907

Downloads

 

2222

Citations

Crossref

0


Adelman MA, Szekely M. An overview of school dropout in central america: unresolved issues and new challenges for education progress. European J Ed Res. 2017;6(3):235-259. doi: 10.12973/eu-jer.6.3.235
Adelman, M. A., & Szekely, M. (2017). An overview of school dropout in central america: unresolved issues and new challenges for education progress. European Journal of Educational Research, 6(3), 235-259. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.6.3.235
Adelman Melissa A., and Miguel Szekely. "An Overview of School Dropout in Central America: Unresolved Issues and New Challenges for Education Progress," European Journal of Educational Research 6, no. 3 (2017): 235-259. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.6.3.235
Adelman, MA & Szekely, 2017, 'An overview of school dropout in central america: unresolved issues and new challenges for education progress', European Journal of Educational Research, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 235-259. Adelman, Melissa A., and Miguel Szekely. "An Overview of School Dropout in Central America: Unresolved Issues and New Challenges for Education Progress." European Journal of Educational Research, vol. 6, no. 3, 2017, pp. 235-259, https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.6.3.235.

Abstract

School dropout is a growing concern in Central America, and in Latin America as a whole, because of its consequences for economic productivity, the inclusiveness of growth, social cohesion, and increasing youth risks. This paper utilizes more than two decades of household survey data to construct a systematic overview of school dropout at the primary and secondary levels in Central America, focusing on recent trends in dropout patterns and their underlying causes. Within each country, poverty, rurality, and indigenous group membership are the strongest correlates of dropout, reflecting several underlying factors that affect the marginal benefits and costs of staying in school.  Global and regional evidence increasingly points to common policy priorities for reducing dropout across Central America, including addressing remaining gaps in access at the pre-primary and secondary levels, improving the quality of education at all levels, and strengthening the coverage, targeting, and coherence of existing programs aimed at improving education outcomes.  However, additional rigorous evaluations, including cost data, are needed to identify the most effective specific approaches in each country.  JEL Classification: I2, I24, I25, I26, I28, O15

Keywords: Dropout, educational attainment, secondary education, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Central America


References

Acosta, P. (2011)a. Female Migration and Child Occupation in Rural El Salvador. Population Research and Policy Review, 30(4), 569–589.

Acosta, P. (2011)b. School Attendance, Child Labour, and Remittances from International Migration in El Salvador. Journal of Development Studies, 47(6), 913-936.

Ambler, K., Aycinena D. and Yang. D. (2014). Channeling Remittances to Education: A Field Experiment Among Migrants from El Salvador. NBER Working Paper 20262. NBER: Cambridge, MA.

Atkin, D.  (2012). Endogeneous Skill Acquisition and Export Manufacturing in Mexico.  NBER Working Paper 18266.  NBER: Cambridge, MA.

Avitabile, C. and Rafael de H. (2014).  Heterogeneous Effects of Information about the Returns to Schooling on Student Learning: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Mexico.  World Bank Working Paper.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.

Azevedo, J. P., Favara M., Haddock S., Lopez-Calva L., Muller M., and Perova E.  (2012). Teenage Pregnancy and Opportunities in Latin American and the Caribbean.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.

Javier, B., & Santos, I.  (2007).  Children’s Vulnerability to Weather Shocks: Natural Disasters as a Natural Experiment.  Unpublished Working Paper.

Javier, B., & Santos, I.  (2008).  On Shaky Ground: The Effects of Earthquakes on Household Income and Poverty.  United Nations Development Program: New York, NY.

Javier, B., de la Fuente, A., & Santos, I. (2010).  Do Natural Disasters Affect Human Capital? An Assessment Based on Existing Empirical Evidence.  IZA Working Paper 5164.

Javier, B., Lucchetti, L., Genoni, M., & Salazar, M. (2015).  Gone with the Storm: Rainfall Shocks and Household Wellbeing in Guatemala. World Bank Working Paper. World Bank: Washington, D.C

Barro, R. J., & Lee J. W. (2010).  A New Dataset of Educational Attainment in the World, 1950-2010. Journal of Development Economics, 104, 184-198.

Bassi, M., Busso, M., & Muñoz, J. S. (2013). Is the Glass Half Empty of Half Full? School Enrollment, Graduation and Dropout Rates in Latin America. IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-492. Inter-American Development Bank: Washington, D.C.

Bentaouet-Kattan, R., and Székely, M. (2015)a. Analyzing the Dynamics of Upper Secondary Schooling in Latin America: A Cohort Approach. World Bank Working Paper. World Bank: Washington, D.C.

Bentaouet-Kattan, R., and Székely, M. (2015)b. Patterns, Consequences and Possible Causes of Dropout in Upper Secondary Education in Mexico. Education Research International, 2015, 1-12.

Branson, N., Hofmeyr, C., & Lam, D. (2014). Progress through school and the determinants of school dropout in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 31(1), 106-126.

Bruck, T., Di Maio, M., & Miaari, S. H..  (2014). Learning the Hard Way: The Effect of Violent Conflict on Student Academic Achievement. Households in Conflict Network Working Paper 185.  University of Sussex: Brighton, England.

Barbara, B., & Luque, J.  (2015).  Great Teachers: How to Raise Student Learning in Latin America and the Caribbean.  World Bank: Washington, D.C. 

Bustelo, M..  (2015).  Bearing the Burden of Natural Disasters: Child Labor and Schooling in the Aftermath of Tropic Storm Stan in Guatemala.  World Bank Working Paper. World Bank: Washington, D.C

Cárdenas, M., de Hoyos, R., & Székely M. (2015). Idle Youth in Latin America: a persistent problem in a decade of prosperity. Economia, 5, 1-40.

Cardoso, A.R., & D. Vermer. (2007). School drop-out and push-out factors in Brazil: The role of early parenthood, child labor, and poverty. World Bank Working Paper WPS4178.  World Bank: Washington, D.C. 

Cecchini, S., & Madariaga, A.  (2011).  Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes: The Recent Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.  UN ECLAC: Santiago, Chile.

Chioda, L. (2013). Crime and Violence over the Life cycle in Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank: Washington, D.C. 

Cunha, F., & Heckman, J. (2007). The technology of skill formation.  American Economic Review, 97(2), 31-47.

Cunningham, W., McGinnis, L., Verdú, R. G., Tesliuc, C., & Verner, D.  (2008). Youth At Risk in Latin America and the Caribbean: Understanding the Causes, Realizing the Potential.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.

De la Nación, E.  (2013).  Estado de la Educación Costarricense.  Estado de la Nación: San José, Costa Rica.

Dearden, L., C. Emmerson, C. Frayne, & Meghir, C. (2008). Conditional Cash Transfers and School Dropout Rates. Journal of Human Resources,  44(4), 827-857.

Dutcher, N., & Tucker, G.  (1994).  The Use of First and Second Languages in Education. Working paper.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.

Edwards, A. C., & Ureta, M. (2003). International migration, remittances, and schooling: evidence from El Salvador. Journal of Development Economics, 72, 429– 461.

Ferreira, Francisco, Julian Messina, Jamele Rigolini, Luis-Felipe Lopez-Calva, Maria Ana Lugo, and Renos Vakis.  2012.  Economic Mobility and the Rise of the Latin American Middle Class.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.

Fiszbein, A., Schady, N., & Ferreira, Francisco H.G. (2009). Conditional cash transfers: reducing present and future poverty. World Bank: Washington, D.C.

Frazelle, S., & Nagel, A.  (2015).  A Practitioner’s Guide to Implementing Early Warning Systems.

Fryer, R. G.  (2013). Information and Student Achievement: Evidence from a Cellular Phone Experiment. NBER Working Paper 19113.

Gardner Center.  (2011).  Using Early Warning Systems to Predict and Prevent Dropout: Youth Data Archive Policy Factsheet.  Stanford University: Palo Alto, CA.

Hanushek, E. A., Lavy, V., & Kohtaro, H.  (2008). Do Students Care About Quality?  Detreminants of Dropout Behavior in Developing Countries.  Journal of Human Capital, 2(1), 69-105.

Ibáñez, A.M, Rodríguez, C., & Zarruk, D. (2013). Crime, Punishment, and Schooling Decisions: Evidence from Colombian Adolescents. IDB Working Paper IDB-WP-413. Inter-American Development Bank: Washington, D.C.

Ingrum, A. (2006). High School Dropout Determinants: The Effect of Poverty and Learning Disabilities. The Park Place Economist, Volume XIV.

Jensen, R. (2010). The (Perceived) Returns to Education and the Demand for Schooling. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(2), 515-548.

Jimenez, W., & Gaete, M. (2010). Abandono (deserción) escolar en la enseñanza secundaria en Costa Rica, 2009-2010. Ministerio de Educación Pública, Costa Rica.

Manacorda, M. (2006). Grade Failure, Drop out and Subsequent School Outcomes: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Uruguayan Administrative Data, Mimeo, STICERD, London,

Marcotte, D. (2013). High school dropout and teen childbearing. Economics of Education Review, 34, 258–268.

Marshall, J.H., Aguilar, J. R., Alas, M., Castellanos, R. R., Castro, L., Enamorado, R., & Fonseca, E. (2014). Alternative Education Programmes and Middle School Dropout in Honduras. International Review of Education, 60, 51–77.

Ministerio de Educación de Nicaragua. (2014). Reporte de Implementación hasta 2013, Plan Estratégico de Educación (PEE) 2011-2015. Ministerio de Educación, Managua.

Ministerio de Educación de Guatemala. (2014). Informe de revisión nacional de la educación para todos, Guatemala 2000 – 2013. Guatemala.

Mo, D., Zhang, L., Yi, H., Luo, R., Rozelle, S., &  Brinton, C. (2014). School Dropouts and Conditional Cash Transfers: Evidence from a Randomised Controlled Trial in Rural China's Junior High Schools. Journal of Development Studies 49(2): 190-207.

Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much.  Picador: NY.

Munyo, I. (2013). Youth Crime in Latin America: Key Determinants and Effective Public Policy Responses. The Brookings Institution.

Nguyen, T. (2008).  Information, Role Models, and the Perceived Returns to Education.  Unpublished manuscript.

O’Donoghue, T., & Matthew, R.  (2001).  Risky Behavior among Youths: Some Issues from Behavioral Economics. In Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis, editor Jonathan Gruber.  University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL.

OEI.  (2010).  2021 Metas Educativas: La Educación Que Queremos para la Generación de los Bicentenarios.  Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación: Madrid, Spain.

Oreopoulos, P., & Salvanes, K. G.  (2011). Priceless: The Nonpecuniary Benefits of Schooling. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25(1), 159-184.

Patrinos, H. A., & Velez, E.  (2009). Costs and benefits of Bilingual Education in Guatemala: A Partial Analysis. International Journal of Education Development, 29, 594-598.

PREAL. (2014). Calidad y Equidad para el Desarrollo Humano: Nicaragua. Nicaragua.

Pritchett, L., & Beatty, A. (2015). Slow Down, You’re Going Too Fast: Matching Curricula to Student Skill Levels. International Journal of Education Development, 40, 276-288.

Santos, I. (2007). Disentangling the Effects of Natural Disasters on Children: 2001 Earthquakes in El Salvador.  Dissertation.  Harvard University: Cambridge, MA.

Smith, D. L.  (2003). The Impact of Neighborhood Violent Crime on School Attendance. Dissertation.  The University of Cincinnati: Cincinnati, Ohio.

South, S., Haynie, D.L., & Bose, S. (2007). Student Mobility and School Dropout. Social Science Research, 36, 68–94.

Székely, M., &  Karver, J. (2015). Out of School and Out of Work Youth in Latin America: A Cohort Approach. World Bank Working Paper. World Bank: Washington, D.C.

UNESCO. (2015). Primera Entrega de Resultados TERCE. UNESCO: Oficina de Santiago de Chile.

UNICEF. (2013). Completar la Escuela en Centro América: Los Desafíos Pendientes. UNICEF y Coordinación Educativa y Cultural Centroamericana.

UNICEF.  (2015).  Factores Asociados al Abandono del Sistema Educativo en la Transición Escolar. Panama.

World Bank. (2005). Central America Education Strategy: An Agenda for Action. World Bank: Washington, D.C.

World Bank.  (2014)a. Panama Systematic Country Diagnostic: Locking in Success.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.

World Bank. (2014)b. Central America Social Expenditures and Institutional Review: Honduras.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.

World Bank.  (2015)a. Costa Rica Systematic Country Diagnostic.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.

World Bank. (2015)b. El Salvador Systematic Country Diagnostic: Building on Strengths for a New Generation.  World Bank: Washington, D.C.