Abstract

BLANCO, Emilio. Analysis of the Learning Gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Elementary Students in Mexico. REDIE [online]. 2019, vol.21, e16.  Epub Apr 15, 2020. ISSN 1607-4041.  https://doi.org/10.24320/redie.2019.21.e16.1941.

The objective of this article is to estimate the relative weight of socioeconomic, academic and cultural factors in the learning disadvantages of indigenous elementary students in Mexico. To this end, hierarchical linear and Oaxaca-Blinder models were specified to analyze and decompose the learning gap between indigenous and non-indigenous students, on the basis of microdata from the National Plan for Learning Assessment (PLANEA) 2015. The main results are 1) beyond individual differences, many of these differences are explained by the percentage of indigenous students in schools (the compositional effect); 2) these differences are greatly reduced when socioeconomic and academic factors are controlled for (especially the former); and 3) although socioeconomic factors account for most of the gap, students’ academic trajectories and the characteristics of the schools they attend take on greater relevance in explaining differences in mathematics and the specific disadvantage experienced by students who learned an indigenous language first.

Keywords : Learning gap; indigenous peoples; primary education.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )