Educational Quality in Mexico: Six-Year-Term Promises, Unfinished Reforms, and Unresolved Learning Challenges

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of the concept of educational quality in Mexico from the administration of Vicente Fox to the beginning of Claudia Sheinbaum’s government. The objective is to critically examine how educational quality has been defined in the main public policy documents, incorporated into the constitutional and legal framework, and linked to the institutions responsible for the evaluation and improvement of the educational system. The study was conducted using a documentary, historical-comparative, and critical-interpretative approach, based on the analysis of sectoral education programs, constitutional reforms, general laws, institutional reports, and specialized scientific literature. The findings reveal a progressive transformation of the concept of educational quality, moving from approaches focused on modernization, school management, and equity toward perspectives associated with evaluation, competency development, teacher performance, educational excellence, inclusion, humanism, and continuous improvement. However, these conceptual changes have not been accompanied by a stable and sustained educational policy. Furthermore, recent indicators on academic achievement, educational funding, and learning poverty reveal the persistence of structural challenges that continue to affect the quality of education. It is concluded that, although the official discourse has evolved significantly, Mexico still faces the challenge of consolidating a coherent, verifiable, and socially equitable educational policy capable of ensuring sustainable improvements in learning outcomes and educational opportunities for the population.