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Everyone agrees that education is crucial to the progress of Central America and its people. Yet current
efforts to improve education fall far short of what is needed. Educational development in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic is behind that of South America, which itself trails world indices. More than a third of the population has no access to minimum levels of instruction, and most of those who do enjoy access receive very low quality education.

Reversing this situation will require exceptional effort and commitment. The future depends on our actions: we can either allow our countries to reap the benefits of the new century by opening the door to development, or we can face societies and economies that are increasingly fragile, unjust, and unstable. The Task Force on Education Reform in Central America seeks to contribute to the reform effort by offering parents, governments, educators, business leaders, political leaders, international donor agencies, and civil society four key recommendations for improving education in the sub-region:

RECOMMENDATION #1
Transfer to parents, teachers, and communities a greater share of responsibility for managing educational systems and administering schools. Changing and improving education in the region will require drastically different management strategies to ensure school effectiveness, efficiency, and development. Turning schools into autonomous organizations imbued with their own culture, vision, and sense of mission is essential for the successful management of resources and the improvement of academic achievement. Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic are teeming with promising innovations in school autonomy. Their achievements need to be consolidated and replicated. Recent experience demonstrates that educational communities are
capable of substantial progress if the management of human and material resources is transferred to the schools themselves.

RECOMMENDATION #2
Increase public investment in education to a minimum of five percent of GDP and allocate the new funds to primary and secondary education. In order to improve education significantly, most countries should dramatically increase their investments at the primary and secondary levels. In at least five countries—Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras—current levels of public investment are grossly inadequate and fall well below those of other parts of Latin America. Leaders in government, politics, and the private sector need to explore and adopt realistic but bold means of increasing funding.

RECOMMENDATION #3
Revitalize the teaching profession by linking to job performance, improving pre-service training, and promoting more and better in-service training programs. Current salary and incentive structures value seniority and academic credentials over performance, making it difficult for schools to retain and reward good teachers as well as to replace those who perform poorly. Wage increases are important, but they must be accompanied by legal
reforms that link them to job performance and student achievement.

RECOMMENDATION #4
Establish a common system of educational standards and performance assessment, and disseminate findings widely. Countries should establish well-defined, broadly discussed educational standards. They should implement systematic tests of academic achievement and establish benchmarks to evaluate the impact of reforms. Standards and test results should be disseminated to parents and society in a simple, transparent manner. Governments should establish a regional, independently administered system of academic achievement tests that allows comparisons across countries. All countries should participate in global testing programs, such as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) or the Latin American Laboratory for the
Evaluation of Education Quality sponsored by the UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC).