Education Policies and Practices in the U.s.-mexico Border Region: a Look at San Diego and Tijuana

Brief Overview The socio-political history of what is now the Mexico-U.S. border region is marked by conquest and divorce, a literal splitting of a once continuous land and related people; separate since 1848, but also increasingly integrated since the initiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. As “distant neighbors,” Mexico and the United States share much—economically, environmentally and historically—but they also differ significantly with respect to legal, cultural and educational practices. As a result, communities along the border reflect a complex and uneven social, economic, linguistic, and cultural hybridization (See: Table 1). Today, as the border region develops into a single, interdependent urban system of global significance, greater attention is needed to its educational and workforce development challenges. Yet, to date, few formal studies have examined educational issues on both sides of the border region, and how they relate. To shed light on this topic, this brief examines the educational challenges and opportunities confronted by teachers, policy makers and stakeholders of the 10 contiguous U.S. and Mexican border-states. Specifically, this brief draws attention to issues related to teacher preparation, assessment, and effectiveness in the U.S.-Mexico border region. The first section provides a general discussion of educational contexts of the United States and Mexico. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the particular context of the border region, in which key teacher development, assessment and effectiveness issues on both sides of the border are examined. Finally, this brief points out observations for policy makers related to teacher preparation, assessment and effectiveness in the California-Baja California region, a vital sector of the border region. Table 1: Relevant U.S. and Mexican Economic and Demographic Indicators 2006 United States Mexico National pop. 301 million 108.7 million Pop. growth rate .894% 1.153% Border state pop. 61.6 million 12.2 million Border region pop. 7.1 million 7.1 million Border indigenous groups 26 7 GDP (PPP) $11.73 trillion $1.07 trillion Unemployment: 4.8% 3.6% Poverty rate 12% 40%