The Effects of Meritocracy for Teachers in Colombia

Executive Summary. In 2002 the Colombian government issued the Estatuto de Profesionalización Docente (henceforth EPD), introducing a new code for public school teachers. The EPD implements two main strategies in order to improve the quality of education; first, attract capable individuals to the teaching profession; and second, implement recurring evaluations so teachers that are not meeting the expectations are let go and accomplished teachers are promoted. In this report I ask three main questions: Has the EPD succeeded in attracting qualified individuals to the teaching profession? Has the EPD improved students´ outcomes? Is the new system to grant promotions awarding the best teachers?To tackle these issues I exploit the fact that when the reform was issued, incumbent teachers were allowed to remain under the old regime. This old regime provides much more labor stability, and its promotion policy is based on a fixed schedule. The gradualism of EPD´s implementation causes that even by 2009 we observe both EPD and non-EPD teachers in schools, allowing comparisons between these two types of teachers over different outcomes of interest.