Relaxed sunday

Hi guys:
Did you watch the anything wedding parties? I did and it is very fun, also like very much the expression “ten cents short of a dollar” , and wondered how much money per session the public throws to this musicians; it also amazes me how “ten cents short of a dollar” is so alike to our own expression “… missing a screw” , both meaning somebody is not so well up there… Anyway, let me tell you that I am having a nice, relaxed Sunday because I got the approval on my last report to CIEES, concerning the degree on the Special Education program at one Normal school we went to visit and evaluated in Torreón, Coahuila. Special Education means that the Normal is preparing teachers for children with special needs like language problems, deafness, blindness, asperger, autism and so on.
Let’s talk about a process. The CIEES (Comités interinstitucionales para la Educ Superior) evaluation process starts when the institution wants to be evaluated in order to get a diagnostics on a.) the quality of its educational programs (degrees) and b) the public funds to improve them.
Once we get the self evaluation document from the Normal or University, a multidisciplinary team travels to visit the school, once there, we interview in 90 minutes sessions each, the educational program’s (degree) participants: students, teachers, coordinator (s), school authorities, graduates and employers. We ask specific questions to all of them, concerning the institutional frame, (Does the school have an internal organization? Its estructure? Future changes? Are its laws and regulations understandable and known by the school ‘s community? Do they know and understand the program’ s mission and vision: what to do and how to do it?)
This process goes on and on, asking students, teachers, coordinator (s), school authorities, graduates and employers about what they know and think that would help to improve the educational program, this may include increasing the quantity or quality of teachers, management personnel and even the school’s services, such as library, cafeteria, transportation, scholarship programs and so on.
For this purpose we visit classrooms, laboratories, offices, library, recreational areas, bathrooms, we check such things as IT labs and how many computers do they have, the computer programs they use, if the school has a web page, facilities for persons with special needs, security features and drills, and, and, and. … Our report has 62 “indicadores” under 10 very specifics aspects of an educational institution. When finished, the report´s length is something between 28 to 36 pages, including the recommendations, specific things that have to be done and how to them to improve that specific educational program (degree).
Once I have come back from Coahuila or Nuevo León or Yucatán or Zacatecas and start writing my report, I can’t help but thinking that I might be “ten cents short of a dollar” doing this job, but the feeling of doing something (even if it is so little) to improve Mexico’s educational system its really great!