After the establishment of the National Institute for Educational Evaluation (INEE) in 2002, society demanded to know whether the educational system had progressed during the last five years. In response, the INEE used the National Standards Tests for Mathematics and Reading Comprehension, applied by the Department of Evaluation of the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) in 2000, and again in 2005. The results showed that sixth graders in private, public, rural schools had made a significant advance in mathematics and reading comprehension. Indigenous Education had also advanced considerably in the latter subject. Among junior high schools, only those of the general category showed significant improvement on both tests. Regarding gender, women scored higher than men in reading comprehension, as contrasted with math. In terms of age, it was found that students of an age normal for their scholastic level performed better than those older. The explanations found in the results highlight the differences between the learning opportunities and cultural capital of the families of the different strata and modalities.

Key words: Performance based assessment, elementary education, secondary education, reading comprehension, mathematics, Mexico.