Fe y Alegria schools in Latin America : educational communities where the pavement ends

In each country, a national federation coordinates FYA programs. Each one of these federations enjoys a high degree of autonomy in its operations, but their main orientation stems from the mandate contained in the FYA International Mission Statement, which provides a summary of the guiding principles of the FYA movement. This study intends to analyze the FYA contribution to formal primary education in nine countries. This contribution will be evaluated according to the grade promotion, grade repetition and school dropout levels of a student cohort that started first grade in 1991. These quantitative results will not be presented in isolation. This study will also provide a description of the institutional conditions, which are associated with the school outcomes. This description will focus on the FYA organization at the national level, in the "national office" and at the school/community level. (Author abstract)