About CIMA
Center for Information on Learning Improvement (CIMA)
CIMA promotes the use of data and evidence to improve education in Latin America and the Caribbean
High-performing education systems establish clear, achievable learning standards to equip citizens with the skills needed to drive productivity and innovation, expand opportunities, reduce poverty, and help narrow inequality gaps. They also design strategies to achieve these goals and periodically assess learning outcomes to ensure all students can reach their full potential.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, many of these efforts face a fundamental limitation: a lack of accessible and comparable education data. Even when goals and standards are clear, it is difficult to access the metrics needed to verify whether those goals are being met. While many countries in the region regularly assess their students, the results are not always available, creating an obstacle to the advancement of quality education.
CIMA, a joint initiative between the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Education Division and governments across the region—seeks to bridge education information gaps. It aims to promote access to data, indicators, robust analysis, and evidence that can guide and support the design and implementation of more effective education policies and programs.
It is CIMA's goal to encourage countries to:
- USE OF DATA AND EVIDENCE FOR DECISION-MAKING
- STRENGTHEN DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS SYSTEMS
- PROMOTE THE MEASUREMENT OF LEARNING THROUGH NATIONAL, REGIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENTS
The CIMA team works to provide a statistical portal that facilitates the collection, analysis, and dissemination of educational data and indicators across Latin America and the Caribbean. At the IDB, we believe that access to reliable, comparable information is essential for improving learning outcomes and ensuring that all students can reach their full potential.
Indicators, sources, and resources
The portal currently includes harmonized indicators for 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean from 2005 to the present. These indicators come from three data sources:
Harmonized household surveys
Learning assessments
Administrative data
In most cases, the indicators are calculated by the CIMA team using various data sources. In other instances, data collected by international organizations, such as UNESCO, are used. The methodological guide provides detailed information on the sources used for each indicator.
What works in education? What the evidence tells us
This section brings together the results of systematic reviews on different educational challenges. Based on an initial search of more than 240,000 studies and rigorous selection and analysis protocols, it synthesizes the most relevant evidence to answer key education policy questions: which interventions work, in which contexts, and where knowledge gaps remain.
The topics analyzed include early literacy, math learning, tutoring, and the prevention of school violence, among others. The results are presented through three resources:
- Evidence maps, which organize and synthesize findings on the effectiveness of different educational interventions.
- Evidence gap maps, which help identify the topics and outcomes for which evidence exists and those where knowledge gaps remain.
- Heat maps, which show which countries have the most rigorous research available on each topic.
Together, these resources bring evidence closer to those who design and implement education policies and programs, making it easier to use in decision-making.