Efficiency of Colombian Educational Institutions: A StoNED and Order-m Approach

In Colombia, in accordance with the Ministry of National Education (MEN) and the guidelines of the National Development Plan, the importance of evaluating academic performance in upper secondary education institutions is widely recognized. This evaluation aimed to analyze the relationship between academic performance and educational policies implemented by local government authorities, particularly from an efficiency perspective. The objective of this study is to measure the academic performance of secondary education institutions from 2016 to 2019, analyze the variation in efficiency during this period, and determine whether institutional development contributes to improving the efficiency of the educational system. Specifically, two environmental variables were considered: one representing students’ socioeconomic, academic, and cultural characteristics, and another reflecting the institutional context. For this analysis, a methodological approach known as Stochastic Non-parametric Envelopment of Data with Z-variables (StoNEZD) was implemented, complemented by an estimation based on the order-m model as a robustness check of the initial model. The results indicated that the efficiency levels of educational institutions fluctuated throughout the study period. Although a downward trend was observed between 2017 and 2018, the efficiency indicators gradually increased over the entire period. These findings suggest a positive trajectory in institutional management, highlighting improvements that could contribute to better educational system performance in the future.