Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Executive Summary -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Three Key Regional Priorities -- Substantial Improvements -- Still Three Key Regional Challenges -- The Three Challenges are Interrelated -- The Challenge of Equity is Integral to Two Regional Priorities -- Fiscal and Expenditure Constraints to the Achievement of the Three Regional Priorities -- 3. Constraints and Policy Actions to Achieve each Regional Priority -- Regional Priority #1: Improving Learning through National Assessment Systems, Teacher Performance and Teaching Methodologies -- Regional Priority #2: Reaching Universal Primary Completion by Improving and Scaling-Up Interventions that Address the Needs of the Poor -- Regional Priority #3: Expanding Secondary Coverage By Adopting a Comprehensive Policy Package to Address Supply and Demand-Side Constraints -- 4. The Regional Matrix -- APPENDIXES -- A: Comparative Tables -- Educational Outcomes -- Education Expenditure -- Teachers -- Community-based school management -- Factors associated to non-attendance in secondary -- B: Secondary targets simulation results -- C: Boxes -- References -- LIST OF TABLES -- 1. Some Basic Development Indicators for the Central American Countries -- 2. Primary Gross Completion Rates -- 3. Central America Spends Most of Its Education Budgets on Teacher Salaries -- 4. Highest Level of Education Attained by Teachers in Central American Countries -- 5. Innovations in Education Service Delivery Demonstrate Great Potential in Central America -- 6. Total Education Expenditure in Secondary Education -- 7. Public and Private Enrollment Share in Secondary Education -- 8. Regional Agenda for Central American Countries -- LIST OF FIGURES -- 1. Logical Framework for the Five Body Chapters of the Report -- 2. Primary Gross Enrollment Rates 1970-2000.

3. Secondary Gross Enrollment Rates 1970-2000 -- 4. Average Years of Education Attained in Central America across Age Cohorts -- 5. Income Per-capita and Repetition Rate in Primary -- 6. Private Rates of Return in Central America and Other Countries -- 7. Repetition Rate by Income Quintile -- 8. Efficiency Indicators in Urban and Rural Areas -- 9. Rates of Return by Earning Quintile -- 10. Income Per-capita and Gross Completion Rate in Primary -- 11. GER, NER and Gross Completion Rate across Income Quintiles in Primary -- 12. Rates of Return by Level of Education -- 13. The "Secondary Education Gap" -- 14. Comparative Survivor Plots -- 15. GER, NER and Gross Completion Rate across Income Quintiles in Secondary -- 16. Comparative Survivor Function Plots by Age -- 17. Average Secondary GER and GER by Quintile in El Salvador and Nicaragua -- 18. Public Education Expenditure per Student in percent of GDP per Capita, 2000 -- 19. Evolution of Public Expenditure in Proportion of GDP -- 20. Public Education Spending as a Proportion of GNP, 1999/2000 -- 21. Salary, Non Salary Recurrent and Capital Expenditures, 2002 -- 22. Public Education Expenditure/GNP and Primary Completion Rate, 2001/2002 -- 23. Functional Disagregation of Education Expenditure, 2002 -- 24. Notional and Effective Class Hours per Year -- 25. Private Spending per Student per Year -- 26. Public and Private Enrollment by Income Quintiles in Secondary -- 27. Public and Private Expenditure Per School-Age Population in Public Secondary Education.