Brazil and Mexico sit alongside Tunisia and Turkey as the countries that have made the most progress in secondary-education performance (15-16 year-olds), increasing their scores in the OECD’s PISA tests (Programme for International Student Assessment) by between three and four points a year since 2003. Nevertheless, there is still a huge gulf between the performances of Latin American students and those in OECD countries, amounting to almost two years of schooling according to the 2012 PISA tests. The region’s modest results are caused not only by the students’ socio-economic background, but also by factors related to school activities, such as classroom hours and teachers’ expectations of students’ performance. These factors are less relevant in OECD countries, where the quality of teachers has a greater impact on results.