Sylvia Schmelkes is a Mexican sociologist and education researcher who currently is serving as the director of the Mexican National Institute of Educational Evaluation (INEE). She studied sociology at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City and obtained a Master's degree in Education Research by the same institution. She is best known for her work in intercultural education and her book Toward Better Quality of our Schools. She has written more than 100 academic texts and essays. She is a former General Coordinator of Intercultural and Bilingual Education at the Secretariat of Public Education in Mexico. In 2008 she received the Comenius Medal from UNESCO for her career as a researcher. Other awards include Ibero-American University’s Tlamatini award in 2003 and the Maria Lavalle Urbina award in 1998. Her research interests include intercultural bilingual education, values, education and adult learning.