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Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
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Great Teachers : How to Raise Student Learning in Latin America and the Caribbean--OverviewWhile the importance of good teaching
 may be intuitively obvious, only over the past decade has
 education research begun to quantify the high economic
 stakes around teacher quality. In a world where the goals of
 national education systems are being transformed, from a
 focus on the transmission of facts and memorization to a
 focus on student competencies for critical thinking, problem
 solving and lifelong learning the demands on teachers are
 more complex than ever. Governments across the world have
 put teacher quality and teacher performance under increasing
 scrutiny. The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region
 is no exception to these trends; indeed, in some key areas
 of teacher policy, the region is at the vanguard of global
 reform experience. The study aims to benchmark the current
 performance of LAC s teachers and identify key issues. It
 shares emerging evidence on important reforms of teacher
 policy being implemented in Lac countries. The study also
 analyzes the political room for maneuver for further reform
 in Lac. They focus on teachers in basic education
 (preschools, primary and secondary education) because the
 quantitative and qualitative challenges of producing
 effective teachers at these levels differ in key ways from
 university-level education, which has been addressed in
 other recent World Bank publications.
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Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An OverviewThis paper analyzes the evolution in
 socio-economic and ethnic disparities in tertiary education
 attainment, participation, and completion and labor market
 outcomes in the six countries of Central America. There is
 evidence of differential progress, with Costa Rica, a
 middle-income country, and Nicaragua, a low-income country,
 having improved participation of low-income students in
 tertiary education, while this continues to be negligible in
 Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Wide differentials in
 salaries linked to socio-economic background can signal
 differences in the quality of tertiary education or prior
 educational experiences. The analysis distinguishes between
 long-term and short-term constraints and the key transitions
 in the education cycle that impede access to tertiary
 education. The main obstacle to accessing tertiary education
 for poor students is the failure to either start or complete
 secondary education, suggesting different priorities for
 different countries in addressing long-term constraints.
 However, problems also arise within tertiary education, as
 in all countries the average tertiary education completion
 rate is below 50 percent, with even lower rates for students
 from low-income families and indigenous backgrounds. The
 paper uses an OECD framework for public policies for
 promoting equity in tertiary education to assess policies in
 Central American countries and concludes that many of them
 currently lack the policies, instruments, and institutional
 mechanisms to promote greater equity in tertiary education.
 The paper highlights how valuable insights can be obtained
 from analysis of household survey data in the absence of
 comprehensive data on tertiary education which is typical of
 many developing countries.
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The Challenge of Expanding Secondary Education and Training in MadagascarMadagascar is making significant progress in achieving its Education for All Initiative (EFA) goals of providing universal primary education. It has recently decided to initiate far-reaching reforms in its primary and secondary education cycles. Good quality primary graduates are necessary for entry into the secondary education cycles in Madagascar. But equally important is the quality and relevance of what is taught and learned in secondary schools. This is one of the keys for accelerated economic growth and effective social development. International global trends in secondary education provide a useful framework for undertaking the current reform in secondary education. Madagascar's labor market needs more and better secondary graduates with "modern knowledge and better skills" to make its economy competitive and to attract overseas investments in the country. Asia and Latin America have already shown the way. However, to make the expansion of post-primary education services in Madagascar sustainable the system should become much more efficient and produce better results (in terms of quality and quantity). This report is designed to contribute to ongoing education reform discussions by presenting: analysis of the secondary education and training system; challenges and constraints to the expansion of the system; options to expand and improve secondary education based on other country experiences; and possible next steps for identifying the most appropriate course of action. This report aims to encourage discussion among policymakers, stakeholders, and donors, and does not promote one approach over another. To promote a more competitive economy in Madagascar in the 21st century, the government expects to increase the average years of schooling from the current 4.5 years to about 9-10 years by 2015 for the relative age groups. This report discusses the ongoing reform and its impact and provides suggestions for implementation. This report is intended to be used as a discussion instrument and to be disseminated among Madagascar's stakeholders in education.