Education, economics and public policy

Fixing the Foundation | (News and Research 356) Fixing the Foundation: Teachers and Basic Education in East Asia and Pacific | Every year in 22 middle-income East Asia and Pacific countries, around 172 million children are enrolled in primary school. Early investments in education were key to East Asia’s remarkable development. Yet, despite significant advances inContinue reading “Fixing the Foundation”

Education Trends | (News and Research 355) The World Bank is the largest external financier of education in low- & middle- income countries, with a portfolio of about $24B in 95 countries – Luis Benveniste, Global Director, Education, at the United Nations General Assembly meetings, September 17, 2023 Four of the biggest problems facing education—andContinue reading “Education Trends”

Building on Efforts to Improve Learning | (News and Research 354) How Ghana Is Improving Learning for Every Child | Anna Bjerde: During my last trip to Ghana, I saw a classroom full of eager young boys and girls, hands raised, waiting patiently to be called to answer questions – each vying to catch theContinue reading “Building on Efforts to Improve Learning”

 Improving Learning Outcomes | (News and Research 353) Improving Learning in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries | Angrist, Aurino, Patrinos, Psacharopoulos, Vegas, Nordjo, Wong | The current challenge of education systems is learning. Across low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMCs), 62 % of 10-year-olds could not read at a minimally sufficient level in 2015. This studyContinue reading “Improving Learning Outcomes”

Global Learning Loss | (News and Research 352) First estimates of global learning loss in student achievement using comparable reading scores | Jakubowski, Gajderowicz, Patrinos | At the World Bank, and with partners, we have been tracking the learning losses from COVID-19 for the past three years. At the start of the pandemic in 2020,Continue reading “Global Learning Loss”

Global Learning Loss – Evidence from PIRLS | (News and Research 351) Global Learning Loss in Student Achievement: First Estimates using Comparable Reading Scores | Jakubowski, Gajderowicz, Patrinos | COVID-related educational loss equals more than a year of schooling. Learning losses are larger for those who faced relatively longer school closures. Lower-achieving students experienced much larger educationalContinue reading “Global Learning Loss – Evidence from PIRLS”

Learning Loss in Europe: Reading Scores Declined due to School Closures | (News and Research 350) Evaluation of Educational Loss in Europe and Central Asia | Patrinos, Jakubowski, Gajderowicz | To what extent has the learning progress of school-aged children slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic? A pre-registered analysis of the first international assessment to beContinue reading “Learning Loss in Europe: Reading Scores Declined due to School Closures”

Test Scores Continue to Decline | (News and Research 349) In the USA, Scores Continue to Decline for 13-year old Students in Reading and Mathematics | The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) administered the NAEP long-term trend reading and mathematics assessments to 13-year-old students from October to December of the 2022–23 school year. TheContinue reading “Test Scores Continue to Decline”

Realizing Our Promise of Education | (News and Research 348) Realizing Our Promise of Education | Luis Benveniste, Jaime Saavedra | Ensuring children are learning is the key to unlocking the potential of youth. There is nothing more powerful than education to shape the world. Five years ago, in 2018, the World Bank published itsContinue reading “Realizing Our Promise of Education”

Back to the Short Cut | (News and Research 347) Estimating Returns to Education: Back to the Short-Cut | Patrinos, Psacharopoulos |Estimates of the rate of return to investment in education have been the subject of an explosive literature in recent years papers. Most estimates come from the Mincerian earnings function. A less well-known methodContinue reading “Back to the Short Cut”