Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Education around the World

One thing that really struck me, as I was sitting in a conference on education in São Paulo, was how similar is the debate about education reform in low, middle and high income countries.  Questions of accountability, standardized testing, incentives are just as relevant there as here and we are all struggling to find the right way forward.

For the US, the problem is clear:


The answers are not.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

My first question is how many of those countries have compulsory, free education for all students irregardless of achievement level?

Patrick Emerson said...

Are you thinking that this is a selection story (only the top kids stay in school and are tested)? Perhaps - almost every country in the world provides free primary education but it is not really free (opportunity cost, etc.). But attenuation rates are very high in lower income countries, this is correct.