Many educators and policymakers have argued for lenient grade promotion policy – even automatic promotion – in developing country settings where grade retention rates are high. The argument assumes that grade retention discourages persistence or continuation in school and that the...

In decentralized education systems programs that promote central mandates may have to be devolved to local governments, communities, and providers. When participation by local governments and providers is voluntary rather than compulsory, the determinants of program placement are important in...

This symposium features four studies of education reforms and their impact on enrollment and learning. Three are part of a research project funded by the World Bank's Development Research Group and its Research Support Budget to evaluate innovations in the education systems of selected...

In developing countries, rising incomes, increased demand for more skilled labor, and government investments of considerable resources on building and equipping schools and paying teachers have contributed to global convergence in enrollment rates and completed years of schooling. Nevertheless,...

In developing countries, rising incomes, increased demand for more skilled labor, and government investments of considerable resources on building and equipping schools and paying teachers have contributed to global convergence in enrollment rates and completed years of schooling. Nevertheless,...

Informed by a growing body of research showing that investments in early childhood health, nutrition, and cognitive and psychosocial development have immediate and long-term benefits on children, the Philippine government undertook a five-year pilot Early Childhood Development (ECD) Project. The...

The Handbook illuminates complex facets of the economic and social provisioning process across the globe. The contributors – academics, policy analysts and practitioners from wide-ranging areas of expertise – discuss the methodological approaches to, and analytical tools for,...

In 1975 Theodore W. Schultz suggested that the returns to human capital are highest in economic environments experiencing unexpected price, productivity, and technology shocks that create “disequilibria.” In such environments, the ability of firms and individuals to adapt their resource...