A huge increase in engineering graduates from the BRIC countries in recent decades potentially threatens the competitiveness of developed countries in producing high value-added products and services, while also holding great promise for substantially increasing the level of global basic and applied innovation. The key question is whether the…

In this paper we discuss results from an analysis of a large dataset that includes virtually all sixth-grade students in Uruguay in 1996. We analyze the relationship between teacher attributes and student achievement scores and we explore the distribution of teachers according to characteristics identified as important by this analysis. We find…

This study uses rich empirical data from Brazil to assess how a government program (PDE) that decentralizes school management decisions changes what goes on in schools and how these changes affect student outcomes. It appears that the PDE resulted in some improvements in management and learning materials, but little change in other areas including…

Explores how international institutions such as the World Bank influence educational policy in developing nations. Concludes that the major, if sometimes unintentional, influence of international agencies in educational change is to finance those educational programs that favor dominant upper classes at the expense of the poor. (DB)

Argues that economic constraints for educational planners and the political/ideological context in which educational decisions are made have changed despite the demand for educational expansion with reduced spending. Suggests development of new strategies to increase public spending and improve educational quality. (Author/TRS)

The most important educational process takes place outside of formal schooling. A development process which demands participation of the masses increases participation in acquisition of knowledge, particularly in the possibility of acquiring knowledge. Radical transformation in the relationship between production and power is required for mass…