Introduces several articles that focus on human capital and social cohesion (e.g., effects of learning on economic and social development and the debate over education and social cohesion) and multilateral development banks and religious organizations (e.g., how the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund influence education in developing…

This study of 61 Ugandan primary schools examined both pupil characteristics (socioeconomic status, ability, health) and school characteristics (textbook availability, teacher language ability, school physical facilities) to determine which school resources account for the impact of schools on learning. (Author/SJL)

Discusses the varying definitions of a practical secondary school curriculum and those assumptions about practicality that have led to errors in educational planning. Describes the curricular crisis in many developing countries in terms of confusion surrounding the purposes of vocationalization. Notes that educational planners should not duplicate…

Findings in industrialized countries, such as those of Jencks and Coleman, indicate that socioeconomic status has a strong influence on academic achievement and that school effects are of lesser importance. This study of socioeconomic influences and school influences on the performance of 23,615 Ugandan children taking the Primary Leaving…

Compares the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic achievement in Uganda with that in more industrialized societies and investigates the influence of the school in the less industrialized society. The author concludes that the status/achievement relationship is weaker in less industrialized societies but that schools in these…

This study correlated socioeconomic status as measured by parents' education and material prosperity, with academic achievement and self-confidence scores in 2293 Ugandan students. Self confidence did not correlate to socioeconomic status, as it has been found to do in industrialized societies. Possible reasons for this difference are considered.…

Education in the United States differs from that in other countries in the attitude of U.S. students and their lack of motivation. Americans must override the differing education values held by distinct social classes, races, and language groups and recreate the sense that education is valuable. (MLF)

Describes a re-examination of International Association of Educational Achievement data on the relative importance of school and home influences upon science achievement in high and low-income countries. New methods of analysis revealed that the effects of school and teacher quality on science achievement in developing nations were greater than…

Contrary to most previous research findings concerning influences on pupil achievement, data from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East show that the predominant influence on student learning is the quality of the schools and the teachers to which children are exposed. (RM)

Quality of schools is a critical resource in the production of school achievement, individual and national. Countries with a scarcity of resources (transportation, administration, and management) would be expected to perform worse in distributing any resource, especially one of such complexity as school quality, but this does not seem to occur.…

Discusses the crisis in educational quality faced by Third World countries due to increasing elementary school enrollments and decreasing economic resources. Reviews strategies for school improvement, discusses future research issues, and suggests how American educators can help. (FMW)

In an effort to investigate a broad variety of influences on academic achievement a sample was drawn of seventh-grade students in Uganda. The sample of 2,293 students represented an average of 10.7 percent of the schools, and 13.1 percent of the grade-seven children. A questionnaire administered to these children included five personal statements…

Noting that is often assumed that there is a surplus of education in India, where the literacy rate is three in ten, this paper questions the assumption that the economic returns to investment in Indian education are negative. The case of India is reviewed: a circumstance in which the existance of unemployment has led to the unjustified assumption…