This report reviews the collection, availability and quality of system-level data and metadata on education from countries participating in the PISA for Development project: Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia. PISA for Development aims to increase low income countries' use of PISA assessments for monitoring progress towards…

I use unusually detailed data on schools, teachers and classrooms to explain student achievement growth in rural Guatemala. Several variables that have received little attention in previous studies--including the number of school days, teacher content knowledge and pedagogical methods--are robust predictors of achievement. A series of…

We explore how two community-based reform models align with the World Bank's "World Development Report 2004" accountability framework. Using a qualitative case study of rural Guatemalan primary schools, we examine local governance through interviews with a range of stakeholders. While both reforms appear appropriate according to the…

The benefits of bilingual education for a disadvantaged indigenous population as an investment in human capital are significant. Students of bilingual schools in Guatemala have higher attendance and promotion rates, and lower repetition and dropout rates. Bilingual students receive higher scores on all subject matters, including mastery of…

Presents an interview with two volunteers who set up and ran a school from scratch located in the mountains of Guatemala. Notes that after three months, the government was convinced to send at least one teacher. (RS)

The first article in this report emphasizes the importance of user participation at the planning, decision-making, and production levels of small-scale instructional development in developing nations. Four subsequent articles also centered around user participation in Third World instructional development discuss folk theater as effective 2-way…

This bulletin is concerned with the efficiency and effectiveness of educational systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Adult Education between Two Models" (H. R. Lovisolo) investigates the concept of popular emancipatory education in Brazil and the transformation of MOBRAL (Brazilian Movement of Literacy) into the Fundacion EDUCAR.…

Based on the realization that the rapid worldwide growth of educational systems over the last two decades has not produced the expected eradication of social inequality, an international seminar was held for educational policy-makers, planners from developing countries, research workers in the area, and representatives of aid agencies from 33…

This bulletin reports on educational reform efforts in specific Latin American countries and calls for policy makers to utilize research findings on education in their decision. Five articles are included: (1) "Education Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Agenda for Action" (Ernesto Schiefelbein); (2) "Uruguayan High…

International cooperation in education in Guatemala is examined with regard to objectives, allocation, and effects of technical and financial assistance. The document is presented in two major sections. Section I focuses on how educational planners respond to social needs and political influences. Topics discussed include difficulties of…