MIT's [Massachusetts Institute of Technology ]Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a network of 59 affiliated professors around the world who are united by their use of Randomized Evaluations (REs) to answer questions critical to poverty alleviation. J-PAL's mission is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is based on scientific evidence. Their current work in the Education…
Tag Archives Equity
The disturbing scenes in London over the last few days bring in to a stark contrast the competing challenges of the immediate, short-term need for social order and the extended, long-term need for social inclusion. There are many thousands of pictures and words that will be written about this London summer. Jonathon Freedland, writing in the Guardian says: The soul…
My research [Masters] in comparative education and equity is leading me to many interesting and challenging topics. One of hundreds... "What are the long-term effects of class sizes on the achievement gap? In essence, this paper suggests that findings on the social distribution of the immediate and lasting benefits of small classes have been mixed. Link: JSTOR - American Journal…
The Practical Trade off Between Class Size and Teacher Quality. My AFR oped today is on class size and teacher quality. Full text over the fold (with hyperlinks for anyone who wants more detail on the research). In a Class of Their Own, Australian Financial Review, 14 July 2009 Few education policies are more popular than class size reductions. Alongside…
Inequality and Growth. Joshua Gans has a new paper out with Dan Andrews and Christopher Jencks, on the relationship between inequality and growth. We reach a finding that is pretty standard in this literature – when we restrict the sample to 1960-2000, more inequality seems to be good for growth. However, if the inequality arises from a transfer from the bottom…
The Black-White Test Score Gap Down-under. Andrew Leigh observes: Discussing NT schools, the CIS’s Helen Hughes writes: This week all Australian children in school years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat numeracy and literacy tests for the second time. The tests are to give Australians an annual snapshot of basic educational progress. The first national ‘NAPLAN’ tests, held in May…
Schools That Transform. - Andrew Leigh David Brooks reports on some surprisingly large impacts from a randomised trial of New York “Harlem Children’s Zone” schools. The effects are so big that I find it hard to imagine they’re readily replicable, but it’s tantalizing stuff. The fight against poverty produces great programs but disappointing results. You go visit an inner-city school, job-training program…
Protecting rural economies in Scotland. Scotland's rural schools can be fundamental to safeguarding small, fragile local economies and the Scottish Government is committed to protecting their often unique place in the community. [eGov monitor - A Policy Dialogue Platform - Education & Skills]
New information has been added to the VET FEE-HELP web pages. This booklet gives the most current information about accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance to pay for all or part of VET tuition fees. It is applicable to full fee-paying students in one or more of the following courses: a diploma, an advanced diploma, a graduate certificate, and a graduate diploma.…