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In the past decade, hundreds of impact evaluation studies have measured the learning outcomes of education interventions in developing countries. The impact magnitudes are often reported in terms of "standard deviations," making them difficult to communicate to policy makers beyond education specialists. This paper proposes two approaches to demonstrate the effectiveness of learning interventions, one in "equivalent years of schooling" and another in the net present value of potential increased lifetime earnings. The results show that in a sample of low- and middle-income countries, one standard deviation gain in literacy skill is associated with between 4.7 and 6.8 additional years of schooling, depending on the estimation method. In other words, over the course of a business-as-usual school year, students learn between 0.15 and 0.21 standard deviation of literacy ability. Using that metric to translate the impact of interventions, a median structured pedagogy intervention increases learning by the equivalent of between 0.6 and 0.9 year of business-as-usual schooling. The results further show that even modest gains in standard deviations of learning--if sustained over time--may have sizeable impacts on individual earnings and poverty reduction, and that conversion into a non-education metric should help policy makers and non-specialists better understand the potential benefits of increased learning. [This paper is a product of the Office of the Chief Economist, Africa Region and the World Development Report 2018 Team.]

This paper provides an overview of the available information concerning selected policy instruments intended to promote employer-provided training, including the stated rationale and objectives, the target groups and operational design as well as a at a summary of the evaluative evidence regarding their operation. The analysis focuses on policy instruments providing financial assistance or incentives, specifically, subsidies (including tax incentives and grants) and levy schemes that devote a least some share of their resources to continuing training. Training leave regulations are considered only to the extent that they can be treated as a form of subsidy or a levy scheme, depending on the main financing mechanism involved. Instruments that focus solely on improving the quality of training or enhancing transparency in the training market are not addressed. In addition to offering a description of different instruments, the paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses (or risks and opportunities, respectively) of different types of instrument or particular elements of instrument design. It also specifies principles of successful instrument design that have been put forth in the literature and concludes with some remarks regarding the choice of policies. Training funds in combination with levy schemes in OECD and non-OECD countries are appended. Individual sections contain endnotes. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

This publication presents a discussion of the status of poor urban children world-wide and the design of a five-nation study of the condition of distressed urban children. Following an introduction, Section 2 describes the urban child project designed to study and advance the plight of urban children in developing nations. Section 3 outlines the scope of the problem, including urbanization trends, migration, and issues beyond the statistics. Section 4 describes growing up urban and poor, focusing on the deteriorating environment, poverty and ethnic redistribution, the lack of appropriate shelter, child labor in the urban informal sector, lack of access to safe play spaces, and the monotony of poverty stricken communities. Section 5 describes the five studies being carried out in the Philippines, India, Kenya, Brazil, and Italy. The issues covered are childhood, families, coping strategies, communities and neighborhoods, and children in especially difficult circumstances. Also described are the study's comparative assessment of situations, street children, views on working children, and the problem in the context of the larger society. Also mentioned are an assessment of policies and programs, and interventions. Contains 108 references. (JB)

Humans are born with the natural ability to gain skills through play. Children learn about social norms, roles and responsibilities, and language through curiosity-driven, playful interactions and activities. Learning through play harnesses the power of children's imagination and inspires active engagement with the material. The Center for Universal Education at Brookings, is studying innovations that strive to improve education. If the education sector stays on its current trajectory, half of all youth around the world entering the workforce in 2030 will lack basic secondary-level skills they need to thrive--from literacy and numeracy to critical thinking and problem solving. It is believed that leapfrogging, or rapid nonlinear progress, is needed to change this trajectory. Education that allows students to leap forward in learning should incorporate experimentation and iteration, helping students make meaning of what they are learning, and engage with others in doing so. These types of student-centered, playful learning experiences are an essential component to leapfrogging in education because without them young people will not be able to develop the full breadth of competencies and skills they need to thrive in a fast-changing world. This paper is the first in in a series of Leapfrogging in Education snapshots that provide analyses of a global catalog of education innovations. Of the nearly 3,000 innovations captured in the catalog, two-thirds involve playful learning, which represents the largest category of innovations that were recorded. [Support also provided by the BHP Foundation.]

Accounts of achievements in early childhood care and education in developing countries supplement a discussion of optimal programming. The document begins with background information on problems in educational provision and a rationale for a national focus on early education. Discussion then turns to: (1) parents as prime educators; (2) involvement of the community; (3) program replication; (4) development of partnerships between parents and the community; (5) new ways of working for governments, service agencies, and educators; (6) governmental roles; and (7) community development in action. Supplementary profiles detail benefits of early childhood care and education in Colombia, community involvement in Nigeria, community ownership of schools in Kenya, an early childhood and community project in Arab communities in Israel, Alabama's Federation of Child Care Centers' peer education project on countering negative racial scripting, the Bristol Child Development Project in England and Wales, France's Schools Without Frontiers preschool program in the Chian Kham refugee camp in Thailand, the development of "little schools" and teacher training programs in Mozambique, and the development of a preschool program with health and community action components in rural Brazil. Newsletters, occasional papers, seminar reports, books, videos, and publications in Portuguese and Spanish are announced. (RH)

The ongoing flow of monetary assistance and technological transfer from developed to developing countries is examined and its success gauged. Two examples are cited: "The Mumias Sugar Company--A Success Story in Kenya," and, "The Sao Francisco River Power Development in Brazil--A Disaster along the River." The paper also discusses what appropriate technology means, its role in development, and means of strengthening this role and/or effectiveness. Definitions used in reference to appropriate technology are listed. Four strategies for transferring technology to developing countries are identified and discussed: top-down strategy (in which technology is transferred to the educated elite with the aim that it will trickle-down to the poor); intermediate technology strategy (which provides a step to bridge the gap between indigenous and advanced technology); use of multinational corporations strategy (in which large corporations are used to transfer technology); and basic needs strategy (the transfer of only that technology appropriate to the specific needs of the indigenous population). The shortcomings of the strategies are investigated, followed by plans for strengthening technology transfer strategies and their major components: needs assessment, target group involvement, evaluation/follow-up, and relevance of technology transfer in developing projects. Brief conclusions/recommendations address definitions, strategy shortcomings, and indigenous technologies. (JMM)

The objective of this document is to outline the relationship between tourism and cultural minorities. It aims to understand the nature of the relationship, to point out its most serious and harmful effects and to make known some of the survival strategies that cultural minorities employ. The document calls tourism "the greatest economic and socio-cultural phenomenon of our epoch" and suggests that cultural minorities suffer more than anyone from its negative effects. This document, three years in the making, was born from an interest in tourism and its consequences among indigenous people. The contents includes the following chapters: "Tourism and Cultural Minorities: Double Marginalisation and Survival Strategies" by Pierre Rossel; "A Look Behind the Tourism Facade: Some Considerations on the Development of Tourism in the Province of Ifugao (Philippines)" by Marc-Olivier Gonseth; "The Maasai--Choice of East African Tourists--Admired and Ridiculed" by Philip Bachmann; "Tourism and Indonesian Cultural Minorities" by Jean-Luc Maurer and Arlette Zeigler; "And Why Don't You Go to the Seychelles?" by Asun Garcia; "Potlatch and Totem: The Attraction of America's Northwest Coast" by Isabelle Schulte-Tenckhoff; "Ethnic Minorities and the Development of Tourism in the Valleys of North Pakistan" by Gerard Roville; and "Tourism in the Upper Amazon and Its Effects on the Indigenous Population" by Annemarie Seiler-Baldinger. This document includes numerous maps and photographs. (TES)