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Despite significant progress in improving primary enrollment and attainment for girls in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in recent years, gender disparities in education persist and hinder opportunities for girls. Educational attainment for girls has plateaued in numerous countries, with only a few making significant strides in narrowing the gender gap. Moreover, attainment alone does not always translate to improved learning. Gender-related barriers such as school environments that are not conducive to learning and the experience of violence, early and forced marriage, and early childbearing, as well as a lack of support for girls' education impede attainment and learning. The Population Council's GIRL Center was commissioned by a private grantmaking foundation to conduct a scoping review and analysis to identify investment opportunities in East and Southern Africa and Latin America. The aim was to identify countries with both a need to advance girls' education and skills and existing traction with potential for significant systemic progress in a five-year period. This brief contains profiles of eight Latin American countries (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia) and summarizes insights on key education indicators, school environment, gender-related barriers to education, and policies related to education.

The UNESCO-UNEVOC TVET Country Profiles are an online service. They aim to provide concise, reliable and up-to-date information on TVET systems worldwide, including key statistical data which can be compared across countries, major TVET policy documents, and information on governance of TVET. Dynamic diagrams illustrate education systems at a glance, aligned with ISCED levels.

Children begin learning about gender stereotypes as early as age two. The pre-primary education system does not always deliver on its potential to tackle and address harmful gender stereotypes while they are being absorbed by the youngest learners. All components of the pre-primary system have a role to play in breaking down these stereotypes. This includes the teaching workforce, who play a crucial role in determining how the education system contributes to gender equality and whose actions can influence children's learning experiences and their personal gendered views and behaviour. This brief highlights key strategies and considerations to ensure the pre-primary workforce can be prepared to stop gender stereotypes from being perpetuated, and ways they can create a learning environment that is gender-transformative. [For the full research report, "Tackling Gender Inequality from the Early Years: Strategies for Building a Gender-Transformative Pre-Primary Education System," see ED627660.]

The health emergency has stress-tested the education systems. What has been learned from the experience? And how can that be applied to lessons while seeking to ensure that 'building back better' is an evidence-informed undertaking? In this report, the authors identify ten lessons from the crisis of 2020-2021 that should be used to inform planning for the reconstruction of education in the long term: (1) The crisis has reinforced the need for adaptive, agile policymaking; (2) Meeting the equity challenge depends on data, detail and deliberate action; (3) The best external support for teachers comes from other teachers; (4) School leadership matters; (5) Without effective assessment for learning, it is impossible to meet the needs of individual students; (6) Great teaching and learning are not enough: schools need to address the wellbeing of students and teachers; (7) Access to technology is necessary but not sufficient: many teachers urgently need training in digital pedagogy; (8) Technology solutions must be accessible -- and include a no-tech safety net; (9) Parental and community resources must be harnessed to support learning; and (10) Effective support for girls must be prioritised in plans for reopening and learning recovery. The authors arrived at these ten lessons through a thorough global review of a range of sources including policy documents and research findings and through a series of interviews with senior leaders in some of the organisations and programmes featured. [This report was written with Susy Ndaruhutse and Ruth Naylor.]

Public spending on education has increased significantly in Latin America over the last several decades. Yet, the question remains as to whether greater spending translates into a more equitable distribution of resources. We address this issue by measuring inequality in per-pupil spending between regions of varying socioeconomic status (SES) within five different countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The results show that while Brazil's funding gap has narrowed over time, this federal nation has the widest socioeconomic spending divide, due to large inequalities in local revenues between high and low SES regions. School funding in Colombia has become more regressive over time, though its gap is half the size of Brazil's. Meanwhile, the distribution of school funding in Peru has changed, shifting from regressive (benefiting the richest regions) to progressive (benefiting the poorest regions). Education spending in Chile and in Ecuador have instead been consistently progressive. However, while the progressiveness of funding in Ecuador is driven by transfers targeting disadvantaged rural areas, the funding formulas in Chile address socioeconomic inequalities beyond the rural-urban gap.

In this era of educational technology, the English language is more than ever the world language, and the speaking skill is considered the most important skill that students need to master, because its main goal is communication. However, to acquire this skill is not easy, and may present difficulties, especially for students of English as a second language. Teaching this skill plays then a crucial role, and modern techniques and methods are prevailed. The use of technology and multimedia resources come to replace traditional methods to grab students' attention, increase their motivation in the classroom and to succeed in classroom goals. The present research work analyzes the incidence of multimedia resources in the English speaking skill, focusing on students of basic general education (EGB) at a private school in Guayaquil, which experience lack of technological resources to help teachers and students in the process of language teaching and learning, particularly in the development of the speaking skill. The elaboration of a multimedia resources guide is proposed to assist teachers and help students improve their speaking skill.

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 report examines four not-for-profit school chains, run by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in low-income contexts. These are Fe y Alegría, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (better known by its acronym BRAC), Gyan Shala and Zambia Open Community Schools. Three of these organisations offer education at no cost (Fe y Alegría, BRAC and Zambia Open Community Schools), while the other charges very low fees (Gyan Shala). All four examples are large-scale operations running multiple schools, sometimes in multiple countries. All reach large numbers of pupils. The aim of this report is to provide insight for policymakers and others preoccupied with fulfilling: (a) the continuing and still urgent need to achieve Education for All; and (b) the pressing quest for improved quality and learning opportunities for those in school. The evidence is clear: huge numbers of children and young people still do not have access to education. Increasingly, it is apparent that even when they are in school, many students are not learning and are not leaving with even the most fundamental skills of reading, writing and basic calculation. Certain groups remain particularly vulnerable -- those in rural and challenging geographical locations, girls, children with disabilities, and children from ethnic minority groups. Each of the four school groups focused on offers its own interesting story. Collectively they provide an important and optimistic perspective on the apparently intractable challenges of achieving universal access and enhancing quality in education in developing countries. This review summarises the contribution these school chains have made to education improvements and suggests some of the key reasons behind their achievements.

PISA for Development (PISA-D) aims to make the assessment more accessible and relevant to low- and middle-income countries. This report summarises findings from the out-of-school assessment results for PISA-D. By combining the out-of-school assessment with the in-school assessment, PISA-D has been able to achieve a unique perspective on the current skills level and on the challenges that the entire population of 14-16 year-olds face. Seven countries participated in the school-based implementation of PISA-D: Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia.1 Four of them, namely Guatemala, Paraguay, Honduras and Senegal, also participated in the PISA-D out-of-school assessment. Panama took part in the main PISA assessment in 2018 and the PISA-D out-of-school assessment. This report provides an overview of the main results of the out-of-school assessment for the five participating countries, comparing them, where relevant, with those for the in-school students discussed in PISA in Focus #91. [For "PISA for Development: Results in Focus. PISA in Focus. No. 91," see ED592012.]

Short-cycle higher education programs (SCPs) can play a central role in skill development and higher education expansion, yet their quality varies greatly within and among countries. In this paper we explore the relationship between programs' practices and inputs (quality determinants) and student academic and labor market outcomes. We design and conduct a novel survey to collect program-level information on quality determinants and average outcomes for Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Peru. Categories of quality determinants include training and curriculum, infrastructure, faculty, link with productive sector, costs and funding, and other practices on student admission and institutional governance. We also collect administrative, student-level data on higher education and formal employment for SCP students in Brazil and Ecuador and match it to survey data. Using machine learning methods, we select the quality determinants that predict outcomes at the program and student levels. Estimates indicate that some quality determinants may favor academic and labor market outcomes while others may hinder them. Two practices predict improvements in all labor market outcomes in Brazil and Ecuador--teaching numerical competencies and providing job market information--and one practice--teaching numerical competencies--additionally predicts improvements in labor market outcomes for all survey countries. Since quality determinants account for 20-40 percent of the explained variation in student-level outcomes, estimates indicate a role for quality determinants to shrink the quality gap among programs. These findings have implications for the design and replication of high-quality SCPs, their regulation, and the development of information systems.

Learning analytics is a domain that has been constantly evolving throughout recent years due to the acknowledgement of its importance by those using intelligent data, learner-produced data, and analysis models to discover information and social connections for predicting and advising people's learning [1]. Learning analytics may be applied in a variety of different cases, but their role in understanding the multilingual requirements of users of learning portals is of an outstanding significance. As the adaptation of existing portals in multilingual environments is a cost- and time-consuming aspect of the development of a portal, the outcomes of learning analytics may provide the requirements on which further multilingual services of a portal will be built, ensuring their efficiency. This paper aims to identify and interpret the behavior of users from developing countries in a multilingual learning portal using the log files of the portal by applying the methodology defined in a previous work by Stoitsis et al. [2] The paper also aims to identify the aspects that should be studied by future related works by focusing on specific regions and countries that exhibit special interest for further adaptation of the portal to additional multilingual environments.

Our future leaders' environmental understanding improves their resource management skills and decision-making capacity. Community awareness and "hands-on" involvement preserves bio-diversity and addresses human impacts. This report discusses the importance of environmental education, and effective learning programs. Quality education in the school system is important, and implementation strategies in the Galapagos are discussed. I was a volunteer in the Colegio Nacional Galapagos (CNG) in 2006, and will address: (1) Increasing natural process understanding to promote more conservation based lifestyles. (2) Conservation understanding, participation, and collaboration to strengthen social organizations and encourage integration and participation in regional conservation programs. (3) Environmental education in the formal education system to change awareness, attitudes, and beneficial actions to promote sustainable fishing practices with and for Galapagenos. Enforcement and scientific research are important, but do not change peoples' political will-- this is done by working developing new visions for the future. [Published in: Wolff, M and Gardener, M. (Eds.)(2009) "Proceedings of the Galapagos Science Symposium 2009," Galapagos Islands, 20-24 July 2009. Galapagos: Charles Darwin Foundation, p. 149-151.]

Building on the experience of working with middle-income countries in PISA since 2000, and in an effort to respond to the emerging demand for PISA to cater to a wider range of countries, the OECD launched the PISA for Development (PISA-D) initiative in 2014. This one-off pilot project, spanning six years, aims to make the assessment more accessible and relevant to low-to-middle-income countries. A key component of PISA-D was building capacity in the participating countries for managing large-scale student learning assessments and using the results to support national policy dialogue and evidence-based decision-making. Around 37,000 students completed the school-based assessment, representing about one million 15-year-old students (in grade 7 or above) in the schools of the seven participating countries: Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Senegal and Zambia. On average across PISA-D countries, only 43% of all 15-year-olds were enrolled in at least grade 7 by age 15 and were eligible to sit the PISA-D test, compared to the OECD average of 89%. The remaining 15-year-olds were either in grades below 7 or were out of school. In Cambodia, Senegal and Zambia, only around 30% of 15-year-olds were eligible to sit the PISA-D test.

Background: "Environmental education in the Galapagos: 2007 report to the Charles Darwin Foundation" is a report to the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) about the researchers observations about the status of environmental education in the Galapagos in 2006 and 2007. Purpose: This paper reports on environmental education in the Galapagos islands, and discusses the state of the formal education system and the effectiveness of CDF implemented environmental education programs. How has environmental education been implemented and is it being used by students and teachers? Setting: Islas de Galapagos, Ecuador from September 2006 to January 2007. Study Sample: Over 100 students, 6 teachers and administrators at one island high school, the Colegio Nacional Galapagos (CNG) in the departments of science, English and tourism. Intervention: Observations took place during and after: classroom instruction, field trips, and administrative meetings. Research Design: Qualitative; Interview; Epidemiological. Control or Comparison Condition: The comparison took place over five months (2006-07), and between statements found in existing literature about the experience of others at the same location. Data Collection and Analysis: Review of literature, observation and interviews at the Colegio Nacional Galapagos (CNG). Findings: In situ qualitative data about tertiary students' experiences found more needs to be done to improve environmental education, and support the formal school system in the Galapagos. Conclusion: The teachers and schools need outside support to improve the sustainability and conservation of these precious islands. Much support is necessary for the formal education in the islands, but it is important that it is implemented in a constructive and supportive way by working and through local educators, and not in a way that is overpowering and foreign to the Galapaguerian people. Citation: Citation: Stepath, C.M. (2007). Environmental education in the Galapagos: 2007 report to the Charles Darwin Foundation. Available at www.saveourseas.org/stepath.htm.

A phenomenological research project examined a holistic school in Ecuador and a creativity methodology program in Vietnam. The educators in these programs have dedicated themselves to implementing a holistic and humanistic vision and philosophy of education in their teaching practice. The study demonstrates how they have successfully created a caring, nurturing, and nourishing learning environment where learning to live and to create, living to transcend, appreciating relationships, and educating for peace are modeled and fostered. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight educators at Colegio Integral in Quito, Ecuador, and with the founder of the Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity (CSTC) at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City. CSTC teaches creative problem-solving techniques to adults. The themes and patterns that emerged unfolded as an interwoven web of knowing, doing, being, and becoming. That is, the four most important dimensions of holistic educators were the integrated knowing of the self, the academic subject, the students, and the world; the harmonious doing to create a nurturing learning environment; the genuine being to serve as authentic modeling; and the ever-evolving becoming that seeks the deeper meaning and larger purposes of life. (SV)

In Latin America and the industrialized nations of North America and Europe, the traditionally small impact of women on politics is gradually changing. Five avenues for women to achieve positions of leadership and political impact are: (1) government positions, (2) political parties, (3) women's organizations, (4) other organizations, and (5) the business sector. A study examined women's leadership in political parties, women's organizations, and other organizations in two traditional Latin American societies, Ecuador and Colombia. It draws heavily on surveys conducted previously by the author in Ecuador and Colombia. During the 1993-94 academic year, in-person interviews with a national urban sample of Ecuadorian women (n=120) involved in politics and similar samples of women (n=70) in business and the professions and of male (n=70) political leaders. During 1984-85, a sample of Colombian women (n=121) political leaders was questioned, followed by a sample of male political leaders (n=82) in 1987. Survey results suggest that while group action by women is possible, there are serious obstacles reducing the likelihood of success. For example, respondents felt that many women were indifferent to women's political success. In much of Latin America, women's (particularly feminist) organizations are frequently denigrated by both male and female leaders. Findings suggest that opportunities for women to lead are slowly increasing but are still at a low level. The anomaly is that women are far more likely to hold major decision-making roles in Colombia than in Ecuador, but women leaders in Ecuador show more concern for the problems of other women. (Contains 25 references and 8 tables.) (BT)

The divergent Quichua language ideologies existing among an indigenous group of the southern Ecuadorian Andes mountains are examined. Analysis of data from 51 interviews with indigenous highlanders, including parents, teachers, school administrators, and political leaders, reveals the existence of two conflicting Quichua language ideologies: one characterized by loyalty to Quichua and great value attached to the language, particularly in private and humorous situations and in traditional contexts; and the other characterized by the beliefs that bilingualism is onerous, by contempt for subordinated, non-standard languages (such as Quichua), and by a linguistic "survival of the fittest" attitude. Each element of this last, Western language ideology was also present in the population interviewed. A belief that children prefer Spanish to Quichua was found, and Spanish was the dominant language of home use. Implications for endangered language communities are considered. (Contains 39 reference) (MSE)