Philanthropy Action

Category: Education

There are 36 entries in this category.

Feb 11, 2010

A Round-Up of Education Headlines

There have been a number of articles and reports published in the past few weeks pointing toward the value of clear evidence of what works in the field of education.

Dec 21, 2009

The Neocolonialists?

Recently I was listening to Rory Stewart’s The Places In Between, the story of his walk across Afghanistan. Near the end of the book Stewart turns his attention to the aid agencies, public and private, that had come rushing into Afghanistan. His observations are worthwhile reading for anyone interested in making international aid more effective, so I’m excerpting them here.

Nov 16, 2009

Saving the World By Lowering Your Expectations

Impatient optimists are like investors in subprime mortgages in 2007. They can be so blinded by the upside that they fail to do their due diligence. In the end, their impatience and pursuit of outsize returns fuels waste and disappointment. Patient optimists, by contrast, have lowered their expectations of any particular program or intervention, but not their belief in a better world over the long term. If we’re going to succeed in making the world a better place, we need to convince more people to lower their expectations, too.

Sep 22, 2009

Raising Tiny Tim

According to a recent study conducted by the OECD on child welfare, US-children rank among the lowest in certain indicators—such as material well-being and educational well-being—despite the fact that the US is one of the highest spenders. In fact, the study generally showed a poor relationship between funding and outcomes.

Jul 31, 2009

Credit Where Due

Last week I criticized the Obama administration’s education funding plans for requiring school districts to spend money on technology, which has a very poor record of improving student learning outcomes. So this week, I should equally give credit where it’s due: the administration’s $4 billion “Race to the Top” fund for education.

Jul 23, 2009

Funding What Doesn’t Work

The Obama administration’s guidance on eliminating wasteful spending in health care apparently doesn’t apply to education.

Jun 12, 2009

Experiments with Merit Salaries Under Attack

There is no conclusive evidence as of yet that paying teachers for their performance in the classroom in fact results in better learning for students. But a number of experiments aimed at understanding whether it can are being driven by intuitive sense, and the fact that the non-experimental research available is positive.

May 28, 2009

A Clue to the Puzzle of Persistent Poverty

Two studies published this month offer some hope of understanding why the cycle of poverty is so hard to break and what philanthropists can do about it. The lack of certainty about root causes should encourage a focus on philanthropy interventions that help children with impaired working memories—and to fund research that can help understand the exact interrelation between allostatic load and poverty.

May 24, 2009

J-PAL Publishes Long Awaited Microfinance Impact Study

Some readers may think the report is fairly damning to the marketing claims of the impact of microfinance—more studies like this in other areas and over longer periods are necessary before we can reject the traditional views though. Ultimately, though, this study is very good news for microfinance because it begins to illuminate what is really happening among borrowers. That information, in turn, can be used to improve the product to make sure that the best products are offered to clients—and the impact of microfinance can improve.

Apr 21, 2009

Mounds of Data on Education Interventions

It should be no surprise that programs to improve education and schools are as poorly studied as most other philanthropic efforts. We’ve lamented the poor state of journalism on the topic before. But I’ve recently come across a number of papers documenting high quality studies of some of the most popular education interventions.

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