Financing universal primary education: An analysis of official development assistance in fragile states

At existing rates of progress, fragile states represent those countries most at-risk of failing to achieve universal primary education. It is estimated that around a third of the world's out of school children live in countries where the state faces severe development challenges instigated and perpetuated by weak institutional capacity, poor governance, political instability, or the legacy effects of past conflict. Typically, fragile states have the most difficulty in mobilising domestic resources to finance national education strategies and, consequently, rely heavily on other sources of educational investment. This paper examines the provision of development aid within a group of 52 low-income countries, and concludes that despite the international commitment to universal primary education, the prevailing attitude of selectively allocating aid to ‘good performers’ has led to education in fragile states being sidelined by the development community.     

Issues and challenges raised by development agencies in implementing the new modalities of aid to education

Over the past decade there has been increasing concern with aid effectiveness, and, more generally, development effectiveness. New ways of delivering aid have been developed, including sector-wide approaches and direct budget support. This paper reports on the progress that has been made through some of these new modalities of aid to education, as perceived by some of the senior staff of a handful of the major development agencies. Where have these developments led us in the education sectors of many developing countries? What are the prospects for the ways in which aid is planned and delivered and in the relationships between donors and recipient governments? What are the main issues and challenges currently being raised and addressed? How have these changes affected the impact of the aid provided? These are some of the questions that are raised in this study, with answers provided by the agencies themselves.     

循环救助:贫困生助学型资助研究的新视角

我国自1987年开始建设学生资助体系以来,助学型资助模式发挥了很大的作用,解决了部分贫困生实际困难。但不可否认的是,该资助模式也存在很多亟待解决的问题,本文以循环救助的新视角,试图改善高校贫困生助学型资助的困境。     

罗斯托的发展援助理论评析

罗斯托是20世纪50和60年代活跃在美国理论界和政界的经济学家和经济史学家,他以冷战思维模式下的经济发展观为基础,提出了对第三世界国家进行发展援助的理论,希望通过美国的发展援助,帮助不发达国家进行有组织的开发,使这些国家的经济进入起飞阶段.罗斯托在肯尼迪及后来的约翰逊政府中担任要职,因而为20世纪60年代美国对外发展援助政策深深地打上了自己的烙印,并对以后的美国对外援助政策产生了深远影响.     

北京市小学生群体素质发展水平评估研究报告

小学生素质水平集中体现了小学教育质量。相对于小学生质量综合评价这一评价模 式,构建了一种更加宏观的,适应新形势的小学质量评价模式──小学生群体素质评估制度 ,以解决小学教育质量评估问题。     

物理新课程发展性教学评价的研究与实践

本文阐述了实施物理新课程要树立发展性教学评价观念 ;确定多元化的评价内容和标准 ;运用多样化的评价方法     

A meta-look at meta-studies of the effectiveness of development assistance to education

What insights and generalisations can be drawn from looking across the work of multiple governmental and non-governmental organisations aimed at supporting basic education in low and medium income countries? To address this question, this study analysed findings of nine evaluation meta-studies completed by international assistance organisations, each of which was examining the effectiveness of their work in basic education over a multi-year period. The value of the underlying project activities reviewed in these evaluations represents $6–$6–8 billion. Studies analysed with respect to (a) the criteria each used to judge success of their underlying projects, (b) the extent to which these studies focused on outcomes and impacts, (c) the extent to which projects were judged sustainable, (d) the adequacy of the project-level evaluations being reviewed, (e) what the underlying projects accomplished, (f) weaknesses identified in underlying project designs and (g) cost. A major weakness identified in almost all of the meta-studies reviewed was the paucity of evidence regarding the impact of the project activities in promoting student learning outcomes.     

The effectiveness of international development assistance from American organizations to deaf communities in Jamaica

American organizations bringing assistance to deaf people in developing countries unintentionally create relationships of dependency or oppression rather than relationships of support. Using qualitative methods, the author examined the effectiveness of development assistance provided to the Jamaican Deaf community by two American churches, one American nongovernmental organization, and one U.S. federal agency. Documents were reviewed and observations were made. Interviews were conducted with more than 60 deaf and hearing people involved with the American organizations, the Jamaican organizations, and deaf Jamaican beneficiaries. The author concludes that the Jamaican Deaf community was often excluded in planning, designing, or evaluating programs, and was unsatisfied with the American assistance it received. Results also indicate that the American organizations were poorly prepared to work with the Deaf community. Suggestions for American organizations wishing to strengthen and empower deaf people through development assistance in developing countries are proposed.     

一种新的评价形式——档案式评估

教育是一个长期的过程,人的智能是多元化的,作为教育重要环节的评价,对学生知识和能力的估量亦应该是多元的。在新课程标准的教育改革背景下,我们实践中的评价形式更应多样化,而不能仅限于考试一途。档案式评估完全是一种新的评价方式。因为档案式评估对学生实施真实性的过程评价,可以有效地激发学生的主动性和积极性,改变其在传统教学中被动学习的局面,同时还能有效地转变教师传统的教学观念,进而为升学等高风险的决策提供更翔实有效的参考。     

An assessment of the sources of the reversal error through classic and new variables

We present two empirical studies with 241 and 211 pre-service teachers that evaluate the explanatory power of word order matching and static comparison as models for the reversal error. We used tasks consisting of generating an algebraic equation representing a comparison given in a verbal statement. We introduce the types of magnitude involved in the statement as variables of analysis, something that was not previously tackled in previous works. Our results show that there are no statistical differences in the production of reversal errors depending on the information included in the name used to designate the variable, and that there are statistical differences depending on the syntactic configuration as well as the type of magnitude involved in the statement. The interpretation of these results indicates that both word order matching and static comparison have some potential as explanatory models for the reversal error, and that neither one of them, alone, is enough to completely explain the phenomenon.     

The development of abused and high-risk infants in different treatment modalities: residential versus in-home care

This paper outlines the Parental Stress Center (PSC) residential treatment program and its evaluation study, specifically focusing on the developmental status of infants in treatment. The Bayley scores for mental/motor development are given for a subgroup of 20 deprived infants admitted to the residential center and for two matched groups. One comparison group consisted of similarly deprived infants, the other of normal infants. The groups, tested three times, showed few differences either among the three groups at each time period or within each group over the three time periods. The most significant between-group difference was in motor scores at time 2, with both PSC infants and problem comparison infants scoring significantly below the normal comparison infants. The decline of motor scores of the PSC infants was probably attributable to the physical restrictions of the nursery. By the final testing at age 1, these scores had improved, and again there were no group differences. The results indicate that despite the use of multiple caregivers, the deprived infants admitted to residential care kept pace with similar babies in other treatment modalities. The overall high scores when compared to other research data indicate the decided worth of early intervention.     

安徽省农村社会救助体系发展现状和对策

分析安徽省农村社会救助体系发展现状,从完善社会救助法律体系、建立社会救助工作综合协调机制、拓展社会救助资金渠道、建立社会救助工作监督机制、建设基层社会救助工作队伍等方面出发,通过单项制度优化、以低保为入口、分类型区一体化、救助方式整合等方式建立农村社会救助体系建设的过渡模式,以此过渡到城乡统筹的目标模式。