This book has three main recommendations. First, it is necessary to generate basic standards, quality goals, and quality measurement systems. Second, once quality can be measured, a clear system of accountability should be implemented based on these standards and quality goals. The clients will play a central role in these systems by demanding their rights to quality services; this will only become possible once there are standards and goals that clarify clients' rights. Third, once there are standards and systems of accountability, investment is needed to strengthen the institutional capacity of the providers.

This Peru Country Program Evaluation for the World Bank Group, 2003-2009 is part of IEG s country program evaluation series. To date, IEG s in-depth country evaluations have comprised IEG-WB Country Assistance Evaluations (CAEs) and IEG-IFC Country Impact Reviews (CIRs). Both the CAEs and CIRs have involved comprehensive evaluations of the respective institutions activities in a country. In a pilot approach, this evaluation was prepared by a single IEG team that looked at development interventions across the three WBG institutions. The evaluation draws on WBG documents, external literature, and on interviews with government officials, representatives of the private sector and civil society, nongovernmental organizations, bilateral and multilateral development partners, and Bank, IFC, and MIGA staff in Washington and in Peru. An IEG mission visited Peru in September 2009. IEG also cooperated with the Evaluation Office of the Global Environment Facility that was conducting a parallel evaluation in Peru.

This edited volume sheds light on the unique challenges, trends, and intersecting issues related to identifying intellectual potential of children of color around the world. The editors bring together expert scholars from around the world who have a vested interest in gifted children of color.

Handbook of Early Childhood Development Research and Its Impact on Global Policy calls for placing early childhood development at the top of the global policy agenda, enabling children to achieve their full developmental potential and to contribute to equitable economic and social progress worldwide.

This book is dedicated to the scholar and academic teacher Franz Monks, who is considered internationally to be one of the most brilliant 'giftedness' researchers. The wide spectrum of his writings and activities is reflected in the number of renowned international scholars who contributed to this unique collection of essays on gifted education as a life-long challenge.

The complementary areas of comparative, international, and development education occupy a critical part of the landscape in educational policy debates in a global context. This volume brings together a distinguished group of international scholars and practitioners who focus on key policy issues in a variety of national settings throughout the regions of Asia/Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Latin America. The topics they address are critical for the future of education in a globalized context and include issues such as social justice, quality assurance, governance, access and equity, marketization, and the role of new media and technology, among others.

Despite great progress around the world in getting more kids into schools, too many leave without even the most basic skills. In India's rural Andhra Pradesh, for instance, only about one in twenty children in fifth grade can perform basic arithmetic. The problem is that schooling is not the same as learning. In The Rebirth of Education, Lant Pritchett uses two metaphors from nature to explain why. The first draws on Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom's book about the difference between centralized and decentralized organizations, The Starfish and the Spider. Schools systems tend be centralized and suffer from the limitations inherent in top-down designs. The second metaphor is the concept of isomorphic mimicry. Pritchett argues that many developing countries superficially imitate systems that were successful in other nations— much as a nonpoisonous snake mimics the look of a poisonous one. Pritchett argues that the solution is to allow functional systems to evolve locally out of an environment pressured for success. Such an ecosystem needs to be open to variety and experimentation, locally operated, and flexibly financed. The only main cost is ceding control; the reward would be the rebirth of education suited for today's world.

This book examines the links between globalisation and the way we teach and learn languages.

The World Guide to CSR is the first book to provide comparable national profiles that describe the evolution and practice of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) for 58 countries and 5 global regions. Each regional and national profile includes key information about the relevant CSR history, country-specific issues, trends, research and leading organizations. The purpose of the book is to give CSR professionals (including managers, consultants, academics and NGOs focusing on the social, environmental and ethical responsibilities of business) a quick reference guide to CSR in different regional and national contexts. The need for the book is premised on the fact that CSR professionals and researchers more often than not have a multinational remit and are required to benchmark performance internationally, but find that country-specific CSR information is ad hoc, limited or non-existent. Even where national CSR research exists, it is often hidden in academic journals that practitioners cannot access or do not have the time or inclination to read. The book is an edited volume, with expert contributors from around the world, all of whom have been screened and selected on the basis of their qualifications and experience in CSR. Each regional/country profile includes the following subsections:CSR in context Priority issues Trends Legislation and codes Organizations Case studies Educational institutions References This unique resource will be an essential acquisition for all organisations who need to benchmark their CSR strategies throughout different regions and cultures and want the best possible intelligence on the key issues and concerns relating to corporate social responsibility in all of the markets in which they operate.

The Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) measures students' progress towards reading. EGRA gauges early literacy skills through a 15-minute individual oral assessment of five fundamental reading skills. RTI worked with education experts to develop the EGRA in 2006, and it has been piloted and implemented in more than 40 countries. This volume aims to take stock of the substantial amount of information and experience generated through the use of EGRA, and to share this knowledge with practitioners, policymakers, and international donors. Chapters cover not only particular applications of the instrument but also put EGRA in the context of broader issues and developments in literacy and education.