James Heckman just published a must, must read on the critical importance of early childhood development. This is the first sentence. The accident of birth is a principal source of inequality in America today. And this is the last paragraph … [Read more...] about A must, must read
Random Monday links
Financing the family: Remittances to Central America in a time of crisis. On theories of change: Many randomized control trials in international development fail to pay adequate attention to collecting data around the intervention’s theory of change. And so the authors resort to non-evidence based speculation to explain their findings. But without such explanation the … [Read more...] about Random Monday links
Does it matter how we compare schools?
In Mexico, over 95% of elementary schools receive annual report cards. These cards provide information on the standardized average school test scores in Math, Spanish and a rotating subject. The card also includes past performance and State and Country averages. Starting in 2009, the state and country averages were made specific to the marginality level of the locality … [Read more...] about Does it matter how we compare schools?
Random Monday links
If you are interested in water and sanitation issues, you should check out our publications. Did you know that Mexicans consume almost 5 times as much bottled water as Americans do, per person? Small is beautiful? A recent evaluation of a major UK government funded Community Driven Reconstruction Program in the Democratic Republic of Congo had the biggest sample ever: 1.8 … [Read more...] about Random Monday links
10 principles on crime prevention
Lawrence Sherman is one of the world’s most renowned experts on crime prevention. His use of empirical evidence, mainly derived from randomized field experiments in criminal sanctions and crime prevention, has had a profound impact in policy in the developed world. He recently developed for the IDB a protocol designed mainly for people working to reduce crime and improve … [Read more...] about 10 principles on crime prevention