Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Ideas Matter

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Behavioral Economics
    • Environment and Climate Change
    • Macroeconomics and Finance
    • Microeconomics and Competitiveness
    • Politics and Institutions
    • Social Issues
  • Authors
  • Spanish

When the Scientific Method Goes to School

September 15, 2017 by Julián Cristia - Steven Ambrus Leave a Comment


Ask any parent in Latin America or the Caribbean what they most want for their kids, and you’re very likely to hear it summed up in one word: education. Parents know that learning can bring their children satisfaction, success and prosperity, and they’ve opened their wallets, spending a higher share of their household budget on schooling than in the United States. Governments in the region have made big efforts too, boosting spending on schooling from around only 2% of GDP in 1990 to 5% of GDP today, a share similar to that in developed countries.

But if the will is there, the results are not. Virtually all primary students in developed countries reach a basic standard in math, meaning they can do basic operations with integers and understand simple concepts of geometry. In countries with similar GDPs to our region, two out of three students achieve that mark. In Latin America and the Caribbean, by contrast, the percentage is a mere 30%. Scores on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) for 15-year-old students show similar gaps. In science, the region occupies the bottom third of countries, and some 46% of students in reading and 63% in math are not at the most basic level, according to a study by the IDB.

The problem lies not with the willingness to spend money, but in how that money is spent. Over the last 15 years, governments have tended to put their faith in traditional solutions for improving learning, solutions which make sense on paper, but have not turned out to be cost-effective. Reducing class size and expanding the school day, for example, would seem to be obvious remedies. Children enjoying more direct contact with their teachers, one imagines, would learn more, and so would those exposed to more hours a day of instruction. But those solutions while achieving some improvement, lead respectively to 20% and 60% increases in cost and leave little money left for other efforts that could further bolster student performance.

Meanwhile, other innovative programs achieve similar or better results at a fraction of the outlay. Organizing twice-weekly classes of guided learning in computer labs, for example, fosters learning to a far greater degree that either of those programs at less than a 5% increase in cost. Providing teachers with lesson plans to give greater structure to classroom activity, at a less than 5% cost increase, has superior impact as well. The most surprising result comes from a one-time, two hour course informing children that intelligence can be improved with practice. That program came close to the impact of expanding the school day or reducing class size — at less than one dollar per student.

The lesson is that neither intuition nor theory will save the day for the region’s students. What governments in Latin America and the Caribbean need to do for education is use the scientific method, which has spearheaded progress in so many realms of modern life. That means testing theories and using empirical results to guide decisions. It means analyzing potential policy options, designing pilot projects, evaluating those projects, and scaling them up if they prove cost-effective.To settle for anything less is to risk throwing money away.

To our delight, a new unit within Peru’s Ministry of Education, called MineduLAB, is dedicated precisely to that mission: seeking cost-effective interventions. And here at the IDB, we also are doing our part with our latest flagship publication on skills, launched this week in Washington, D.C., and its accompanying SkillsBank, a new website with more than 280 evaluations of programs from both developed and developing countries stretching back over 40 years.

Parents in the region can watch their children reap the benefits of greater success; nations can enjoy gains in growth, equality and poverty reduction. The trick lies in applying the scientific method to education policy so that investments truly pay off.

 


Filed Under: #Skills, Politics and Institutions, Social Issues Tagged With: #Caribe, #education, #LatAm, #Peru, #PISA

Julián Cristia

Julian Cristia is a Principal Economist in the Research Department at the Inter-American Development Bank. His current research analyzes how governments can promote skills development using technology in a cost-effective way. He has evaluated programs that introduced technology into schools and expanded access to pre-primary education. Additionally, he has produced systematic reviews on early childhood development, the use of technology in education and how to improve learning in primary schools. His work has appeared in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Human Resources, and Journal of Health Economics. His research has been covered by several media outlets including The Economist, NPR, and Associated Press. Prior to joining the IDB, he worked as an Associate Analyst in the Health and Human Resources Division of the Congressional Budget Office. Cristia holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland.

Steven Ambrus

Steven Ambrus worked as a correspondent for US and European media during two decades in Latin America, covering politics, education, the environment and other issues. He currently works in the communications and publications unit of the Research Department at the IDB.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Related posts

  • It’s Time to Improve Primary Education: This Is How
  • Teaching Teachers to Boost Early Literacy
  • Leveraging Technology to Reduce Student Dropout and Improve Learning
  • Boosting Math Education with Technology during the Pandemic and After
  • For Latin American Learning, Money Isn’t the Problem

About this blog

The blog of the IDB's Research Department shares ideas that matter on public policy and development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube
    This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
    To learn more about cookies, click here
    X
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT