From the 554-foot high Washington Monument down Constitution Avenue towards the United States Congress in Washington, D.C., they marched by the thousands: physicists, biologists, chemists, zoologists, economists, and scientists from virtually every other discipline. The first ever March for Science April 22, along with its teach-ins, and its companion events in hundreds of … [Read more...] about Wielding the Scientific Method For a More Skilled Population
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When It Comes to Education, Computers Can Be a Dangerous Temptation
For enthusiasts of computers in the classrooms, a 2015 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) may have come as a rude surprise. Several OECD countries have invested heavily in information technology, the report found. But students in those countries didn't significantly improve their abilities in reading, mathematics and science as a result. … [Read more...] about When It Comes to Education, Computers Can Be a Dangerous Temptation
Falling Inequality: A Brazilian Whodunnit
By Julián Messina, Francisco H.G. Ferreira and Sergio Firpo Long one of the world’s most unequal countries, Brazil surprised pundits by recording a massive reduction in household income inequality in the last couple of decades. Between 1995 and 2012, the country’s Gini coefficient for household incomes fell by seven points, from 0.59 to 0.52. (For comparison, all of the … [Read more...] about Falling Inequality: A Brazilian Whodunnit
Where Peruvian Education Reaps Rewards
The results of the triennial Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam tend to land in Latin America and the Caribbean like a shower of icy water. The 2015 exam was no different. For all the progress the region has made in education, for all the increases in investment and near universal enrollment at the primary school level, the region sat in the bottom half of … [Read more...] about Where Peruvian Education Reaps Rewards
Can Voucher Schools Improve Education? Ask Chile
After a historically fierce and bruising battle, Betsy DeVos, a proponent of school choice, was confirmed Feb 7. as the education secretary of the United States. Devos's supporters applauded her backing of charter schools and vouchers for study in private and religious schools. Opponents argued just as passionately that allowing such options would undermine the public school … [Read more...] about Can Voucher Schools Improve Education? Ask Chile