Below are links to a few education-related pieces I read this week:
- Low Performance and High Satisfaction: The Information Paradox of Bad Schools This blog by Susannah Hares of Ark Education highlights findings from the Varkey Foundation’s Parent Survey. The survey reveals that parents in countries that perform poorly in education (such as India, Kenya, and South Africa) are more satisfied with their children’s education than parents in high-performing countries such as Korea. The piece explores several potential explanations for this phenomenon and examines whether providing parents with performance information is an effective strategy for improving education outcomes.
- Facing Forward: Schooling for Learning in Africa – The World Bank’s new report assesses the current state of education in sub-Saharan Africa and suggests ways to improve both access and quality.
- Are Our Children Learning? This Twaweza report summarizes the results of basic learning assessments conducted in three East African countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania from 2011-2015. My main takeaway from the report is that all three countries have seen little to no improvement in basic learning outcomes over the last five years.
Arrested Development 