Washington, DC -- (Center for Global Development) -- 02/20/10 -- In early 2008, the new U.S. administration indicated willingness to lead a renewed effort to mobilize and channel development assistance to support education in developing countries. As a candidate, President Obama publicly stated his desire for the United States to make a significant commitment to education and promised to capitalize a $2 billion global education fund. The commitment to global education was restated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and by Congresswoman Nita Lowey in her capacity as Chair of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Committee.
The action since then? Disappointing. The high-level U.S. political commitment has eroded, partly because of a lack of clear vision in the education community on how best to use potential support. This paper argues that we cannot continue with business as usual in the face of the vast financing needs in the sector. The current funding arrangements have demonstrated limitations, and many believe that a new aid architecture is needed to ensure that any new funding would be used for the right programs in the right countries and yield the right results. In this paper, I describe the framework for a better “global education compact” between donor and recipient nations, and four possible arrangements to mobilize and allocate development assistance for education. I highlight the advantages and disadvantages of these options—all with the motivation of informing decisions that must be taken by the United States and other G-20 countries if donor commitments are to be met.
-- Desmond Bermingham
Helen Abadzi, Education Specialist at the Education for All Fast Track Initiative
Newell Simon Hall 1305 (Michael Mauldin Auditorium)
Abstract
The Education for All initiative has resulted in unprecedented numbers of students enrolling in school in low-income countries. Classes are crowded with children of uneducated families, who are often taught without textbooks and by teachers of limited education. What instructional aspects to prioritize in such conditions and how? The educational principles of higher-income countries have limited relevance. However, answers may be found in 20th century cognitive psychology research as well as the more recent neuroscientific findings. The research is ttranslational, but it provides an information-processing framework and reliable policy advice on how to improve the education of the poor. Dr. Abadzi will present the salient issues and pertinent research, using videoclips from the classrooms of many countries.
Speaker Bio
Helen Abadzi is an education specialist at the Education for All Fast Track Initiative (EFA FTI) secretariat. By background she is an educational psychologist with a doctorate in general-experimental psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington (1983). She has worked at the World Bank for 23 years, 14 of them at the Independent Evaluation Group. As an evaluator, Helen visited completed projects financed by the Bank in many countries and learned a lot about making instruction more efficient in the schools of the poor. A particular issue that requires attention worldwide has been the acquisition of reading (and also math) skills by the poor.
In her current position Dr. Abadzi tries to disseminate cognitive neuroscience research that is applicable to the education of poor students in low-income countries. Helen, who is originally from Greece, is a polyglot and learns the languages of the countries she works on. Thus she has been able to follow reading research and issues pertinent to many languages and scripts and to understand what is being taught in classes. She has written a number of books and articles on cognitive neuroscience implications that have been quite influential, particularly with respect to reading fluency. She is often invited internationally to make presentations of her findings, which she enriches with videoclips from classrooms around the world.
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Last Modified: December 18, 2009
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