"Expanding and improving basic education in developing countries requires, at a minimum, teachers who are present in the classroom and motivated to teach, but this essential input is often missing. This paper describes the findings of a series of recent World Bank and other studies on teacher...

The following report is the first of a two-stage video study to examine teaching practices and activities in Indonesian classrooms. The first stage is linked to results of the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) where 100 of the 150 classes that participated in the...

Bulgaria implemented sweeping decentralization and efficiency-focused reforms in basic education in 2007 and 2008. The education system adjusted to the negative demographic trends by optimizing the network of schools (closing and merging schools), introducing per-capita based financing and...

Educators and education policy makers are concerned with creating the best possible learning environment for students. How to do this, especially in primary school, where reading, writing and mathematical skills are first acquired, is the subject of policy debates in many parts of the world....

Teachers are the single most important input to learning, and in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa teachers' emoluments account for most of the spending on basic education (Bold et al., 2017). However, in many countries in the region teachers are poorly distributed between schools. Schools in...

The Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) and the World Bank jointly conducted a large-scale video study to gain a better understanding of what takes place in the classroom, particularly in terms of the practices involved in the teaching of mathematics and the relationship of these practices...

"Vermeersch and Kremer examine the effects of subsidized school meals on school participation, educational achievement, and school finance in a developing country setting. They use data from a program that was implemented in 25 randomly chosen preschools in a pool of 50. Children's school...

This Education Sector Study (ESS) is the World Bank's response to the need for a comprehensive study of Turkey's education system, in light of the dramatic changes that are sure to alter the country's social and economic landscape over the next decade. The study was prepared in association with...