This paper provides a review of the literature on the development impact of migration and remittances on origin countries and on destination countries in the South. International migration is an ever-growing phenomenon that has important development implications for both sending and receiving...

In January 2006 the price of natural gas supplied to Moldova increased from $80 to $110 per thousand cubic meters (mcm). Prices may increase further in the near future, putting additional pressure on the economy and leading to adverse effects on the poorest households. This study examines the...

This paper examines the full-time school program in Rio de Janeiro's municipal schools. The program, called as the "Single-Shift" schools (Turno Unico), extends the time students spend in municipal schools and seeks to improve the quality of education provision by creating a diverse curriculum...

This paper evaluates a government program in Malawi, which aimed to improve quality at community-based childcare centers and complemented these efforts with a group-based parenting support program. Children in the integrated intervention arm (teacher training and parenting) had significantly...

Limited fiscal space limits Djibouti's ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals and improve the living conditions of its population. Djibouti's fiscal structure is unique in that almost 70 percent of government revenue is denominated in foreign currency (import taxes, foreign aid grants,...

School enrollment has universally increased over the past 25 years in low-income countries. However, enrolling in school does not guarantee that children learn. A large share of children in low-income countries learn little, and they complete their primary education lacking even basic reading,...

This paper uses a unique dataset of both public and private sector primary school teachers and their students to present among the first estimates in a low-income country of (a) teacher effectiveness; (b) teacher value added (TVA) and its correlates; and (c) the link between TVA and teacher...

Even after spending five to six years sitting in a classroom almost every day for anywhere between four to seven hours, a significant share of students in low- and middle-income countries are still not able to read, write, or do basic arithmetic. What explains this "learning crisis?" A growing...

What goes on inside the classroom is central to student learning. Despite its importance, low- and middle-income countries rarely measure teaching practices, in part due to a lack of access to adequate classroom observation tools and the high transaction costs associated with administering them....

Teachers, like all professionals, require ongoing professional development opportunities to improve their skills. This paper provides evidence on effective professional development characteristics and how at-scale programs incorporate those characteristics. The authors propose a standard set of...