These are actually rather exciting times to be working on educational development issues. With the Millennium Development Goals focused on service delivery in low-income countries, and with the very positive response of the donor community (more than doubling external aid to education in low-income countries over the past four years), there is a lot of good will out there. ... Read more But good ideas remain a scarce resource in this environment. [This book proposes] a lot of good ideas on the table and the timing couldn't be better as we reach the halfway mark of the MDG period. [This book] promises to bring real value-added to education development professionals across a wide spectrum.
Bob Prouty, deputy head, Fast Track Initiative, The World Bank [This book] provides a clear and useful framework for scholars and practitioners working in education policy development and analysis. The chapters are well-defined, stand-alone topics that the reader will find illustrative in exploring methodological possibilities for generating policy options and strategies across a variety of contexts. Importantly, each chapter is both timely and topical, as many of the issues they take on are central to the current international mandates such as Education For All and the Millenium Development Goals: topics such as early childhood education, access and quality in education, learning methodologies, non-formal education are all germane to any discussion of educational reform and planning in countries trying to achieve the EFA or MDG goals.
Carol Anne Spreen, International Education Policy Program, Department of Education Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park Policy Making for Educational Reform in Developing Countries [is] a cohesive approach to the reform process, presented in a useful format for practitioners. The authors include a number of well-known, well-respected, strong scholars who regularly work with schools and school systems worldwide.
Karen Monkman, Educational Policy Studies & Research Department, DePaul University The compilation of works in this piece provides an accessible yet profound and insightful set of reminders to the practitioners of reform about some of the fundamental issues. The historical grounding in the experiences of today's developed countries is particularly helpful.
Luis Crouch, research vice-president, RTI International Policy Making for Education Reform in Developing Countries: Policy Options and Strategies is a timely addition to the academic literature in this field. It is timely for the swelling number of graduate students who are entering the field of education and development. It is timely for the development professionals who find that increasingly they must address the issues of reform rather than program implementation. More importantly it is timely for the many education professionals who work in Ministries of Education throughout the developing world; who are tired of failed programs and failed reforms and long to see the fruits of their work and commitment.
Jane T. Benbow, EQUIP 1 project director, American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC I find the holistic approach to education reform a refreshing change from the majority of the literature which focuses on one or more components to the neglect of the overall system and the context in which education operates. By laying out a comprehensive format ... the authors give students a framework within which to understand the specific topics covered in the chapters.
David R.Evans, professor, Center for International Education, University of Massachusetts Not only is this overall project both novel and well informed, it is vitally important to and timely for our work in the educational development field.
Michel Welmond, senior education specialist, Human Development Unit, Middle East and North Africa Region, The World Bank Show Less