Report: Latin American Economic Outlook 2009 (OECD)

The latest OECD report on Latin America, Latin American Economic Outlook 2009, points out something very obvious for any observer of the region: the need for greater public investment in health and education.  It is very difficult to assert the legitimacy of democracy and free markets on context of pervasive poverty. Especially if a state operating  as  a free market democracy does not seen to improve the quality of living of most of their population . The report focus on the fiscal policy of countries in the region. In other words, the economic benefits of growth, and tax revenues have not translated  in less inequality . This is not surprise, taxes  and fiscal policy is only a small part of the problem.

From OECD website:

Are Latin American governments maximising the potential of fiscal policy as a development tool? The 2009 edition of the annual OECD Latin American Economic Outlook analyses the progress governments in the region have achieved in the fiscal realm during the last decade.[...]

At present, surveys show, fewer than one in four Latin Americans believes that money from taxes is being well spent. With more than 200 million people – nearly 40 percent of the population – living in poverty, the region has the highest levels of inequality of any region in the world.  Stronger economic growth is likely to help raise fiscal revenues, but Latin American countries need to spend these revenues in a more effective and fairer manner, in order to reduce poverty and maintain citizens’ trust in democratic systems.

Link: Multimedia page

 

Report_Online Town Hall Meetings: Exploring Democracy in the 21st Century

A fascinating report to think on the possibilities of renewing traditional democratic practices through new technologies. As well as, to start to think  on the ways  of how information spreads (and evolves – i.e. gets distorted in the process).  The study itself was object of a politically motivate  controversy that serves as exemplar of the last point. The research was single out with displeasure by a prominent right wing politician and used as an example of the waste of  federal research grants given by the NSA. The series of events that followed shows how political motivate rhetoric attempts to disregards and distort, through propaganda, the information and  results  of valuable research endeavors (to read more about the controversy click  here).

From Congressional Management Foundation Website:

Online Town Hall Meetings: Exploring Democracy in the 21st Century is a report summarizing the findings and recommendations from an academic study of 21 online town hall meetings between Members of Congress and their constituents which were facilitated by the partners of the Connecting to Congress project. The report is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and contributions from Harvard’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

The report includes information and analysis on:

• The impact participation in the meetings had on constituents’ views of their Members of Congress and on their participation in political activities, such as talking about politics and the Member and voting;
• How to conduct effective online town hall meetings;
• How the demographics of people attracted to the online town halls differed from those attracted by traditional means of political participation; and

Details of how we conducted our rigorous study.

 

Tor read full report here

 

Report: From rhetoric to reality: unpacking the numbers and practices of global higher education (IHEP)

The Institute of Higher Education policy released this month a new report by Clifford Adelman titled The Spaces Between Numbers: Getting International Data on Higher Education Straight (November 2009). In a recent post Kris Olds at the Global Higher Education Blog offers some comments on this and other recent reports on global higher education. As Olds points out, “the main target audience of this new report seems to be the OECD, though we (as users) of international higher ed data can all benefit from a good dig through the report. Adelman’s core objective is facilitating the creation of a new generation of indicators, indicators that are a lot more meaningful and policy-relevant than those that currently exist.”  Alderman is the author of a number of recent articles about the misleading use of quantitative data and research about higher education . Among those a very interesting article published at the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2006  the “Propaganda of Numbers” is worthwhile reading.

From the IHEP website

The research report, The Spaces Between Numbers: Getting International Data on Higher Education Straight, reveals that U.S. graduation rates remain comparable to those of other developed countries despite news stories about our nation losing its global competitiveness because of slipping college graduation rates. The only major difference—the data most commonly highlighted, but rarely understood—is the categorization of graduation rate data. The United States measures its attainment rates by “institution” while other developed nations measure their graduation rates by “system.”

Read full report here

 

 

Book: Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution and Schooling in America

“Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology” written by Allan Collins and Halverson was published recently. The topic of the book is extremely relevant, though certainly not new. The urgent need to implement new informational technologies and more important new educative practices using those technologies in traditional school settings in the United States. Basically, the question is if the integration of  mass schooling with the learning practices that new technologies enable is possible  or even relevant. The book offers worthwhile perspectives to debate  and rethink the future model of education and the role of school.

Thanks to Daniel Araya for the link

From Amazon:

Book Description:

The digital revolution has hit education, with more and more classrooms plugged into the whole wired world. But are schools making the most of new technologies? Are they tapping into the learning potential of today s Firefox/Facebook/cell phone generation? Have schools fallen through the crack of the digital divide? In Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, Allan Collins and Richard Halverson argue that the knowledge revolution has transformed our jobs, our homes, our lives, and therefore must also transform our schools. Much like after the school-reform movement of the industrial revolution, our society is again poised at the edge of radical change. To keep pace with a globalized technological culture, we must rethink how we educate the next generation or America will be left behind. This groundbreaking book offers a vision for the future of American education that goes well beyond the walls of the classroom to include online social networks, distance learning with anytime, anywhere access, digital home schooling models, video-game learning environments, and more.

See all Editorial Reviews

 

Research Paper: Citizenship Education at School in Europe

From Politika Public Policy Website:

Year: 2005
Financed by: Directorate – General for Education and Culture
Publisher: Eurydice
Language: English

ABSTRACT

This publication deals with the provision of citizenship education in schools and covers 30 European contries participating in the Eurydice Network. The comparative survey focuses on different national approaches to citizenship education and examines whether a European or international dimension has been officially incorporated into teaching of subject in schools. However, progress in the training of those who teach citizenship and more effective promotion of active participation by pupils in society at large arguably two major challenges in the years ahead.

Citizenship Education at School in Europe

(English, PDF)

 

Report: The State of Food Insecurity report for 2009

This is the link to the recent State of Food Insecurity report for 2009 published by the FAO.  Education as policy priority needs to be consider as inextricably link to a complex array of social policies and often subordinated to other basic public needs.

From FAO website:

“This report comes at a time of severe economic crisis. Countries across the globe are seeing their
economies slow and recede. No nation is immune and, as usual, it is the poorest countries –
and the poorest people – that are suffering the most. As a result of the economic crisis,
estimates reported in this edition of The State of Food Insecurity in the World show that, for the first
time since 1970, more than one billion people – about 100 million more than last year and around one sixth of all of humanity – are hungry and undernourished worldwide.

• Foreword
• Full publication

 

Are we witnessing a key moment in the reworking of the global higher education & research landscape?

A fascinating article presented by the Global Higher Education Blog. It is very interesting to point that the framing of the object of debate is formulated under the assumption of one national higher education system. I don’t believe that this assumptions is adequate in the case of the US. The debate on the global north on the relative decline of their system, also needs to consider the fact that many prominent universities that composed their national systems are also global institutions .  The  relative decline of public research  investment towards universities in national systems in the global north in relation to universities institutions in  the global south seems connected to the fact that nation states are pushing forward national and international agendas of innovation. Agendas that require increasing  investments to create or expand their own national capacities of research.

From Global Higher Education by Kris Olds:

Over the last several weeks more questions about the changing nature of the relative position of national higher education and research systems have emerged.  These questions have often been framed around the notion that the US higher education system (assuming there is one system) might be in relative decline, that flagship UK universities (national champions?) like Oxford are unable to face challenges given the constraints facing them, and that universities from ‘emerging’ regions (East and South Asia, in particular) are ‘rising’ due to the impact of continual or increasing investment in higher education and research.

Select examples of such contributions include this series in the Chronicle of Higher Education:

• ‘America Falling: Longtime Dominance in Education Erodes‘ (Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 October 2009)
• ‘Asia Rising: Countries Funnel Billions Into Universities‘ (Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 October 2009)
• ‘Asian Universities on the Rise: a Comparison With U.S. Institutions‘ (Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 October 2009)
• ‘Scientific Research: Asian Countries Expand, U.S. Holds Steady‘ (Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 October 2009)
• ‘Singapore: Teaming Up With Foreign Universities for Innovative Research‘ (Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 October 2009)
• ‘China: Attract Talent First, and Outstanding Universities Will Follow‘, (Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 October 2009)
• ‘South Korea: Government Support for Research Builds Industries‘, (Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 October 2009)

and these articles associated with the much debated THE-QS World University Rankings 2009:

• ‘Rankings 09: Asia advances‘ (Times Higher Education, 8 October 2009)
• ‘UK boosts standing but Asian countries ’snap at our heels”, (Times Higher Education, 8 October 2009)
• ‘Rankings 09: Beacons of excellence‘, (Times Higher Education, 8 October 2009)

The above articles and graphics in US and UK higher education media outlets were preceded by this working paper:

• ‘The Global Competition For Talent: The Rapidly Changing Market for International Students and the Need for a Strategic Approach in the US‘ (by John Aubrey Douglass and Richard Edelstein, Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California – Berkeley, October 2009)

a US report titled:

• Sizing Up the Competition: The Future of International Postsecondary Student Enrollment in the United States (by the American Council on Education, September 2009)

and one UK report titled:

• International Benchmarking Study of UK Research Performance 2009 (by Evidence Ltd., a Thomson Reuters business, for the UK Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, September 2009)

There are, of course, many other calls for increased awareness, or deep and critical reflection.  For example, back in June 2009, four congressional leaders in the USA:

asked the National Academies to form a distinguished panel to assess the competitive position of the nation’s research universities. “America’s research universities are admired throughout the world, and they have contributed immeasurably to our social and economic well-being,” the Members of Congress said in a letter delivered today. “We are concerned that they are at risk.”….

The bipartisan congressional group asked that the Academies’ panel answer the following question: “What are the top ten actions that Congress, state governments, research universities, and others could take to assure the ability of the American research university to maintain the excellence in research and doctoral education needed to help the United States compete, prosper, and achieve national goals for health, energy, the environment, and security in the global community of the 21st century?”

Recall that the US National Academies produced a key 2005 report (Rising Above the Gathering Storm) “which in turn was the basis for the “America COMPETES Act.” This Act created a blueprint for doubling funding for basic research, improving the teaching of math and science, and taking other steps to make the U.S. more competitive.” On this note see our 16 June 2008 entry titled ‘Surveying US dominance in science and technology for the Secretary of Defense‘.

Taken together, these contributions are but a sample of the many expressions of concern being expressed in 2009 in the Global North (especially the US & UK) about the changing geography of the global higher education and research landscape.

(read full here)

 

Report_Global Education Digest 2009: comparing education statistics across the world (UNESCO)

From Eldis, October 2009

Authors: A. Motivans; A. Acoca; A. Otchet
Publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2009

Full text of document

This edition of the Global Education Digest (GED) explores the changing patterns in higher education, while presenting indicators that extend the entire scope of the education sector. The main aim of the digest is to help identify the potential for further expansion of the tertiary sector. In this context, the digest expands reporting on upper-secondary education graduates to 70 countries, which helps forecast the number of potential entrants into tertiary programmes.

The digest analyses the rising demand for higher education, and investigates how many attain tertiary qualifications, and in which fields of education they are, figuring out the trends of participation. In addition, it examines international student mobility, and also provides information about levels and sources of financing for tertiary education. Moreover, it introduces additional time series data on tertiary education to assess long-term progress.

The main findings of the digest are:

• there is unprecedented growth in the number of tertiary students; much of this growth is due to changes in Asia
• there are now more tertiary students in low-income and middle-income countries, while the opposite was true three decades ago
• cross-nationally comparable data are vital to formulating policies, benchmarking progress and learning from experiences in other countries
• broadening access to tertiary education has massive cost implications for governments, especially in developing countries, which brings attention to the important role of private sector in this relevance
• by understanding the composition of graduate outputs, which is shaped by a complex web of factors, policymakers can make strategic decisions on how to invest limited resources within their own tertiary systems

it is essential for policymakers to understand the types of programmes that attract mobile students; this helps them better identify deficits in their local tertiary systems.

 

Video: 2009 Human Development Report (UNDP)

The following  video is based on the 2009 Human Development Report posted by the United Nations Development Programme. The full report is also available online at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/

Below a brief description of the focus of the 2009 report use to introduce the video clip:

Allowing for migration both within and between countries has the potential to increase peoples freedom and improve the lives of millions around the world, according to the 2009 Human Development Report launched here today.

We live in a highly mobile world, where migration is not only inevitable but also an important dimension of human development. Nearly one billion or one out of seven people are migrants. The report, Overcoming Barriers: Human mobility and development, demonstrates that migration can enhance human development for the people who move, for destination communities and for those who remain at home.

Thanks to Mousumi Mukherjee for the link

 

World Development Report 2009: Reshaping economic geography (WB)

About the Report

Places do well when they promote transformations along the dimensions of economic geography: higher densities as cities grow; shorter distances as workers and businesses migrate closer to density; and fewer divisions as nations lower their economic borders and enter world markets to take advantage of scale and trade in specialized products. World Development Report 2009 concludes that the transformations along these three dimensions–density, distance, and division–are essential for development and should be encouraged.

The conclusion is controversial. Slum-dwellers now number a billion, but the rush to cities continues. A billion people live in lagging areas of developing nations, remote from globalization’s many benefits. And poverty and high mortality persist among the world’s “bottom billion,” trapped without access to global markets, even as others grow more prosperous and live ever longer lives. Concern for these three intersecting billions often comes with the prescription that growth must be spatially balanced.

Complete Report Table of Contents & front matter Complete report Part 1 | Part 2
Geography in motion: The Report at a Glance – Density, Distance, and Division
Overview