This article analyzes the role of education in Latin America’s development over the last two decades and recommends much greater emphasis on promotion learning, particularly among the poor. It documents significant progress in getting more children into school but little progress in making sure they reach minimum levels of learning (measured by scores on achievement tests). The authors find that the chief obstacles to improving the region’s education systems are both technical (weak institutions and poor teaching) and political (teachers’ unions that cling to the status quo and little political support for fundamental reform). The authors identify twelve policies they believe will improve the contribution education makes to development.

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