Why Equity and Inclusiveness Are So Important for the SDG Indicators

Daniel Capistrano, Researcher at the National Institute for Educational Research and Studies – Inep/Brazil, and member of the Technical Cooperation Group (TCG) on SDG 4 – Education 2030 Indicators

The fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is not only about quality education – it is about inclusion and equity. These two words define the very substance of the quality education that we want for the world’s children. None of the targets related to SDG 4 can be achieved without them (indeed, target 4.5 is dedicated entirely to equity). So they have to be reflected in the indicators. Continue reading

Understanding What Works in Oral Reading Assessments

Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), Karen Mundy, Chief Technical Officer, Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and Pat Scheid, Program Officer for Global Development and Population, The Hewlett Foundation

When assessing whether children can read, we should remember why reading is so critical, and why we should be concerned when children miss out on this critical skill. Everyone reading this blog had a moment in childhood when meaningless swirls on a page began to make sense. As adults, our ability to read benefits us in a multitude of ways, every single day. There is no doubt that our lives would have been diminished and constrained without it.

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Good News, Bad news, and the Need for Comparable Education Data

Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, @montoya_sil

Here’s the good news: in the past 15 years, more children than ever have enrolled in primary school, thanks to a massive global effort to get them into the classroom. And here’s the bad news: despite the millions of extra children pouring into the world’s schools, many children still miss out. Continue reading