The main message is that mathematics and science achievement improves when students are at the center of the learning process. This means that the teacher guides the learning process, keeping class discussion focused on the content while encouraging divergent thinking. Studentcentered learning approaches also typically include scientific or mathematical reasoning, experimentation, group work, and dialogue. Some authors refer to this type of teaching approach as ¿student-centered discovery¿ or ¿student-centered inquiry,¿ while others simply call it hands-on learning.

Más Familias en Acción (MFA) is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program that has operated in Colombia since 2000. Currently, 2.7 million families receive benefits associated with school attendance and health controls. MFA’s target populationcomprises poor families that have either been displaced by the conflict or are from indigenous communities, and have family members who are under 18 years old.

Integrating early childhood interventions with health and nutrition services has been recommended, however there is limited information on interventions that are effective and feasible for delivery through health services. In this trial we developed and evaluated a parenting program that could be integrated into primary health center visits.

This paper studies the first large scale effort by the Brazilian government to increase the social security compliance of self-employed workers using behavioral interventions. In 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Social Security gradually delivered by postal mail a booklet reminding nearly 3 million self-employed workers their obligation to contribute to social security. We find that, sending the booklet increased payments by 15 percent and compliance rates by 7 percentage points.

This document reviews the literature on the definition and measurement of quality of home visiting programs designed to promote early childhood development, with a particular focus on those interventions aimed at enhancing child cognitive, language, and socio-emotional outcomes. After summarizing the evidence on home visiting programs in the United States and internationally, we discuss the key elements that define a high quality home visit.

A majority of Salvadorans reach retirement age without a formal pension, resulting in increased financial vulnerability and poverty in old age. In this paper we study the effects of the Universal Basic Pension (UBP), a non-contributory pension of $50 per month for individuals aged 70 years and over in the poorest municipalities of the country.

This note describes the development of South Korea's social security system over the past several decades. The system is split into three main branches: social insurance, intended to achieve universal coverage, and social services and public aid that address the needs of the poor and vulnerable. The major programs included in the system are the National Pension, National Health Insurance, Long-Term Care Insurance, Child Care, and the National Basic Livelihood Security System.

We present novel estimates of the quality of targeting of conditional cash transfer (CCT) and non-contributory pension (NCP) programs in Latin-America and the Caribbean. Our contribution is novel in that we use both national and international poverty lines, provide differentiated estimates for urban and rural areas, and compare CCT and NCP programs. We show that leakage to the non-poor coexists with pervasive under-coverage of all poor, including the extreme poor. On average, CCTs cover only 50.6 percent of the extreme poor in households with children under 18 years of age.

This Breve is based on a webinar presented by Tommy Wilkinson, Health Economics Advisor at NICE International, on April, 2014, to the members of CRITERIA, the Knowledge Network on Health Benefits Packages and Priority Setting in Health. Two prime examples of explicit priority setting in the healthcare space can be found in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and its achievements are recognized around the world.

Bolsa Familia (PBF) is a conditional cash transfer program (CCT) focused on health and education that has been implemented by the federal government of Brazil since 2003. The Ministry for Social Development and to Combat Hunger (MDS) is responsible for the program, defines the eligibility criteria and authorizes payments to families.