In Education, What Can The U.S. Learn From Developing Countries?

Over the last year, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a committed group of world leaders who have come together to build a powerful case and persuade those with the power — both at national and global levels — to make the necessary reforms and subsequent increases in investment to ensure every young person can to go to school and learn the skills they need to succeed in work and life.

The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (Education Commission for short), includes current and former president and prime ministers, government ministers, and luminaries from business, economics, development, and health. It concluded that not only do we need more investment in education, but that we need to use it wisely. The ways money is spent in education has a significant impact on learning outcomes.

While the focus of the Commission is improving education in low- and middle-income countries, many of the insights apply to the United States and other high-income countries.

Here are some of the lessons the U.S. can take from the report:

Inequality and the achievement gap

One of the major areas of the Commission’s research was examining how inequality, broadly speaking, influences inequality in education. In developing countries, poverty is one of the major causes of children not entering or completing school, and not learning even if they are in school. As a result, the gap in primary school completion between the richest and poorest children in developing countries is more than 30 percentage points and the average achievement gap is 20 percentage points.

Similarly, in the U.S., a child’s socioeconomic class and family income have become the greatest determinant of success in school. The achievement gap between more affluent and less privileged children in the U.S. has steadily increased in the last few decades and is now 40 percent larger among children born in 2001 than among those born 25 years earlier.

Addressing education inequality

Addressing inequality in education first and foremost requires a commitment to progressive universalism, or expanding access to quality education for everyone while prioritizing the needs of the poor and less privileged. It provides a guiding principle for education public spending.

Unfortunately, education spending in most countries, including the U.S., strongly favors the richest and most educated, and is usually skewed toward higher levels of education. In low-income countries, around 46 percent of public education funding is spent on the top 10-percent most educated students. In the U.S., education is primarily financed by property taxes. As a consequence, public education has become increasingly divided between well-funded schools in affluent neighborhoods and poorly funded ones in underprivileged neighborhoods.

Across the world, education funding must factor in the greater investment needed to reach children who have been left behind due to poverty, socioeconomic class, disability, or other factors like racial and gender discrimination.

South Korea is probably the best example of a country that has followed the principles of progressive universalism when expanding access to quality education. By allocating education budgets in this way since the 1950s, the country has managed to significantly improve the quality of its education system, providing extra-services and support to students from low-income backgrounds, migrant communities, etc. South Korea is now regularly ranked at the top of international comparative tests on education, and its strong education system is widely credited for helping the country achieve its rapid growth and development.

While South Korea is an advanced economy now, it’s important to remember in the 1950s when South Korea began reforming its education system, its GDP per capita was the same as today’s poorest African countries. In addition, examples of success in following progressive universalism to advance education reform can be found in low- and middle-income countries.

Addressing inequality beyond education

Improving and investing in education systems alone will not be enough if we are serious about reducing inequalities.

In low-income countries, up to 500 million schooldays are lost each year due to poor health and illness, often from preventable diseases, while one in three girls in the developing world marries before the age of 18, usually dropping out of school as a consequence.

In the U.S., many other factors outside of the education system impact a child’s ability to succeed in school. These include a safe home environment, access to nutritious food, quality health care, and among other things.

With children spending the majority of their time outside of the classroom, these factors matter.

The Commission has come up with a set of recommendations for developing countries to address inequality outside of education, some of which could certainly apply to the U.S. Specifically, the U.S. could adopt the recommendation to plan and co-invest across sectors to tackle the most prevalent forms of inequality inhibiting students from disadvantaged and underprivileged backgrounds from learning. Key investments include increasing access to affordable health care, providing safe neighborhoods and home environments, and expanding early childhood development programs. Co-investment in health care, infrastructure, security and community participation can all benefit education.

More resources needed for education

Over the next year, the Education Commission will continue to share its recommendations with world leaders in hopes that they too rally behind education, make necessary reforms and increase investment so that all children have access to quality learning opportunities.

Whether in the U.S. or in developing countries, one thing for sure is similar when it comes to education: as long as investment in schools remains inadequate with little attention given to spending, disadvantaged populations will continue to suffer the consequences.

That’s why education needs increased financial support with more resources targeting interventions which will have greatest benefit for all children, including those most at risk of being left behind.

Justin van Fleet is the Director of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity.