Week 14 – Education and Policy

Hi all! This week we’re discussing the following readings:

  1. Banerjee, Abhijit and Esther Duflo. 2012. “Chapter 4 – Top of the Class” In: Poor Economics : A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. New York, UNITED STATES: Public Affairs.
  2. Buchmann, Claudia. Hannum, Emily. 2001. “Education and stratification in developing countries a review of Theories and Research..” Annual Review of Sociology. 27: 77-102

Before reading today’s post I want you to watch the TED talk below. The research we have studied and discussed post-midterm have all been focused on what Tom Weisner (from the video below) calls W.E.I.R.D societies. This week we start to look at the other rest of the 85% of the World in what relates to education and development.

Both readings for this week talk about conditional cash transfers. So, before going any further you should understand what these are, and what usually gives them their conditional character.

Carefully go over my PowerPoint presentation with voiceover where I explain important ideas and concepts covered in the readings. (To listen to the voiceover you need to go to presentation mode)

Watch 2019’s economic Nobel Prize winner, Esther Duflo, discuss Randomized Control Trials’ and how these social experiments have informed recent efforts to fight poverty around the world.

On the link below you can find Duflo’s and Banerjee’s Slides for chapter 4. Have a look at it, it’s a great summary of the main issues discussed in the book chapter.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170713213006/http://www.pooreconomics.com/chapters/4-top-class/teaching-and-resources

Duflo’s MIT courses are available online (and I believe for free, if you don’t request a certificate). You can find the list here: https://economics.mit.edu/faculty/eduflo/courses

Lecture Posts Questions:

On the comments section below, address the following questions (answers should be at least 100 words in length and posted by Sunday – This is how participation points are assessed (worth 30% of your final grade!) Please save your comments in a safe document before attempting to post it.

  1. From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts or comments you would like to share?
  2. From the readings are all concepts clear?
  3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
  4. Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of class for our last Lecture Post?

22 thoughts on “Week 14 – Education and Policy

  1. Maria Victoria Ruiz Flores

    1. From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts or comments you would like to share?
    Everything seemed clear, and I really liked how each author thoroughly explained where beliefs. The article and in the PowerPoint really dissected the many ways everything, community, schools and family influence a child’s development. This Macro-structural system is very self-explanatory especially for us, that are currently in the system and see how our development is often influenced by these factors. Also, the article focuses on a research done with fathers to sons, and although I was questionable to the participants, I remembered in the previous class that it was clarified why studies often didn’t recognized mother to daughters economical and career standings
    2. From the readings are all concepts clear?
    All concepts from the reading were clear and well written, the reading of Chapter 4 was very interesting to see how education is brought upon a child in other places rather than just the U.S. I found it outstanding those conditional cash transfers was a form of control. I have heard of many businesses such as this one, and to be honest those who have fafsa are also under this control. To get money you must fit a requirement, in this case was that students needed to be sent to schools for them to get money but after doing a study they seemed to be “shocked” that families actually didn’t need this condition to send their child to school. Brought me back to the idea in the video where they said that people don’t donate money because they think families will spend it on drugs or inappropriate stuff. Yet I think families with low income are the ones that push education because they know that mobility is mire accomplishable.
    3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
    The ted talk video questions the importance in the development of a children and the many factors that can impact and influence the development. Many people think very broad and generic to a child’s development such as a good nutrition, good simulations and integration etc., but the speaker tells them to think about the location of the child and how environments are a huge influence. He mentions the WEIRD societies and how in these societies it is easy to sometimes compare other environments and cultures, but all these have defended norms and responsibilities that should always be taken into consideration. The video of cash transfers was very interesting because it spoke about many benefits to giving money to humanitarian aids rather than making good, clothes donations. I always was very picky with donating money because I am also aware that many times the big corporations take a percent of donations and very little is seen by communities. Yet the video made me consider because I actually have seen people selling goods in order to get money for their needs like rent, or to pay bills etc. I think it’s just my part to actually see the influence of foundations and see how they provide for communities. Lastly the last video was about the ways in which one could help in a productive way. We sometimes see things in such a general way, we don’t take into consideration the real altercations people face. We need to stop seeing for our own accommodations and see what is best for the communities we try to help.
    4. Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of class for our last Lecture Post?
    Overall, this class was so interesting and very well needed, I was always aware to some extent of the topics we have discussed in class but never knew how to articulate the differences and also didn’t know the expansion of information that I know now. Education and a child’s development is like play-dough and so many factors shape the outcome of it. Not one thing can be pinpointed but it is a structural contribution of many.

  2. Kimberly Figuereo (She/her)

    Everything in the PowerPoint was clear, I appreciated the elaboration of the readings and the tables representing the areas in which education was improved in Mexico and Brazil. I also appreciated the break-down of the macro-structural forces that shape the educational stratification.
    Both of the readings were clear. Chapter 4 of Poor Economics was an interesting read because it was more of a story book being narrated and I was able to read it with more ease as I would a regular chapter book, as opposed to reading research-based writings with a more formal and structured approach. This reading included a ton of important facts about the educational system in India.
    In Buchmann’s and Hannum’s review of theories and research I got more insight on how much an individual’s background, family and circumstances really affect social mobility. It ties in with a lot of the other readings we’ve done, and discussions we’ve had during class. I appreciate the figures included in the reading because as a visual learner, I take information in much better when I’m presented with a visual of what’s being described and discussed in the reading.
    First off, I love watching Ted Talks! Tom Wiesner did an excellent job at explaining the W.E.I.R.D system and how we can improve the overall wellbeing of our children all around the world. W.E.I.R.D stands for Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic. Wiesner shares his experiences in Kenya and the hard, oppressed conditions that the families in Kenya were experiencing, and how all of these experiences affect these children for the rest of their lives. He speaks about how overall, the most important thing that can help children is to participate in activities that their society considers important and desirable.
    The video on cash transfers was super informative. I enjoyed the visual representation on how people spend their money differently for different needs, and how so many people have to make difficult choices every day on what needs they’re going to prioritize because they can’t afford to get all of their necessities.
    Esther Duflo’s talk on poverty all over the world provided a lot of information on how children in different parts of the world are living. It’s sad to think that there are truly 9 million children under the age of 5 dying from poverty every single year. I’ve always known that counties like Haiti have severe poverty and bad conditions, but seeing it put into perspective provides a whole new outlook. It’s so sad, honestly. Duflo proposes that through immunizations, bednets and deworming, so many lives of children can be saved!

  3. Yesenia Bonilla (She/Her/)

    1. From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts or comments you would like to share?
    The PowerPoint presentation was pretty straightforward in many areas. It was helpful with explaining what is considered to be “conditional” when discussing conditional cash transfers as several examples were provided. For example, in order to get CCTs certain conditions must be met such as sending the children to schools. It was also helpful in relating these readings in terms of demand and supply to past concepts that we have discussed already like MMI and EMI. For example, when looking at MMI we discussed educational expansion and with this week’s readings we see how certain demand factors such as family factors influence educational outcomes. An example of educational outcomes that relate to educational expansion is that of enrollment rates.

    2. From the readings are all concepts clear?
    Overall the concepts addressed in the readings for this week were pretty clear and it was nice to be able to connect and see how some of the concepts come together with previous ones that we have addressed in lectures and the readings. I really enjoyed going over chapter 4 due to the various topics that were addressed but one that really stood out to me was that of the “S-Shape”. The “S-Shape” refers to the investment on the child that seems most “promising” by the parents rather than evenly investing in all involved children. In addressing this concept, the authors provide us an example through a family with seven children. We learn how only one of the children made it past the 2nd grade and continued his education at a private school rather than a public one. The second reading more so felt like a review of several topics and the relationships we have discussed. Though of course, we are exposed to new concepts as well as how they tie together such as that of demand and supply. Furthermore, I found it interesting how only one figure was to be found in this reading, yet it does a good job in addressing many things such as how factors relating to family background affect educational outcomes.

    3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
    The main takeaways from the first TED Talk video is the discussion on child development and the relationship with the factor that most has an influence on it. Tom Weisner discusses the differences in the answers that people provide when asked about what is best for child development, however, he states that it’s the decision about where the child would grow up that most has an influence. Furthermore, Weisner discusses what he refers to as “weird societies” and some of the differences within these societies. For example, multiple care taking of children in these societies. Lastly, he addresses some gender differences that occur such as how boys may be more likely to receive inheritance.

    The main takeaways from the second video include what cash transfers are, the importance of these cash transfers, and what can be done through cash transfers. For example, to give people cash is much cheaper than giving them goods as more is required in the process of giving goods like warehouses and trucks. Furthermore, there is concern that those that receive money might not use it for the actual reasons that it is intended for but many studies have proven that the majority actually do use it for these intended reasons.

    The third video discusses what randomized control trials are and how this form of social experiment plays a role in tackling poverty. One way in which Esther Duflo addresses this topic is through the controlled trial conducted in regard to being immunized. There were two camps set up, one with a reason to act (a kilo of lentil for each immunization provided) and one without. It was revealed that the camp with an incentive increased the rates of immunization more than the camp with no incentive. From my understanding, she also questions why, with these experiments, we don’t also apply to social policy as we do with other factors.

    4. Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of class for our last Lecture Post?
    Though not a question, I have a comment in regard to week 10’s topics. I found the discussion of racial inequality when looking at twins very informative and intriguing. It would have been nice to focus a bit more on this topic as we learned that this very much plays a role in shaping early childhood inequalities. The second reading “Racial Inequality in Education in Brazil: A Twins Fixed-Effects Approach” does a good job in addressing this topic but yet there is much more to learn and look at since this was primarily focused on the experiences of twins in Brazil.

  4. Azizah Al-Antri

    The powerpoint was clear and I understood the Buchmann reading more clearly. I liked how you explained the chart that displays research on education and stratification in developing countries and the supply and demand, because it helped me understand it even better. I thought the industrialism thesis was interesting, but I realized it’s not always true because the U.S. is a very industrialized country and yet, not everyone can achieve upward mobility so easily. I also found it interesting that developing countries benefit from basic material inputs and resources such as textbooks, libraries, teacher training, etc. whereas industrialized countries like the U.S. find that these inputs have little influence on students’ achievement. These basic material inputs are important for developing countries because their distribution of resources is inadequate and unequal and are less important in industrialized countries that already have a minimum level of basic resources.

    Buchmann and Hannum (2001) discuss educational stratification and inequality in developing countries and focuses on empirical studies in macro-structural forces shaping education and stratification, the relationship between family background and educational outcomes, school effects, and education’s impact on economic and social mobility. Less developed countries have more stratification than industrialized countries due to different conditions such as class structures, educational systems, and occupational structures that are shaped by low levels of economic development. Banerjee and Duflo (2012) discuss how although schools are available in developing countries, the child absentee rate is 14% to 50%. Building schools and hiring teachers is useless if there is no demand for education. A demand in skill will lead to a demand in education and supply will come after. Parents must invest in their child’s education and rich countries make education compulsory. However some countries don’t have this kind of enforcement, so the government should provide conditional cash transfers to make it financially worthwhile for children to receive an education and go to school. Regardless of what parents think of education, they will only receive money if they send their children to school to compensate them. In developing countries, elite children will receive better education and the curriculum and teaching is designed for them rather than poor children. These poor children are on their own and don’t receive the educational support they need to succeed, which is why they end up failing and dropping out. However, focusing on basic skills for children and putting in effort to learn from the student and teacher is important for the child’s learning. Also, little training is required to become an effective remedial teacher, and tracking children to check their progress and pace of learning is needed. Schools should be willing to serve the students they already have to ensure their success.

    The first video discusses the influence on child development and how it depends on the context of where they are living with family, what neighborhood, nation, and state they live in, etc. Weisner says we live in a “W.E.I.R.D.” society which stands for western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic. 20% of people live in this kind of society and most of the research comes from “weird” societies. Weisner emphasizes that research should be done on children based on the environment and context they’re living in, because some children live in countries that are the opposite of “weird.” He talked about his experience in Kenya and how people struggled there because of their deprived conditions, which can impact children.
    The second video discusses how 90 million people in the world are in need of humanitarian aid. It’s easier and cheaper to provide cash instead of goods such as clothes or food to the people in need. Different people have different needs so cash will be convenient for them to buy what they need. They can buy their goods from local markets and support their local economy in that way. Some people may sell the goods they receive from aid organizations because they don’t need it and use the cash to buy goods they actually need. There are worries that people that receive aid in cash will waste it on harmful substances, but studies show that that’s not true and people will spend it on goods they need. Cash is more effective and efficient in aid and has more pros than cons, but only 6% of humanitarian assistance is given in cash.
    The third video talks about how 25,000 children die everyday from preventable causes, and 9 million children under age 5 die every year. 25 million children do not get immunizations they need. Almost 900,000 people die from malaria every year. Duflo questions how to solve these issues, and the issue of providing more education. Randomized controlled trials have revolutionized medicine and we can use these same types of trials for social policy to know what works and what doesn’t work, and why. She tested this theory through providing immunizations and distributing bed nets and saw what worked and what didn’t work, and providing some kind of money or incentive such as discounts or free items worked well. She believed deworming children will add extra years of education for them as well. These social experiments are ways to fight poverty and provide basic needs for developing countries.

    This class was very informational and I learned so much about the education system and how it can impact development, whether there is inequality and gaps in student achievement. So many factors contribute to a person’s schooling and quality of learning, which can lead to gaining skills and an increase in human capital. However, there are a lot of inequalities in education and the upper class have more advantages for achievement than the bottom class. This course opened my eyes in learning these inequalities and how the education system can be institutionally flawed. Although it may seem that education can increase mobility, there are a lot of factors that still limit mobility. Family background can truly influence someone’s education and achievement, and can also affect their success in the future. Overall, this course has changed my perspective on many topics that pertain to poverty, education, mobility, development, inequalities, etc.

  5. Mir Mohammod

    1. The powerpoint presentation was short but clear to understand. It was interesting learning about conditional cash transfer programs and how it is implemented. The more you think about it, the more you can see it in various societies. It was also interesting learning about the macro structural forces that shape educational stratification. The spread of western ideology influenced education globally however, there are both positive and negative aspects to these shifts in ideas.

    2. “Chapter 4 – Top of the Class” by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo and “Education and stratification in developing countries a review of Theories and Research..” by Claudia Buchmann and Emily Hannum were great and interesting reads that discussed conditional cash transfers. Chapter 4’s reading in particular was an interesting read since it was more like a story. However, Claudia’s and Emily’s reading was also just as informative. From both the readings, all the concepts are clear.

    3.The first video was a TED Talk by Tom Weisner that discussed the important factor of child development. Weisner listed many factors which could potentially be considered important however, Weisner believes the most important factor is where the child is raised. The place where the child grows up determines the child’s development. Weisner also discussed how we live in a W.E.I.R.D. Society. WEIRD is an acronym that stands for western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic society. The second video discusses cash transfers and the benefits, which tend to overweigh the negatives, of cash transfers. A cash transfer is the idea of giving individuals money to buy the things they need. A cash transfer tends to be much more beneficial than giving people goods. A cash transfer allows people to feel more empowered and to buy their own necessities rather than organizations handing out needs and goods. Also, cash tends to be cheaper and tends to help more people than giving needs and goods. However cash is not always the solution. The third video by Esther Duflo discusses poverty and the efforts to fight poverty across the world. Duflo discussed various ways societies can aid people dealing with poverty.

    4. The topics we went over during the span of this course have been very informative and interesting. Some of the topics I knew a little about prior to learning it more in depth during this course. However, the topics that were new to me were clearly elaborated throughout the course. In particular, I found week 11’s readings and powerpoint to be one of the more interesting topics. Week 11 discussed social classes and how it plays a major role in child development. The readings showed me a better understanding of how children are raised and how education can be affected by social class. The information from this course was very helpful and will allow me to continue to better my understanding about education and development.

  6. Joanel Sassone (He/Him/His)

    1. The Powerpoint presentation was clear. An idea that I find intriguing is the Conditional Cash Transfer. I’m familiar with the PROMESA program in Mexico but had no idea it was established in other countries. CCTs are kind of like contracts, in order to be compensated, the recipient must fulfill a requirement. In this case parents must make sure their children complete a certain amount of schooling. Something brought up in the Powerpoint is that families must take the responsibility of going to public health facilities for medical check ups and immunizations. I think it’d be very interesting to see how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect this because many people don’t feel comfortable getting the vaccine and many argue that governments can’t force the vaccine onto people. On the other hand, CCTs might incline parents to get their children to get vaccinated if they want to send them to in person class but this could be an issue for countries with vaccine shortages.

    2. My main takeaways from the “Education and stratification in developing countries a review of Theories and Research..” text is that education policy isn’t a one size fits all. When drafting and implementing education policy, governments must take into account the specific circumstances of their citizens and cultural views on education. A great theme that goes with “Chapter 4 – Top of the Class” is the self fulfilling prophecy. The self fulfilling prophecy is the idea that an individual comes to meet the expectations that is imposed on them by others. Unfortunately, the potential of each child around the world isn’t maximized by education because some may have to work to financially support their family. Also, some parents can’t afford to take the chance of sending all their children to school because it might be too expensive or the parents don’t confide that education will bring them advantageous returns. Therefore, many children aren’t able to visualize the benefits education can bring them simply because they are held back by their socio-economic circumstances and/or lack the support to succeed academically.

    3. In the TEDtalk Tom Weisner posed the question of what is the most important influence on a child’s wellbeing. Weisner emphasized that most people believe nutrition, stimulation, trust funds are important to a child’s development. However, these types of answers come from what he labels as WEIRD societies. Most research on child development comes from Western societies which excludes most of the world. Weisner argues that in order to answer this question we must see how children aren’t autonomous from the environment and cultures they grow up in. Therefore, the factors that promote each child’s development are going to vary depending where they grow up and who they are. Cash transfers give recipients more agency than being given specific goods and services because they are able to provide whatever they are missing. In turn, this doesn’t hurt small and local businesses. Rather if people are given cash they can contribute to the local economy by using their cash to purchase their necessities. The video mentions that cash is cheaper to distribute because it doesn’t require warehouses, transportation (Drivers, fuel). In the last video, Duflo is trying to help people realize that addressing poverty isn’t limited to one solution. Since the circumstances societies face vary across the world, organizations should experiment to see what works where and what produces effective results. This can involve incentives for immunizations, distributing bed nets and other necessities such as food.

    4.I found this course to be very enlightening. I think it was very well structured and I appreciate how we were able to reflect on the readings, concepts and findings and apply it to our own lives. There are things from this class that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

  7. Justin Qu

    1.From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts or comments you would like to share?
    In this week’s PowerPoint presentation, all of the ideas presented were clear and straightforward. I liked how you explained the chart that was given in the reading. Conditional Cash Transfer programs provide money to poor families in return for the fulfillment of the education of their children. This can include enrollment and attendance as a requirement. We learn that education inequality is shaped by a large range of factors on different levels. As children, our family decides our educational path and the opportunities that are given to us. There are other factors as well, such as community factors and school factors. Communities provide the funds for the school and the school uses those funds for resources. The more resources the communities have the more opportunities for children in school. All these vary in different societies. Formal schooling is also important because it gives opportunities for groups to attend school and promote social mobility.

    2. From the readings are all concepts clear?
    In this week’s reading, the concepts were pretty clear. In Chapter 4 Top of the Class, the main focus was looking into constraints and factors that affect student’s ability to achieve an education. The story takes place in Turkey. They discuss the supply of education and how some areas do not have educational institutions available. Teacher shortages are a common problem in developing countries. Some constraints that children go through are a demand for child labor, lack of economic resources, the parental expectation of education, and the worries of a child entering school. For children in Turkey, it is difficult to go to school even if the government provides CCT programs. The costs for going to school are way too high and most families do not have enough money to cover their children’s tuition. Overall, I really enjoyed reading Chapter 4 and reading the lecture slides.
    The next reading, by Buchman, attempts to break down educational inequalities across the globe. It is interesting developing nations rely heavily on international organizations because people are constrained from educational opportunities. I like the tables they provided to show a visual representation of their findings. They also discuss that family backgrounds such as economic, education, and social status all play a role in educational inequalities in developing countries. Thus, I find both of these readings interesting.

    3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
    In this first Tedtalk video, Weinser attempts to explain the factors that affect children in their schooling. He also mentions that our society is W.E.I.R.D or Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. Only 12% of the world live in this type of society. So he discusses this because researchers wanted to bracket the context out and think about the child as an individual. Most research done is in W.E.I.R.D societies and not in other types. Children put into different societies and how they develop from it is extremely significant in children’s development.
    The next video explains what Cash transfers are. They explain that giving people money is much more efficient than giving them resources. This is because it gives them options and buying what they really need. Cash transfers also help local businesses which can boost the economy. International aid may help outside businesses and harm domestic businesses. People tend to sell extra resources that they do not need so giving them money will provide options. Providing cash can also cut out delivery costs from exporting goods. Studies also show that families spend on their family rather on alcohol and cigarettes. Cash Transfers have proven to be the most efficient way to help countries in need.
    In the next Tedtalk from Duflo explains the different experiments done to fight poverty. The first point she brings up is immunizing children. However, many families do not participate in taking vaccines. Malaria is still a problem when we can already cure it. Then education comes into play factors like if schools provide lunch, hire teachers, or build more schools. So, Duflo attempts to explain why children are not getting vaccinated. Convincing that the immunization will help them is the difficult part. Also, parents struggle with going to centers that are available it is hard for them to find time and to know if they have or do not have vaccines. She ran an experiment to see what will get families to get immunized and providing incentives seemed to work the best. So, she picked out three answers, provide bed nets, immunizing families, and deworm children. She says that we cannot eradicate poverty just yet but we can start it.

    4. Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of class for our last Lecture Post?
    Throughout this semester, I really appreciated the information this course provided. I learned a lot about poverty and inequalities in education. I am more informed now on developing nations and have a better understanding of American institutions. It gave me perspective on different parts of the education systems of the world such as Ireland, England, India, and many more countries. Education plays a key role in every developing nation and can be used as a weapon.

  8. Enajia Clemente (she//her)

    Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
    Since children’s development differs based on the environment they are born into the things needed to better their development may vary,
    Money is the best form of aid because it allows people in need to solve problems specific to them.
    Giving people the tools needed to solve their problems has little to no consequence besides solving the problem at hand and actually testing out every possible outcome for public policy is good.

    Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of class for our last Lecture Post?
    Could it be possible that countries that give aid that is not just money use it as a means to boost their own economies and use it as a scapegoat for economic accountability?

  9. Anthonio Roye

    1. From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts or comments you would like to share?The powerpoint was very clear and concise and explained key concepts in the readings. It was what gave me a better understanding on conditional cash transfers which are cash given to parents for fulfillments (eg. their kids attendance to school) and so is related to the education of the children. It also discussed the readings and explained how different factors influence parents’decisions to invest in education. Education inequality is shaped by many factors and the relationship between family decision demand (socioeconomic status, resources etc) and supply (structures like teacher quality, food at school and other community resources) all influences such.

    2. From the readings are all concepts clear?The readings were also very clear and concise. In reading Chapter 4, it highlights education in places outside the US, which was very interesting to me because most studies are usually done here. The conditional cash transfers were used as control to lure parents to send their children to school. The parents would be rewarded with money if they fulfilled the requirements, like sending the children to school, however, the study showed that this was not really necessary and parents did not need this ‘extra push’ to send their kids to school. It also highlighted how education inequality is shaped by many factors including family background, quality of schooling etc. and how these influences education’s impact on economic and social mobility. They also included research from other countries like Africa, Asia, and Latin America rather than industrialized or developing societies.

    3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.The TedTalk video with Tom Wiesner was very straightforward and clear. I really like ted talks which made me more interested. He discussed the important things in child development and stressed the importance of the location where a child is grown and its impacts. He believes that itis important to learn about other parts of the world as most research is done in the western parts of the world, when he explained the WEIRD (Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic)system of how we can improve the lives of children globally . He recommends more social responsibility, collaborative learning and multiple caretaking to foster better child development.The 10 benefits of doing cash transfers video highlights how the cash helps people to acquire their basic needs rather than goods themselves. Families can use the cash for their specific needs as everyone may require different things for their household, such as medications, foods etc which will be better for even local businesses that they support.
    The Esther Duflo ted talk was also very interesting and discussed social experiments to fight poverty. She talked about some randomized trials on immunization, bed nets and deworming andhow these simple things are important in improving the wellbeing of children in the world. She recommended that the most effective thing to do is to get started now, as managing poverty will be a slow process.

    4. Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of class for our last Lecture Post?This course was an eye opener for me and made me realize the many different factors of how education is related to development. It also made me see that the inequalities in education that were very prevalent in the olden days are still very evident in our society today. I have read many of my classmates’ posts and they were very clear and concise even with very interesting opinions. I truly enjoyed this course and my favorite things were the crash course videos, ted talks and the powerpoint voice overs, all of which gave very nice summaries to foster my understanding of the weeks’ readings

  10. Katelyn Asciutto (she/her)

    1. I thought the PowerPoint was very clear and pointed out some things that I missed in the readings. I found the last slide on the Industrialism Thesis very interesting because of how it relates to ideas of social mobility and intergenerational mobility that we’ve been discussing throughout the semester. If I’m understanding the theory correctly, from an industrialized standpoint, it seems almost unfair to compare sons to their fathers in terms of economic and occupational achievement because so much is changing in the world that education, experience, and skill all have different meanings and values than they did previously. Times and society are changing so fast that it’s becoming hard to make fair comparisons, and these differences are becoming so large that soon the influence of one’s father’s economic and occupational status/achievement will have very little impact on their own economic and occupational status/achievement.

    2. From the readings, the only thing I was left confused about was the idea of the “S-curve” of education. As I was reading Banerjee and Duflo’s paper, I kept going back and re-reading the parts about this “S-shaped” view of the benefits of education. I’m not sure if this relates to the ideas similar to those we previously learned about the impact of parental influence on education, with influence being greatest without a degree, least with a bachelor’s, and somewhere in between with advanced degrees. Is the S-shape in reference to the benefits of education and saying that it goes up and down, as opposed to being completely linear (linear meaning more education always equals more benefits)? Or, is this related to sibship and parents allocating resources differently amongst their children based on a set of factors relevant to them (need for money, child’s “natural” academic ability, child’s determination, etc.)

    3. I really enjoyed the videos, especially Duflo’s TEDTalk because of the way it made tackling the issue of eradicating poverty seem possible. As she stated, the concept of poverty is often hard to grasp and people tend to be less willing to donate and get involved for reasons such as it’s largely invisible, it’s vast, and because we don’t know if past efforts were actually worthwhile. I appreciated how she broke the question down into smaller, more tangible questions that we can give definitive answers to, such as what are the effects of immunization, how can we stop the spread of malaria, and how can we increase school attendance? These are questions people can grasp and there are already studies telling us the most effective ways to answer them. By putting money towards immunizing children and providing bed nets, we can drastically cut the number of sick individuals and mortality rates. With lower medical needs, people may have more disposable income or money to put towards other needs since they don’t have as many medical bills, and with lower mortality rates, families will have more people to get jobs and bring in money. By deworming children, we keep them healthier, and studies show this results in more years of education. By educating parents on the positive effects of education, they are more likely to encourage their children to go to school and/or emphasize the benefits of going to their children. With increased education rates, there are a variety of benefits that we have learned throughout the semester, including increased social mobility, increased incomes, increased health rates, and decreased teen pregnancies. The videos helped us see the effects of change that we are able to put in place. They provided examples and research to back their claims that these forms of aid (cash handout, bed net supplies, immunizations, etc.) have a positive effect on people, and over time, these combined efforts can help decrease the daunting issue of poverty.

    4. Something that really caught my attention in this week’s readings that I’ll miss having the opportunity to discuss in class was a comment in Banerjee and Duflo’s paper. On page 92, they start to discuss the “stereotype threat,” examples of which include African-American students doing poorly on exams when first asked to identify their race and females doing better on math tests after being told women and men do equally well on it/gender doesn’t have an effect on that particular exam.
    When I read the part about the decrease in African-American test scores, my first reaction was “Well then why not put it at the end of the test?” This semester, we have seen that there is a huge discrepancy in educational quality and academic achievement amongst races in the US and all over the world. We have also learned that a lot of these things can in part be attributed to the idea of self-fulfilling prophecies. If children are not led to believe that they can achieve success, greatness, or any other goal, they often won’t because they already see it as impossible and don’t try or give it their best effort. I wonder if something as simple as moving a demographics form to the end of an exam can help eliminate the reminder of racial inequality in education before test-taking, and make African-American students feel more confident that they can do well. I also wonder if doing so would increase in African-American test scores. If so, I think this would highlight that a portion of education inequality stems from these core beliefs children have that they are unable to do certain things because of their race. Additionally, seeing these higher scores will hopefully give them the confidence and drive they need to reach their full potential and breakfree from the self-fulfilling prophecy years of academic inequality has thrust upon them.

  11. Lei Liu

    1.From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts or comments you would like to share?This weeks Powerpoint presentation was clear. When it was mentioned what the Conditional Cash Transfer is, the slides provided pictures to help me understand the PROMESA program. In the example given, to obtain the PROMESA program in Mexico, certain conditions need to be met, that is, it is required to take the child to a public health institution for medical examination and immunization.
    2.From the readings are all concepts clear? All readings are clear. These readings mainly discuss research on education and inequality in developing regions. These include family background and the impact of education on economic and social mobility. In “Chapter 4-Top of the Class” In: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, Turkish children are mentioned. Some children may not have the opportunity to get an education, their parents cannot pay expensive tuition fees, and even their children have to make money to support the family. Some parents think that education cannot bring them any return, so they will not invest in their children to obtain education.
    3.Summarize the main takeaways from the videos. In the first TED Talk video, Tom Weisner discussed the impact of background and cultural differences on children’s lives, as well as the quality of life. These include “weird societies” and men are more likely to get inheritance rights than women. The second video discusses humanitarian aid, namely cash transfers. Directly giving people cash is the most effective method. Cash can enable a family to accurately purchase the products it needs (without wasting), promote economic circulation, and reduce the transportation cost of exported goods. The third TED Talk video discusses how to effectively help (eliminate poverty). For example, she provided immunizations and distributed mosquito nets for testing. From the tests, she found out what effective and ineffective methods were used, and provided discounts or free items to help them.
    4.Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of class for our last Lecture Post? I have learned a lot from this class and have a deeper understanding of the impact of educational inequality and class and cultural differences on children. Allowing children to acquire education and skills is the best investment for children.

  12. Samantha

    1. Everything from the powerpoint was clear and I do not have any questions about it.

    2. Yes, all concepts are clear. There were a few things I found interesting in the readings. In the Poor Economics reading, I found it most interesting that teachers who were assigned students of the bottom track didn’t put in as much effort as when they were assigned students of a higher track. I remember in high school, we also had something similar. Kids who struggled more or were ‘bad behaving’ were placed in one class and students who did well were assigned in another class. I was accidentally assigned into the class where students struggled more, so I had to stay in the class until they fixed my schedule. In the class, the teachers tried to teach, but were more harsh when the students were bad. I remember not learning anything in the two days I was in that class because the teachers would cut the lessons short if any of the students acted up or would enforce rules like, if someone speaks, we have to spend 15 minutes in silence. I related the second reading to the TED talk where the man was saying that one must understand the school in the context of where it is. This is very important, as we see that there are different results from different parts of the world.

    3. Ted Talk: Most important thing is to think about where in the world is the child growing up. W.E.I.R.D. stands for western educated industrialized rich democratic. The advice that’d we’d use for our children in the states are very different from the advice or changes children in a different part of the world would need. For instance, thinking about what person is valued in their community.

    Cash: Cash transfers means giving people money to buy what they need, as people can make their own choices with the cash. It’s also beneficial for traders because they can use the money to support their local economies. Giving cash is cheaper than goods. However, cash isn’t good for every problem such as when there is famine and food is needed.

    Esther Duflo: There are a lot of questions we need to ask, which can all be answered, even though the big question of the correlation between aid and benefit to the country cannot. The last mile problem is when the technology and infrastructure exists, but the problem persists. There’s still a gap. Randomized controlled trials can be done to tell us what does or doesn’t work. There’s myths about immunization and a difference between action and intend. The camp with incentives saw many people getting immunizations. People who got a free bednet had a likelier chance of buying one than those who didn’t. Essentially, we need to improve social policy because it makes sense, just as we improve technology.

    4. I don’t have any questions, but I do wanna add that this was a really great class. It sucks we didn’t get to meet each other. I think it would’ve been fun to interact in a class setting, but this did great in place of that. Good luck to everyone taking their finals and have a great summer!

  13. Meghan Ndiaye

    1. The powerpoint really helped show how many things can affect a child. The tables you provided helped me see how the education in Mexico and Brazil improved and I really appreciated that. I did not have much knowledge about conditional cash transfers and I found the power point really helpful.

    2. Yes all concepts from the readings were clear. I love how the first reading had a story of Shantarama’s family. I like reading articles like this where a story is included and is very informative instead of like research base or journal articles because they can tend to be a bit boring for me and I won’t really stay focused. The main focus of this reading is the factors that affect people from getting an education, including Shantarma’s story was brilliant.

    3. The ted talk video focuses on the most important things in child development which is, where the child is growing up. Weisner also talks about his experience in Kenya and how we live in a weird (western, educated, industrialization, rich, democratic) society. The second video informs you on cash transfers work and what you should know about it. I completely agree with the video, not everyone needs the same things. Yes, aid agencies are doing a good job but not everyone is in the lack of food or clothing (that’s what a lot of agencies give). Giving people cash allows them to get what they actually need. Besides the cash helping the people that are receiving it it is also helping the economy, putting less toll on agency workers and they will be able to focus on other things that are helpful. I always donate when I can, however lately a lot of people have been changing my mind about it. Recently my job added a donation thing on the registers for childhood cancer and I have to ask customers if they would like to donate. One customer told me that she works in a hospital that specializes in cancer and these patients hardly ever see this money that’s being donated to them. That all the big corporations keep the money. Now I’m leaning towards helping or donating to the person directly instead of through an agency. Duflo focuses on how we can help in a productive way.

    4. I don’t really have any questions but I would just like to say I really enjoy this class. It was extremely informative and I learned a lot. I have always been interested in how a family’s SES or just a family life can affect their children’s development so I’m always watching documentaries on that. This has broadened my interest way more and I’m glad I took it. Thanks for an interesting semester!

  14. Cha-Neice Gordon

    1. Everything from the PowerPoint was very clear. I do not have any questions and/ or comments.

    2. From the reading, pretty much all concepts were clear.

    3. The video of the Ted Talk discusses factors that influence a child’s development. It also discusses the importance of their development. It is important to understand that a child’s environment affects and influences them just as much as proper nutrition. In the other video, it discusses the many different ways individuals can donate and help these communities who are less fortunate. Also it mentions looking into how the community actually needs help as opposed to how WE feel they need help.

    4. I do not have any questions from what we studied over the course. I believe the information was very accessible. However, I did think the readings challenged me which I enjoyed because I felt it forced me to focus on the reading and really breakdown the information to absorb all of it. Truly enjoyed the semester!

  15. Stanley Lopez

    1. The PowerPoint as always was very informative and easy to digest. As I have mentioned in the past, the use of graphs and data from research paper is very helpful because you explain it so well. Without that explanation I feel that I would be lost. I also feel that we went to the topic of how family affects your “achievement”, and how family background can sometimes be a disadvantage for you.

    2. The readings were somewhat easy to understand and dense. The reading “Top of the Class” was very interesting because I feel that we finally got to read something different from a research paper, so it nice to have a change. Although it wasn’t a research paper, it was definitely very informative on the topic. Buchmann’s study clearly explain the relationship between family backgrounds and educational outcomes, however, it was very long.

    3. All three videos were really easy to understand, I truly like the video more than the research papers. The Ted Talk by Tom Weisner caught my attention from the beginning when he stated that the most important thing for child development is thinking where in the world the child will grow up. And if we think about, it makes sense, because depending on where that child grows up, he will have to face many different challenges, he will have different types of resources, ultimately, he will have a better life in some places than in others. The Ted Talk from Esther Duflo really got me thinking, I never thought about the idea that giving aid to poor countries maybe doesn’t make a difference, but as she says we will never know the answer for this question. I liked how she explain that we can use control groups and experimental groups within society to see if “the treatment” provided works or not. This video was truly amazing, it just got me thinking even after it ended. Lastly, the video of “10 things you should know about cash transfers” , the second point made surprised, on how is better for aid companied to supply people with cash rather than with goods, that way local stores can benefit from that cash as well. The video also answered a question that I had always have, what if people use that money for addictions? but the video explained how a study showed that people actually buy what they need.

    4. I would like to say that this class was worth taken, I have learned so much from it which is incredible. I feel that the information given in this class can actually be used for good, because I know have a better understudying of education and development. I have never thought of all the inequalities that exists in our world, and all the things that affect inequality as well. Knowing this I can actually do something good to eliminate inequalities in education. Overall, I will 100% recommend this class to anyone because I feel that everyone should know this information. Thank you, professor, for everything!

  16. Angel Garcia

    Everything from the powerful was clear and refreshing, it helped me understand the readings more and the charts made it more helpful. As we know the United States has one of the largest issues with upward mobility which becomes really ironic when you put it in the perspective of industrialism. I also enjoyed the slide talking about macro structural forces with the negative and positives views that shape educational stratification.

    The readings were also manageable and clear to understand, I had an interesting interaction with the idealism of individuals meeting the expectations opposed on to them by others, we live in a society where kids do not get the luxury of attending schools or finishing what they may have started due to our systems and the restrains it puts on them which forces them to seek employment to support their families and themselves. Each kid is a different story with a different family facing different challenges and that’s not something our government it’s willing to accept nonetheless work towards fixing.

    The videos were all clear and very educational, they made me questions many things but they were all overall very good.

    I really enjoyed the semester, I had a great time discussing the readings and the facts of our educational systems and the changes of development, it’s crazy to see how many injustices and plain cruelty there are all throughout this country, I hope that with this information I get to change the chain of success not only in my family but those around me by spreading this knowledge, it was a pleasure discussing these things and hearing about everyone’s experiences with this recurring problem.

  17. Yassine

    From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts, or comments you would like to share? From the Powerpoint presentation, every slide was clear, and I was able to grasp concepts about the readings efficiently. This was a short presentation, the breakdown of the industrialism thesis, families, schools, educational outcomes, and conditional cash transfers were explained concisely as well.

    From the readings are all concepts clear? From all the readings given most concepts were clear. I only had trouble understanding the concepts in Buchmann’s reading idea dealt with social stratification in developing countries. The relationships between the multiple factors that influenced education and social stratification such as family culture about education and opportunities open to people were confusing for me until going over the presentation on slide 4.

    Summarize the main takeaways from the videos. Some of the main takeaways from the video like the ted talk discuss children’s development and the demographics (location specifically) that may impact that specific child. Research is used to bracket these children and examine their development. The second video mainly discusses the benefits that come out of cash transfers that most people aren’t aware of who could take advantage of this. The third video talks about the various issues children/people face that interfere with their development that people who don’t have to worry about when their next meal is aren’t aware of. They talk about multiple ways/steps people could take to help these lives of children/people.
    Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of the class for our last Lecture Post? I don’t have any questions about what we studied in the course but would like to say that this past year or so of online learning and this class, in general, has put education into a different perspective for me. This class has also made me more aware and grateful for the opportunities given to me.

  18. Sharharra Pettway

    1. The powerpoint presentation was clear.
    2. The readings were clear. The section from Poor Economics pointed out issues with schools and why they in a sense fail which is because it is not inclusive and considered for all backgrounds of children, so they are teaching and creating curriculum not for the students that actually attend the school but are modeled for the ones that don’t. School systems expect all students to learn and succeed the same but they all do not have the means to do that to produce those outcomes. It also mentions how schools treat different students from different backgrounds, both in how they help them in reaching success and how they treat them as people.
    3. The takeaways from the first video included how certain things in children’s lives factor into the development and how the differences in lifestyles play a part in that, like the activities they are involved in, environment, and social community. It also brings up how societies seem weird to others since the way they do things are different and not considered normal in other places.
    The second video talked about cash transfers and how it is important for certain situations especially when it comes to helping others out. It talks about the benefits of cash and how it gives people who receive it the choice to use it for what they need to and also easier for people to get access to it and use it. Cash can also help economies and make peoples lives a little better.
    The takeaways from the third video is insight on poverty, ways to give help that provide actual solutions instead of patching up issues. It mentioned giving aid and how there’s difficulties in knowing if it helped the situation. It’s important to bring awareness to issues going on in the world and to see them to want to make the world a better place but also to see people in need as people like themselves and not a charity case to make oneself feel better. Also, a perspective on finding solutions that are most efficient and have results.
    4. I really liked this class and even though it was kinda similar to the one last semester, I felt it was really informative. It provided other factors to look at when it comes to inequalities and how it can also influence things like education and development. insead of how it is usually talked about in terms of just money or considering the way people live. I also liked how the topics discussed connected with each other and how the lessons were organized over the course of the semester. The class over all provided another understanding and a different way to look at things.

  19. Luisa Fajardo

    1)The PowerPoint was very clear and I appreciated how each author thoroughly articulated where their values came from. All, including culture, colleges, and family, has an impact on a child’s growth, as the article and PowerPoint demonstrate. This Macro-structural system is very self-explanatory, particularly for those of us who are currently in the system and are observing how these factors influence our growth. Also, the article focuses on a study involving fathers and sons, and although I was doubtful of the candidates, I recalled from a previous lesson that it was discussed why studies sometimes overlooked the economic and career status of mothers and daughters.
    2)All of the reading concepts were straightforward and very well presented, and Chapter 4 was particularly insightful in terms of seeing how schooling is imparted to children in countries other than the United States. I thought it was brilliant that conditional cash transfers could be used as a means of control.
    3)The debate on child development and the relationship with the element that has the most impact on it is one of the key takeaways from the first TED Talk video. Tom Weisner addresses the discrepancies in people’s responses when asked what is best for a child’s growth, but he claims that the decision on where the child will grow up has the most impact. Weisner also goes through what he refers to as “weird cultures” and some of the contradictions that exist inside them. For example, in these societies, children are cared for by multiple people. Finally, he discusses some gender disparities, such as how boys are more likely to inherit than girls. What cash transfers are, how important they are, and what can be done with cash transfers are the key takeaways from the second video. Giving people cash, for example, is much less expensive than giving them products, since the latter requires more resources, such as warehouses and vehicles. The third video explains what randomized control trials are and how this type of social experiment can help people who are poor. Esther Duflo approaches this issue in a number of ways, one of which is the immunization controlled trial.
    4)I don’t have any concerns, but I would like to say that this was a fantastic course. We didn’t get to communicate in person, which is a shame. I think it would have been more interesting to interact in a classroom environment and discuss each other experiences more in person but I really enjoy being in this class and learning each of the topics that were discussed

  20. Sophia Youssef (Her)

    1. From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts, or comments you would like to share?
    The PowerPoint presentation was very clear as always. The thing I enjoyed was how there were a lot of examples to help explain macro-structural forces that help shape education. As well as how both authors had several factors explained in how a child’s education could be affected. There was a point made that states based on the materials developing countries provide will somehow determine the achievement of these students, which I found to be true at a very young age myself. For example, if you take care of a project and you put more effort into this project then the result would be positive, while if you don’t put in as much effort in this project the result wouldn’t be what you hoped for. Basically what you put in is what you get back in return.
    2. From the readings are all concepts clear?
    From the readings, the concepts are majority clear to me. Although the readings are long they were very easy to comprehend. The reading about CCT, got me thinking of a situation I encountered in my psychology class and how people are getting riled up that to go back to in-person school you have to take the vaccine. And everyone went crazy. That for school certain requirements have to be covered and taken care of. And personally, if the people don’t want to take the vaccine then they can stay online. Because they chose whether or not to take the vaccine and if the vaccine helps the spread of covid then the individuals who have already taken it can go back to in-person classes. Which again a choice, sure it may seem to be forced but it is still a choice overall. With the other reading Buchmann, it is basically what I stated in the first question how if you invest more in something the outcome will be great.
    3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
    The summary of the videos basically discussed that where and how the child is raised will determine where they will be in the future. That many things take into affect how the child will develop and become their own individual. In the TED talk, he talks about WEIRD which is an acromion for educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic. Which tries to figure out what society can do to improve a child’s wellbeing across the world. The video about cash transfer was very entertaining, simple, and fun. Cash transfers can be used to help developing countries get what they need. That the people who are receiving money might not use it for the intended reason that the study was conducted. Lastly, the last video discussed randomized controlled trials and how social experiments have a huge part in poverty. Dulfo stated that every day over 25,000 children die of preventable causes all over the world which is a serious matter. How to spend money on the poor is a simple concept that all you have to do is more which isn’t at all true, because the other side to the question is has aid actually done anything good? But it is a question that is open-ended because we don’t know whether it will help or worsen developing countries. There is a controlled trial that can help us as a society figure out what drug works, what doesn’t work, and why. Which can end up helping us solve the mile question.
    4. Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of the class for our last Lecture Post? I have no questions, this was was actually a lot of fun and I learned a lot from this semester that I can hopefully use once I graduate and head to graduate school. That with all the readings and topics discussed I now have a better outlook on how to solve or figure out what needs to be solved in my own environment, with my own family and education. I truly enjoyed this class and I had so much fun! Thank you Professor Galvao for everything you’ve taught me!

  21. Kelly Zhumi (she/her)

    1. From my PowerPoint presentation, what still isn’t very clear? Any questions, thoughts or comments you would like to share?
    The PowerPoint presentation was clear and concise by elaborating the key points of the readings and tables presented. I appreciated the rundown and examples of the concept of conditional cash transfers. CCTs basically provide financial assistance to poor families upon fulfillment of conditions, which I wasn’t aware of the programs established in other countries, but I believe they are beneficial for not only the children but the community as a whole. Also, I appreciate the explanation of the chart regarding educational inequality and how there are many factors, such as family, school, and community, that shape a child’s development. One thought lingering in my mind is the industrialism thesis since the U.S. is considered as an industrialized country but not every resident is receiving the same high-quality education, there are factors we have discussed throughout the course such as socioeconomic status that hinder an individual’s educational attainment. There are parents from high-income backgrounds that enroll their children in private schools for high-quality education and are hands-on in their child’s cognitive development than parents from low-income backgrounds. Educational inequality does continue to exist.
    2. From the readings are all concepts clear?
    The readings were clear, and the presentation had provided a brief recap of the concepts presented. I felt more at ease reading Chapter 4 of Poor Economics since it had provided more of a creative narrative to it than the other articles while continuing to be informative. Chapter 4 had discussed the concept of CCT while discussing other factors that may prevent a child from receiving education such as providing for their family. The other reading by Buchmann and Hannum discusses educational stratification and inequality in developing countries. I believe the reading had tied together with the material we have learned throughout the course regarding how an individual’s background can affect their development.
    3. Summarize the main takeaways from the videos.
    In the first TED talk, Weinser explains the importance of child development, specifically, what factors can affect their educational attainment. Some examples he provided were what environment is the child was raised in and what opportunities are available to them. The video informing us of what cash transfers emphasized how giving people money is more beneficial than giving them resources. It allows individuals to have more autonomy and spend money on items they truly need, which prevents wasting resources. Furthermore, providing cash can cut out delivery costs from exporting goods. In the second TED talk with Duflo, she explains how randomized controlled trials had provided answers on how to fight poverty, which is to improve social policy. For instance, she discovered that camps with incentives had increased the number of people receiving immunization. Also, if people have received free bednets, it is most likely they will buy the second one – proving that they aren’t dependent on free handouts.
    4. Do you have any other questions from anything we studied in our course throughout the semester? Or is there a thought or comment you would like to share with the rest of class for our last Lecture Post?
    I don’t have any questions regarding the course. I believe the course was very well-structured and I enjoyed how every reading is building on from the previous, it allowed us to reflect on the concepts we have just learned and to relate them to everyday experiences. Additionally, hearing personal experiences from classmates was a huge help in understanding these concepts too. I appreciate that we did not focus on U.S. institutions but from other countries as well, I feel like I have learned a lot from this course.

  22. Karla Marin

    The power point was informative and helpful as it has been for the entirety of the semester. I found the charts to be clear to understand and the information presented on the slides helped me be better prepared for the articles that we were expected to read this week as well as help me get a better understanding of what the articles were stating. One of the things that stood out to me from the slides was the topic on Conditional Cash Transfer. I think it was explained clearly and It really caught my attention.
    Ultimately, most of the concepts from the readings were clear after taking the time to slowly read the articles and with the help of the power point slides. I always find that most of these articles are a little tougher to understand or just dense in general but eventually you understand what the readings are about. From this weeks reading I learned about the inequalities in developing countries and the educational stratification that they have in comparison to better developed countries.
    This week we had three videos to watch, which I always prefer and enjoy because they tend to be short and easier to understand than the readings. The first video talked about child development in societies and how they are impacted differently. The second video talked about cash transfers, what they are and what their benefits or importance are. Lastly the third video was about poverty and how randomized control trials are a part of a social experiment that helps manage poverty.

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