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Implementing System-wide Change (fast) in Education: The Case of Rio de Janeiro
February 18, 2014Washington DC

Dr. Cláudia Costin, Rio de Janeiro's Education Secretary will share her experiences in designing and implementing ambitious education reforms in Brazil's largest municipal school system.

Since 2009, Cláudia Costin has been Education Secretary of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s largest municipal school system. Brought in with a mandate to “re-make the system” Dr. Costin has led the design and implementation of ambitious reforms, including: higher standards for teachers and directors; a new curriculum; re-design of teacher professional development; ongoing assessment of student learning progress; targeted remedial programs for students falling behind; a rich bank of online teaching and learning materials prepared by teachers for teachers, called Educopedia; and innovative investments to create a new model of high quality schools in Rio’s most violent favelas, called the Escolas de Amanha (Schools of Tomorrow).

The results have been impressive. In just the first two years, Rio’s score on the national index of education quality of Education rose 8% for the first cycle of primary school (1-5th grade) and 22% for the second cycle (6-9th grade) – one of the largest improvements of any municipal system in Brazil. Further improvement was seen in 2012, on Rio’s own tests.

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    Presenter: Cláudia Costin, Education Secretary, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    As a public sector management expert who has been Federal Minister of Public Administration under President Cardoso, led a prominent Brazilian NGO (the Vitor Civita Foundation), was a World Bank sector manager in 2000-2001 and has taught at São Paulo’s Catholic University (PUC-SP), the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, INSPER, and Quebec’s École Nationale d’Administration Publique, Claudia brought unique expertise and perspective to the challenge of reforming education. She will provide an inside view of the context in Rio when she assumed office, how she set priorities, built her management team, developed a strategy, and gained political support for ambitious reforms. She will share frank observations about what has worked and not worked, and what elements of her strategy and reform experience in Rio are transferrable to other areas of public sector management.
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    Chair: Augusto de la Torre, Chief Economist, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, World Bank

    Augusto de la Torre, is the Chief Economist for Latin American and the Caribbean. Since joining the World Bank in 1997, he has held the positions of Senior Advisor in the Financial Systems Department and Senior Financial Sector Advisor, both in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. From 1993 to 1997, Mr. de la Torre was the head of the Central Bank of Ecuador, and in November 1996 was chosen by Euromoney Magazine as the year’s "Best Latin Central Banker." From 1986 to 1992 he worked at the International Monetary Fund, where, among other positions, he was the IMF’s Resident Representative in Venezuela (1991-1992). Mr. de la Torre has published extensively on a broad range of macroeconomic and financial development topics. He is a member of the Carnegie Network of Economic Reformers. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics at the University of Notre Dame and holds a Bachelors degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of Ecuador.
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    Discussant: Halsey Rogers, Lead Economist, Education Sector, World Bank

    Halsey Rogers is Lead Economist with the Education team in the Human Development Network anchor. He currently serves as lead technical advisor for the team’s SABER program, as well as team lead for the Education Strategy 2020: Learning for All. From 2002 to 2010, he worked with the human development team in the Bank’s central research department. He has published peer-reviewed research and provided policy advice in various areas, including how to improve the quality of service delivery in education (particularly through exploring teachers' performance and motivation) and how to measure and improve aid effectiveness and adopt effective development strategies. Rogers also served from 1997 to 2002 as an advisor to former World Bank chief economists Joseph Stiglitz and Nicholas Stern. He joined the Bank as a Young Professional in 1996. Before joining the Bank, Rogers served as staff economist at the US Council of Economic Advisors in Washington and at the Indonesian Ministry of Finance in Jakarta, and he also held research positions at UC Berkeley and at the Korea Development Institute in Seoul. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as an AB from Princeton University and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Event Information
  • Date and time: February 18, 2014, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EST
  • Location: World Bank I building, Room I8-300, 1850 I St NW Washington DC 20433

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