Economic Wealth and Educational Issues: An International Comparison

Abstract

Poverty has long been associated with lower levels of school achievement within developed nations, as well as across nations. The level of economic wealth of a nation has also been found to be correlated with many aspects relating to education, such as funding, access, human resources, and literacy. This paper describes the educational scenario in four countries (Rwanda, Philippines, Argentina, and the United States)--one at each of the four levels of economic wealth as described by the World Bank--and develops a simple explanatory model including issues, problems, and programs. Data sources include personal teaching experience, published research, government documentation and international comparison data for each country