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Depending on the system, schools for this period, or a part of it, may be called secondary or high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, middle schools, colleges, or vocational schools. The exact meaning of any of these terms varies from one system to another. The exact boundary between primary and secondary education also varies from country to country and even within them but is generally around the seventh to the tenth year of schooling. Harvard faculty and K-12 district leaders will engage in this urgent conversation and discuss evidence-based policies to advance solutions, increase resilience, and support student learning. The Education Endowment Foundation is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement. We do this by supporting schools to improve teaching and learning through better use of evidence.

  • GPE helps countries build stronger education systems to reach the most vulnerable girls and boys, improve teaching and learning, and build resilience to withstand shocks and adapt to the challenges of the 21st century.
  • Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in Europe.
  • Formal education occurs in a structured environment whose explicit purpose is teaching students.
  • Through evidence building, coordinated advocacy and collective action, the UNGEI partnership works to close the gender gap in education.
  • In the United States, Canada, and Australia, primary and secondary education together are sometimes referred to as K-12 education, and in New Zealand Year 1–13 is used.

The Prussian Education News system in the 19th century, for example, wanted to turn boys and girls into adults who would serve the state’s political goals. After the Fall of Rome, the Catholic Church became the sole preserver of literate scholarship in Western Europe. The church established cathedral schools in the Early Middle Ages as centres of advanced education. Some of these establishments ultimately evolved into medieval universities and forebears of many of Europe’s modern universities. During the High Middle Ages, Chartres Cathedral operated the famous and influential Chartres Cathedral School.

Do school vouchers offer students access to better education?

In Africa, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development has launched an “e-school program” to provide all 600,000 primary and high schools with computer equipment, learning materials and internet access within 10 years. An International Development Agency project called nabuur.com, started with the support of former American President Bill Clinton, uses the Internet to allow co-operation by individuals on issues of social development. While informal learning often takes place outside educational establishments and does not follow a specified curriculum, it can also occur within educational settings and even during formal learning situations. Educators can structure their lessons to directly utilize their students informal learning skills within the education setting. Programs at ISCED level 3, or upper secondary education, are typically designed to complete the secondary education process.

Learning Losses

Intelligence is an important factor in how the individual responds to education. Those who have higher scores of intelligence-metrics tend to perform better at school and go on to higher levels of education. This effect is also observable in the opposite direction, in that education increases measurable intelligence.

Charities like One Laptop per Child are dedicated to providing infrastructures through which the disadvantaged may access educational materials. The Renaissance in Europe ushered in a new age of scientific and intellectual inquiry and appreciation of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg developed a printing press, which allowed works of literature to spread more quickly.