One of the noteworthy global achievements of the past two decades has been the remarkable increase in thenumber of children attending school and the number of children completing the primary cycle. As more children start school, the focus has shifted toward the quality of their education--on true learning, not just schooling. The critical role played by teachers to enhance the quality of education is especially salient in a populous, geographically dispersed, and culturally diverse country such as Indonesia. With close to three million teachers, Indonesia has one of the largest and most...

Indonesia has begun to emerge into middle-income status, yet persistent poverty and stark inequalities continue to affect young children's development. This book tells the story of Indonesia's efforts to change the trajectory of development for poor children. Many countries have similar aims, but several aspects of what is reported here are especially valuable and perhaps unique. The study offers data on all aspects of health and development in a sample of rural young children, collected with internationally-validated measures, as well as household information, information about parenting...