What Burkina Faso can teach us about scaling up early childhood programs

Alaska has created a way for residents to financially benefit from the state's dependence on oil revenues. By giving residents a yearly portion of the revenue, the state has been able to see positive effects from an often conflict-ridden industry.

Due to recent brain development research, educators are working to add more math education into pre-school and kindergarten classes. Studies show that children of this age are actually extremely receptive to numbers and learning geometry.

Boston had a hard time solving civic problems efficiently and holding its leadership accountable. In response, a team in the Mayor's office was charged with "making Boston better through clever, low-cost hacks" such as a mobile app that allows residents to send government service requests to City Hall.

In an effort to break the cycle of poverty in Memphis, a government organization is using conditional cash transfers, paying students if they earn good grades and adults if they maintain a full-time job.

Huge numbers of students lack the chance to go to college because of financial problems. Recently, Kalamazoo schools received more funding allowing them to have the chance to help and pay for students to then go to college and receive a higher education.

The pressure is on for the federal government to spend tax money more wisely. Evidence-based policy making is gaining in popularity as a way for the government to spend tax money wisely. While not quite as flashy or exciting as past ways, this has a proven track record of positive impact.

Most insurance companies avoid insuring poor farmers because the transaction costs are too high, but a non-profit in Kenya created a sustainable way to cover them.

Preschoolers in the U.S. who misbehave are increasingly being expelled. In Connecticut, trained counselors educated teachers about how to deal with emotionally traumatized kids which reduced expulsions.

In Memphis, a creative blight-reduction initiative called 25 Square Blocks broke down the city into blocks. Inspectors were able to quickly identify all the violations and fix them, using the same amount of funding, but less time, as the old call-and-respond model.

As Vermont struggles to create legislation regulating school district management and financial efficiency, the state looks to models in Maine and New Hampshire for guidance. In Maine, school districts have tried to save money and resources through consolidation; in New Hampshire, officials have reworked the way schooling is financed altogether.