In today’s high-tech world, a good grounding in mathematics and science is critical for students who wish to compete for good jobs and thrive in innovative fields. However, the results of standardized tests reveal that students in Latin America and the Caribbean are among the world’s lowest performers in the important fields of mathematics and science. Our education systems are failing to deliver the problem-solving, creative, and critical-thinking skills that our region so desperately needs.

This need not be so. Armed with the research and practice presented in the forthcoming book, All Children Count, education leaders and policy makers can choose to turn the situation around. In many conversations over the past several years, education policy makers, school administrators, and teachers have raised questions about why the region’s education systems are failing to prepare students for the mathematics and science demands of the 21st century. Does the problem have its roots in the goals that our education systems have set for student learning, in the pedagogical models used in our classrooms, or in the preparation of our teachers? Exploring those questions is the goal of All Children Count. This overview report of All Children Count summarizes the findings of the authors, renowned researchers and practitioners of mathematics and science education who have extensive experience in schools and classrooms in and beyond the region. This overview report highlights the international research that defines the components of high-quality early mathematics and science education from preschool through the primary grades.

It is hard to say with certainty whether any particular idea will work in the region. It is difficult, if not impossible, to directly compare the results of a given education reform with what might have happened if that reform had not taken place. But randomized control trials are one way to create a plausible counterfactual (“what if?”) scenario that can show us what might have happened in the absence of an intervention. In this overview report readers will find several such experimental scenarios that shed light on what works—and what new techniques would likely work—in mathematics and science education in our region. The authors focus on translating such findings into concrete ideas and realistic suggestions that will help educators ensure that all children receive quality early education in mathematics and science.