Two other recent studies, conducted in sub-Saharan Africa by field researchers working

with scholars of behavioral science in the United States and England, also tested antipoverty
strategies and found in each case that conventional instincts about what would work were
wrong. (These collaborations were organized by our nonprofit, Innovations for Poverty
Action, which has overseen more than 500 such evaluation in 51 countries.
The first study took place in Uganda. As is the case in many poor countries, even when
children in Uganda can go to school, they often lack the money for basic school supplies,
which can limit their learning. Research has shown that "commitment devices," which keep
savings out of reach until a date or savings goal is reached, can be effective in helping people
save. So one of us, Professor Karlan, along with the University of Texas economist Leigh
Linden, collaborated with two education organizations in Uganda to find out if commitment
devices could help students save for school supplies - and if so, how to best design the
commitment strategy.
Public primary school students were given the chance to deposit money weekly into a
lockbox, and they were informed that their accumulated savings would be returned to them
at a school-supplies fair at the beginning of the next trimester. Schools were randomly
assigned to one of three groups. In the first group, students were offered a "hard"
commitment: Their accumulated savings would be returned in the form of a voucher that had
to be spent on school supplies. In the second group, students got a "soft" commitment: Their
savings would be returned in cash, and could be spent as they wished. The third group of
schools continued as normal, serving as a comparison group whose savings and spending
money were also observed.
You might think that the "hard" commitment would be the best strategy, since it forces the
money to be spent on school supplies. But surprisingly, as we report in a working paper, the
soft commitment worked better. Students who got their savings back in cash saved more, and
when the program was combined with parental involvement (which was also randomized),
the students also bought more school supplies and achieved higher test scores.
The second study took place in Zambia. One problem there, as in other low-income
countries, is how to recruit the "right" kind of workers for jobs like teachers and health
workers - where "right" refers to those who are capable and genuinely interested in helping
the community, not just looking for money and a steppingstone to another job. There is often
resistance to increasing what these jobs pay, or otherwise improving their benefits, for fear
of attracting opportunists.
Adopted from: http://www.nytimes.com

1. What is the purpose of the two studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa mentioned in the
text?
A) To find out how to recruit the right kind of workers for low-income jobs
B) To test antipoverty strategies
C) To determine the best way to spend savings on school supplies
D) To study the effects of parental involvement on student performance
E) To organize evaluations in 51 countries

2. Why did the soft commitment strategy work better than the hard commitment strategy in
the Uganda study?
A) Because students were more likely to save money with the soft commitment
 B) Because students were more likely to spend their savings on school supplies with the soft
commitment the studies focus on school supplies
C) Because the hard commitment forced students to spend their savings on school supplies not focus on
the question
D) Because the soft commitment was combined with parental involvement (why soft

E) Because the hard commitment was not effective in increasing student performance commitment)

3. What was the goal of the first study conducted in Uganda?

evaluate : ada study sebelumnya
A. To evaluate the effectiveness of different antipoverty strategies yang harus dievaluasi
B. To find out how to best design a commitment strategy for students
C. To determine how to improve the quality of education in Uganda
D. To study the effect of poverty on children's learning abilities
E. To determine the most effective way to distribute school supplies

4. In organizing the ideas in the passage, the author starts by ....

a. explaining the importance of using research to evaluate the antipoverty strategies
b. arguing against conventional thoughts that were often wrong
c. describing the situation that antipoverty strategies should be applied precisely just showing
d. showing that conventional instincts about what would work were wrong
e. presenting the result of studies concerning to antipoverty strategies not result, just state ing 2 study

5. The paragraph following the passage most likely deals with ....
a. the accuracy of government recruitment advertisement to attract the "right" kind of
workers
b. the characteristics of the "right" kind of workers in a low-income country have stated
c. the method of how to apply the workers’ recruitment to get the "right" kind of
workers
d. studies to reveal how workers training to become the "right" kind of workers
e. the relations between income and opportunities for career advancement offered for
workers
perdebatan
author dan expert Many modern educational experts claim that teaching facts and academic skills is less
important than achieving other social objectives. For some liberals, the schools must first
change attitudes or provide nurturing in place of failed families or help establish equality and
social justice. For some conservatives, the schools must first prepare kids for the workplace
by molding them into supple corporate citizens, while others want the focus to be on family
values, a competitive spirit, or other social or behavioral objectives. But the idea of simply
educating kids seems to have taken a backseat to most educational experts and
administrators. They miss the point that kids with real academic skills, especially skills in
reading, writing, and mathematics, are more likely to overcome social barriers, more likely to
have genuine self-esteem, and most likely to be genuinely prepared for the challenges of life
and the workplace. By emphasizing so many things besides a genuine, classical education, the
educational establishment tends to sell our kids short and bring about many of the problems
they claim to be solving.
Consider the case of Wesley Elementary School in Houston. According to Richard Nadler
in the article, "Failing Grade", Wesley has all the demographic markers of a school bound for
failure. Over 80% of the students qualify for subsidized lunches, and nearly all are minorities
(92% black. 7% Hispanic). Yet it ranks 15 among the best schools of Houston, with first-graders
placing at the 82nd percentile level in reading tests which is 50 points higher than the
expected level for similar at-risk schools.
What has made Wesley so successful? The answer is classical education in the form of
Direct Instruction curriculum designed by Siegfried Engelmann, an example of the much
ridiculed "sage-on-the-stage" approach. This Direct Instruction system boosts reading,
writing, and math scores by 30 to 40 percentile points in at risk schools. Sadly, Engelmann,
like others who successfully challenge popular fads in educational reform, has been rejected
by much of the educational establishment. His success is an embarrassment to them.

6. What is the main argument of modern educational experts regarding teaching in schools?
a. Schools must focus on academic skills
b. Social objectives are more important than academic skills
c. Family values should be the primary focus
d. Equality and social justice are unnecessary in schools
e. Kids don't need genuine academic skills

7. Which of the following best reflects the author’s opinion about schools?
A. Teaching social skill is more important that academic skills
B. Schools must be able to change the attitude of the students attitude nya positiv, negativ, atau netral

C. Teaching academic skills is more important than social skills

D. Teaching social skills should use conventional methods
E. Teaching academic skills is somehow contemporary.

8. The second paragraph is related to the first paragraph in which the second paragraph
presents ….
A. an elaboration of purpose of an effective school
B. a discussion on the requirement for the good school
C. a real example rather than an opinion of good school
D. an illustration to support the opinions on school subject
E. evidence in favor of the value of social objectives.

9. Why has Siegfried Engelmann been rejected by much of the educational establishment?
A. Because he prioritizes social objectives over education
B. Because he focuses on family values
C. Because he molds kids into corporate citizens
D. Because he is an embarrassment to them
E. Because he is not successful in improving academic skills

10. From the second paragraph, it can be inferred that ….

A. Wesley is a successful prestigious school
B. the students at Wesley are from the haves the haves = yang berpunya
C. the students at Wesley are mostly colored fact = stated
D. the colored students usually perform better depends on curiculum
E. Wesley curriculum is adopted by other school. classical education