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After improving enrolment rates significantly, many developing countries such as Peru are facing the challenge to increase learning levels among students. Over the past few years, many researchers have turned to teacher-related variables as a way to better understand classroom processes that may help increase learning levels among students. In this study, we analyze one of these, that falls under what Shulman ("Educational Researcher," 15 (2), 4-14, 1986) called pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Specifically, in this study, we analyze one of the areas of PCK which is knowledge of content and students. This was measured through a test where teachers were asked to explain students' mistakes and predict responses in similar mathematics exercises. We explore if PCK is associated with the socioeconomic status of children and if it has an effect on children's achievement. Additionally, we analyze which teacher characteristics are associated with higher scores in PCK. The analysis uses the Young Lives longitudinal survey for Peru. We found that students' socioeconomic status at age 1 and maternal education were positively associated with their teachers' PCK by the time students were enrolled in fourth grade, thus depicting a very unequal education system. Furthermore, teachers' PCK was positively associated with student achievement, but only when a threshold for the PCK test was established. For our sample, male teachers, who were younger, and Spanish speakers had higher PCK scores.

School composition is a topic that has gained increasing attention from researchers over the past few years, as it has been found that the socio-economic characteristics of students are associated with their achievement. However, most research has been cross-sectional and carried out in industrialised countries. In this study, we use parental education as a measure of classroom composition across schools in Peru, and find that there are high levels of segregation, especially at the extremes of the distribution. Using longitudinal data from the Young Lives Study, we find that classroom composition was positively associated with achievement in mathematics and sense of belonging of students, and not associated with reading achievement or perception of security at school. We discuss these results and suggest that school composition is a relevant variable to include in descriptions of national educational systems in Latin America and as a context variable for results of achievement among students.

Several studies in developing countries have found that children who experience growth faltering in the first years of life show lower cognitive abilities than their peers. In this study, we use the Young Lives longitudinal dataset in Peru to analyze if attending pre-school affects cognitive abilities at age five years, and if there is an interaction with HAZ at age one year. Using instrumental variables we found, for receptive vocabulary, a positive effect of attending Jardines (formal) pre-schools; the effect of attending PRONOEI (community-based) pre-schools was not significant. More years attending Jardines was more beneficial for children who were better nourished. We suggest working to improve the quality of PRONOEI s, and with teachers on targeting children of lower nutritional status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. While survival has improved in high-income countries (HIC), the outcomes for patients in low-to-middle-income countries (LMIC) are unclear. Therefore, we sought to determine the survival of children with medulloblastoma at the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas (INEN) between 1997 and 2013 in Peru., Methods: Between 1997 and 2013, data from 103 children older than 3 years with medulloblastoma were analyzed. Fourteen patients were excluded. The patients were split into two distinct cohorts, 1997-2008 and 2009-2013, corresponding with chemotherapy regimen changes. Event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, whereas prognostic factors were determined by univariate analysis (log-rank test)., Results: Eighty-nine patients were included; median age was 8.1 years (range: 3-13.9 years). The 5-year OS was 62% (95% CI: 53%-74%), while EFS was 57% (95% CI: 48%-69%). The variables adversely affecting survival were anaplastic histology (compared to desmoplastic; OS: HR = 3.4, p = .03), metastasis (OS: HR = 3.5, p = .01; EFS: HR = 4.3, p = .004), delay in radiation therapy of 31-60 days (compared to ≤30 days; EFS: HR = 2.1, p = .04), and treatment 2009-2013 cohort (OS: HR = 2.2, p = .02; EFS: HR = 2.0, p = .03)., Conclusions: Outcomes for medulloblastoma at INEN were low compared with HIC. Anaplastic subtype, metastasis at diagnosis, delay in radiation therapy, and treatment in the period 2009-2013 negatively affected the outcomes in our study. Multidisciplinary teamwork, timely delivery of treatment, and partnerships with loco-regional groups and colleagues in HIC is likely beneficial., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)