Vicky Colbert

She has served as Colombia's Vice-Minister of Education,[1] and is the founder and current Executive Director of Escuela Nueva Foundation.

[5] A Ford Foundation scholarship allowed her to study comparative education as a graduate student at Stanford University.

Children frequently dropped out of school to help on the family farm during harvest season, which created problems if they returned to class much later.

Inspired by the work of John Dewey, Maria Montessori, and other progressive educators,[5] the schools are also democratic in spirit, with teachers, students, and parents all involved in decision-making.

"[1] It has continued to spread and Escuela Nueva schools are now in 19 countries including Brazil, the Philippines and India.