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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

People wearing masks walking along a crowded sidewalk

Building an effective COVID-19 response: A guide for future research

How can policy leaders best support their communities in the face of the joblessness, educational setbacks, and trauma inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic? Rigorous evidence will play a critical role in helping us understand which policies and programs will truly work to help communities recover in...
A teacher sits on the ground in a circle of children. She is demonstrating to a student.

Foundational learning first: a joint statement on education in the time of COVID-19

By
More than one billion students have been out of school due to COVID-19. Data from past crises suggest large and lasting impacts on education, especially girls’ re-enrollment and learning loss. For this reason, J-PAL and partners have recently released a joint statement on the importance of focusing...
A child wearing a mask looks directly up at the camera

Adapting to learning needs in the wake of COVID-19 using data and evidence

By
  • Molly Curtiss
A conversation with TaRL Africa, J-PAL, and the Ministry of National Education of Côte d’Ivoire. Originally posted by the Brookings Institute.
parent child digital report

How filling in the information gaps can increase student learning

Educators around the world are currently engaging in many creative strategies to encourage learning despite closed schools, social distancing policies, and other COVID-imposed obstacles to traditional classroom-based learning. This blog summarizes the key takeaway messages from J-PAL’s new policy...
students in China taking an exam

How prioritizing health in schools can also promote learning

As communities and governments find new and resilient ways to support families during the pandemic, schools have stood out as useful nodes within communities. For example, schools or Ministries of Education in many countries worldwide are providing much-needed nutritional support to families...
A man shows a tablet to a small child who is doing homework.

Using evidence to effectively support education during COVID-19

In light of school closures caused by COVID-19, millions of students are home for the remainder of the academic year. Philanthropy will play a vital role in the response to this crisis. But how can education funders and donors ensure that they are allocating their resources effectively?
Indiana state house building

State and local policy responses to COVID-19: Lessons from evidence

J-PAL North America has curated a set of randomized evaluations that tested specific policy options related to the social safety net, health, and education. Our goal is to provide actionable evidence to inform state and local leaders’ policy responses to challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two women gather around a computer on which an online course is displayed.

How to keep students engaged in online learning

Transitioning from a classroom to an online video conference is challenging for everyone involved—teachers must make extra effort to engage students effectively, and students in turn have to make an extra effort to stay engaged amid distractions at home. Research suggests that students typically do...