Policy Insights in Education
J-PAL’s Education sector focuses issues of access, quality, and equity in primary and post-primary education. Our policy insights below summarize general lessons from randomized evaluations on student participation and learning in developing countries, and transitions to college and charter schools in the United States.
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Sule Alan (Cornell University and Bilkent University), Karthik Muralidharan (University of California, San Diego), Philip Oreopoulos (University of Toronto) and Abhijeet Singh (Stockholm School of Economics), Education Co-Chairs
Photo: Putul Gupta | J-PAL
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The effect of nudges on federal student aid take-up in the United States
Last updated: août 2023
Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) annually to receive federal loans and grants to attend college in the United States, a requirement often viewed as a barrier to college access. Informative and timely nudges can increase FAFSA filing rates, but providing...
Student Learning
Improving student learning: Impacts by gender
Last updated: février 2022
Most programs to improve student learning have similar impacts on girls and boys. However, policymakers should consider potential different effects by gender while designing programs since, in some cases, program design choices led to different impacts on girls and boys.
Informer les élèves et les parents pour améliorer les acquis d’apprentissage
Last updated: juillet 2020
Fournir aux parents et aux élèves des informations sur les performances scolaires de ces derniers ou sur leurs possibilités d’orientation contribue souvent à accroître l’engagement parental, les efforts fournis par les élèves, ou les deux, ce qui permet à terme d’améliorer les acquis d’apprentissage...
Improving learning outcomes through school-based health programs
Last updated: mai 2020
Around the world, learning levels remain low and therefore a priority area for improvement. A key barrier to participation and learning in school is student health, especially in low- and middle-income countries. However, due to a lack of coordination between health and education departments, the...
Tailoring instruction to students’ learning levels to increase learning
Last updated: janvier 2019
In classrooms around the world, many students are not learning at grade level and struggle to catch up. Dedicating a portion of instruction time to tailoring instruction to the learning levels of students is one of the most effective and cost-effective ways of improving learning. Tailored...
Participation scolaire Malgré l’augmentation spectaculaire des taux de scolarisation en primaire dans le monde entier, des poches de faible scolarisation persistent et des millions d’enfants inscrits ne vont pas à l’école régulièrement. Des stratégies visant à réduire les coûts financiers et non financiers de la scolarité ou à augmenter les avantages perçus de la participation scolaire se sont révélées particulièrement efficaces.
Augmenter le taux de scolarisation et l’assiduité scolaire: impacts selon le genre
Last updated: février 2019
Réduire le coût de la scolarité et mieux sensibiliser la population aux bienfaits de l’éducation permet d’augmenter la participation scolaire des garçons et des filles. Les programmes les plus efficaces ont tendance à bénéficier tout particulièrement au genre dont l’assiduité est initialement la...
Reducing costs to increase school participation
Last updated: février 2019
Programs that reduce the costs of education increase student enrollment and attendance. However, there is considerable variation in the cost effectiveness of different programs.
Increasing enrollment and attendance by making education benefits salient and changing perceptions
Last updated: avril 2018
Interventions that address perception gaps about the benefits of education or make the benefits more salient can increase student participation at low cost. In contrast, increases in the quality of education can be difficult for parents to accurately perceive and thus do not necessarily lead to...
Additional Insights
Reducing community college dropout through comprehensive supports
Last updated: mai 2020
Providing community college students with a wide range of comprehensive supports, such as counseling, tutoring, and financial assistance, can improve low rates of persistence and graduation. These support programs address many simultaneous barriers that students face, which may be a key driver...
Encouraging early childhood stimulation from parents and caregivers to improve child development
Last updated: avril 2020
Evidence from 11 low- and middle-income countries shows that encouraging caregivers to play and interact with children aged 0–3 in a stimulating way improves children’s cognitive development. These programs can increase the time and resources parents invest in their children’s development. However...
Améliorer l’accès à l’université en simplifiant le processus de candidature
Last updated: février 2018
Aux États-Unis et au Canada, la mise en œuvre de programmes relativement peu coûteux visant à simplifier le processus de candidature à l’université et à accompagner les futurs étudiants durant cette transition permet d’augmenter les taux d’inscription dans le supérieur et de poursuite des études...
Charter schools et apprentissage scolaire
Last updated: mai 2017
Aux États-Unis, les évaluations de l’impact des charter schools, (des écoles privées à financement public), laissent apparaître de fortes variations. Dans le Massachusetts, les élèves admis par tirage au sort dans une charter school située en zone urbaine s’en sortent souvent bien mieux que les...
