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Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, and read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters. For media inquiries, please email us.

How Malleable are Non-Cognitive Skills? Measuring the Impact of Increasing Grit in Turkey

Teodora Boneva
Seda Ertac
Researchers worked with public elementary schools in Istanbul to measure the effects of a “grit curriculum” on fourth-grade students’ perseverance, competitiveness, and test scores. Students who were exposed to the grit curriculum in 2013 earned higher scores on math exams, and the program also...

Improving Preschool Quality in Colombia

Alison Andrew
Lina Cardona-Sosa
Sonya Krutikova
Marta Rubio-Codina
Researchers evaluated two approaches to improving the quality of Colombian preschools. Providing additional resources to preschools for materials and new staff did not benefit children’s development and, unintentionally, led teachers to reduce their involvement in classroom activities. However, the...

The Impact of Virtual Summer Instruction on Student Learning Loss during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Sean Corcoran
Sarah Kroeger
COVID-19 school closures have led to widespread student learning loss in the United States. Researchers are evaluating the impact of individualized, virtual summer instruction on redressing these losses. This project is ongoing. Results forthcoming.

Financial Diaries and Education to Improve Women's Financial Literacy in Rural Bangladesh

Zabid Iqbal
Vy Nguyen
Russell Smyth
In rural Bangladesh, researchers evaluated the impacts of teaching women to track spending in financial diaries and providing a traditional financial education program on their financial literacy and well-being. Study participants had higher financial literacy levels after receiving either...

Primary School Deworming in Kenya

Researchers evaluated a mass school-based deworming program in Western Kenya, and found that deworming substantially improved health and school participation of treated children, as well as of untreated children in both treatment schools and neighboring schools. The program reduced school...