The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,000 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,000 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
Our affiliated professors are based at over 120 universities and conduct randomized evaluations around the world to design, evaluate, and improve programs and policies aimed at reducing poverty. They set their own research agendas, raise funds to support their evaluations, and work with J-PAL staff on research, policy outreach, and training.
Our Board of Directors, which is composed of J-PAL affiliated professors and senior management, provides overall strategic guidance to J-PAL, our sector programs, and regional offices.
J-PAL recognizes that there is a lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of economics and in our field of work. Read about what actions we are taking to address this.
We host events around the world and online to share results and policy lessons from randomized evaluations, to build new partnerships between researchers and practitioners, and to train organizations on how to design and conduct randomized evaluations, and use evidence from impact evaluations.
Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters, and connect with us for media inquiries.
Based at leading universities around the world, our experts are economists who use randomized evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty. Connect with us for all media inquiries and we'll help you find the right person to shed insight on your story.
J-PAL is based at MIT in Cambridge, MA and has seven regional offices at leading universities in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
J-PAL is based at MIT in Cambridge, MA and has seven regional offices at leading universities in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Our global office is based at the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It serves as the head office for our network of seven independent regional offices.
Led by affiliated professors, J-PAL sectors guide our research and policy work by conducting literature reviews; by managing research initiatives that promote the rigorous evaluation of innovative interventions by affiliates; and by summarizing findings and lessons from randomized evaluations and producing cost-effectiveness analyses to help inform relevant policy debates.
Led by affiliated professors, J-PAL sectors guide our research and policy work by conducting literature reviews; by managing research initiatives that promote the rigorous evaluation of innovative interventions by affiliates; and by summarizing findings and lessons from randomized evaluations and producing cost-effectiveness analyses to help inform relevant policy debates.
How do policies affecting private sector firms impact productivity gaps between higher-income and lower-income countries? How do firms’ own policies impact economic growth and worker welfare?
How can we identify effective policies and programs in low- and middle-income countries that provide financial assistance to low-income families, insuring against shocks and breaking poverty traps?
Children born into poverty lag behind higher-income peers in school and earn substantially less as adults. Comprehensive case management programs have emerged as a promising support for low-income parents and their children (Evans et al., 2023; Engle et al...
Districts across the United States are increasingly adopting tutoring as an evidence-based strategy for supporting students. Our study will test the impact of providing math tutoring on students at risk of not meeting early benchmarks. We will study a novel...
Parental engagement in a child’s learning is a key for academic success; however, especially for low-income families, there are several barriers to its frequency and effectiveness. We propose a randomized control trial study of an intervention called Math...
The proposed pilot aims to understand factors that influence the successful embedding of Eedi into schools' practice, leading to sustained teacher engagement, high student usage, and improved learning outcomes. To do so, we propose to work in 6th grade classes...
Personalized Learning Squared (PLUS) is an ed-tech platform that uses a hybrid human-AI tutoring to support middle school students from historically low-income communities. Research shows that tutoring works to improve learning, especially among students who...
MATHstream is an adaptive, interactive video streaming program with embedded assessments in which a diverse cast of super-teachers deliver targeted math instruction in a fun, engaging, game-based environment. It’s designed to fill unfinished learning gaps that...
We propose a small scale implementation study of Rori, an AI-powered math tutor accessible via WhatsApp, and its impact on the math performance of students in low-resource settings. Previous research conducted at Rising Academies schools found a moderate to...
ALTER-Math seeks to enhance middle school math learning by leveraging advanced AI technologies, specifically large language models (LLMs) and AI-enhanced teachable agents. Our aim is to double the rate of middle school math learning, particularly for students...
Tutoring stands out as a highly effective educational policy for improving student outcomes, but its implementation is hindered by issues of scalability and cost. One solution involves equipping teachers with enhanced skills in utilizing Computer Assisted...
The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) has partnered with Thread of Baltimore, Maryland to evaluate their high school mentorship program, an intervention designed to assist underperforming students at risk of dropping out of school. Students...
Individuals who earn degrees in STEM fields have better labor market outcomes on average. For some, a STEM education can be a pathway out of poverty, however; minoritized populations in the U.S. are less likely to earn degrees in STEM fields. In this project...
Peer tutoring has a potential “double-dividend”: the tutors themselves may be learning from the process. I will pilot a new intervention, Learning by Creating Math Tutoring Videos (LCMTV), which aims to help middle and high school students learn math by...
Parental engagement in a child’s learning is a key for academic success; however, especially for low-income families, there are several barriers to its frequency and effectiveness. We propose a small-scale randomized control trial (RCT) pilot of a new...
There is significant policy interest in extending early childhood education in the US, but important gaps remain in our knowledge of the likely impact of such expansions. The North Dakota state legislature recently passed a bill authorizing a series of block...
Community colleges have the potential to be powerful vehicles for economic mobility. However, the majority of students who enroll in community colleges do not earn a degree within three years. A growing research literature, including an RCT conducted by the...
Districts across the United States are increasingly adopting tutoring as a strategy to support their struggling students, the majority of whom come from low-income families and marginalized backgrounds. Our pilot will explore whether providing tutors with a...
Completing high school and transitioning to post-secondary schooling or the workforce are critical steps to economic well-being in the United States. While high school graduation rates have increased, differential completion rates persist across school...
We propose a RCT called Evaluating Learning Interactions (ELI) to examine the efficacy of two contrasting approaches to help low-income parents improve the school readiness skills of their 3-5 year-old children. ELI is a six-month text-based program delivered...
Educators and policymakers are facing growing disparities in academic achievement between high and low-income students, differences that appear to have increased as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. A promising cost-effective strategy to address this issue is...
In response to Covid-related complications, we request funding that will enable us to postpone for 12 months the collection of our capstone lab-based measurements of child functioning in the Baby’s First Years (BFY) RCT. BFY has randomly assigned 1,000 low...
Over the last three decades, countries around the world, including the US and Canada, have experienced a widening gap in school performance between families from high- and low-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds (Chmielewski, 2019). The ongoing COVID-19...
Differences in academic achievement between high and low socioeconomic status (SES) children arise at a very early age. Understanding the factors that give rise to these differences is essential for understanding the intergenerational transmission of poverty...
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major disruption for U.S. students and has led to a severe reduction in college enrollment, especially among low-income and underrepresented minority students. For instance, at community colleges, Black, Hispanic and Native...
This study will evaluate the effects of faculty's implicit bias training on closing academic disparities by race and gender in higher education. Faculty, who play central roles in students' academics and careers, are well-positioned to address gaps in students...
The economics literature studying the intergenerational transmission of human capital has traditionally found that interventions that increase the educational attainment of onegeneration have additional positive effects on subsequent generations (Currie and...
After-school programs have the potential to positively influence student academic outcomes, particularly in under-served communities. However, such benefits depend on the extent to which programs include a clear instructional focus. The Consortium for Policy...
We propose a pilot of a new intervention, Parent Engagement and Action for Kindergarten Success (PEAKS), which aims to improve the school readiness of low-income children not enrolled in preschool. PEAKS will use behavioral tools designed to increase parent...
Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) is educational software designed to help students progress through material at their own pace while receiving feedback and advice, similar to the kind that a tutor might provide but on a computer. CAL also makes it easier for...
This study seeks to better understand the role of individualized, virtual summer instruction in redressing learning losses resulting from the COVID-19 school closures. In particular, we are interested in the potential for virtual learning to combat the...
What is the effect of completing the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) Multi-Year Dropout Prevention Program on low-income 11th to 12th graders’ academic and economic outcomes? The City of South Bend, in partnership with researchers from J-PAL and LEO, will...
Merit-based educational grants and scholarships are typically awarded on the basis of measures of academic performance (i.e. grades, test scores, etc.), even though these measures are not designed to predict the impact of aid. Grants administered like this...
TalkingPoints is an interactive personalized messaging platform aimed at increasing communication between parents and teachers, increasing parents’ engagement in their children’s schooling and improving children’s executive functioning skill in grade 3...
Nearly half of US smartphone owners make an effort to limit their use, but only 30% succeed. Usage is particularly high among teens, who spend an average of nine hours per day on their phones. Studies have linked increased smartphone usage to decreased sleep...
Improvements in management practices have been credited with generating stunning productivity improvement in the private sector. Although their adoption in the education sector has been slow, management-level interventions have been shown to lead to...
Each year, over 150,000 California high school students receive letters notifying them that they qualify for Cal Grants, grant aid for college that is assigned based on family income and high school GPA. Less than two-thirds claim their awards. The California...
Community colleges offer great promise to help students build human capital. Yet three-fifths of current students report being ill informed about career opportunities, one-third want more academic advising, and fewer than half of community college students...
Financial incentives for students have recently been tested as a possible solution to poor student achievement. Past research has shown modest effects on average, and suggestive evidence that incentives for inputs (that is, student effort) outperform...
Over the last four years, Phil Oreopoulos been researching how online exercises, text messages, emails, and electronic calendars can be used to improve college academic achievement. The platform design works remarkably well in getting students to engage and...
Wake County (Raleigh), NC; Manchester, CT; Windsor, CT
Type:
Full project
Strong relationships with non-parental adults are associated with greater student success. Despite this, many children receive little educational support from adults in their families’ social networks – even from those with whom they have relationships. This...
The proposed study investigates how technology-assisted behavioral interventions can help individuals improve their sleep habits in order to improve educational outcomes. In prior work, we find that incentives for meeting sleep goals increase sleep and also...
Sara Heller (University of Pennsylvania), the City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Office, and the Philadelphia Youth Network are conducting a randomized evaluation to evaluate the impact of WorkReady, a summer jobs program for disadvantaged youth. Recent evidence...
More than 43 million people in the United States live in poverty. Poverty is particularly pervasive in the city of Rochester, NY where rates are more than twice the national average. The Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI), in partnership with the...
The purpose of this research is to study the effects of Urban Initiatives’ Work to Play program, an out-ofschool- time program that primarily serves 3rd and 4th grade children. Our central research question is whether participation in this structured sports...
Community colleges enroll approximately 40 percent of all US undergraduates and they enroll a disproportionate share of low-income and first-generation college students in higher education. For instance, low-income college students are three times more likely...
A “digital divide” exists in access to technology and internet connectivity. Policymakers argue that this divide impedes lower-income and minority students’ ability to complete schoolwork and succeed academically. This narrative has inspired government and...
The neighborhoods in which children grow up can impact their earnings, education, and wellbeing, but many families who receive rental assistance in the United States through Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) do not move to neighborhoods that improve their children...
Given that the nationwide three-year graduation rate for community college students is about 30 percent (National Center for Education Statistics), it is extremely important to understand what types of services have the biggest impact on outcomes like credit...
Many American high school students know only the sticker price of college and make application decisions without properly incorporating the availability of extensive financial aid, particularly at elite colleges and universities. School counselors often cannot...
This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a classroom-based program intended to increase the vocabulary of preschool and primary school children. The program, called the Big Word Club (BWC), consists of videos, books and activities intended to help...
How information is delivered is as important as its content. We consider how various delivery methods of body mass index (BMI) information to New York City (NYC) families can affect subsequent student outcomes, including daily school meal participation and...
This pilot project aims to design and test, in the laboratory and in selected preschools, three sets of math games for preschool children living in poverty in the U.S. The games build on decades of basic research on the foundations of mathematical competence...
Marianne Bertrand (University of Chicago), in collaboration with the Chicago Department of Family & Support Services, is conducting a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the summer jobs program One Summer Chicago Plus (OSC+). OSC+ offers part-time...
Sara Heller (University of Pennsylvania), in collaboration with the Philadelphia Youth Network, the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office, and the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, is conducting a pilot study of WorkReady, a summer jobs program for...
The inability to consistently deliver promising education interventions at large scale is an important contributing cause to inequality in the U.S. The research team applies insights from price theory and field-based randomized controlled trials to examine the...
Nearly half of college students in United States fail to complete their bachelors’ degree within six years. One-on-one coaching and tutoring can lead to improvements in student outcomes, but are far more expensive than technology-driven alternatives...
This study will evaluate a community college intervention program that is currently being implemented with a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design on a campus in Fort Worth, Texas. The program is designed to address the “life barriers” – as distinct from...
JPAL-NA affiliate Jens Ludwig (University of Chicago) is carrying out a large-scale RCT with the Chicago Public Schools and Match Education of Boston to test whether intensive, individuated instruction (two-on-one daily tutoring for an hour a day) can improve...
Recent evidence suggests that programs aimed at increasing “mindfulness” are successful at reducing the cognitive demands of stress and increasing focus and attention. This pilot study would be the first to apply this approach to improving parenting among...
Evidence suggests that informational and behavioral “nudges” which help individuals overcome procrastination or inattention can affect educational attainment, college enrollment, and student achievement. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test...