Researchers, in partnership with the São Paulo Education Secretariat, conducted a randomized evaluation in ninth grade classrooms to investigate the mechanisms driving the effects of communicating with parents on education outcomes.

Researchers worked with the City of Rochester and local social service providers to evaluate the Bridges to Success program, in which participants were paired with mentors who helped them move towards economic self-sufficiency.

To understand the causal impact of poverty reduction on children’s health, nutrition, sleep, and healthcare utilization, among other outcomes, researchers randomly assigned new mothers to receive an unconditional cash transfer of $333 (high-cash group) or $20 per month (low-cash group) in the Baby’s First Years study. Children in the high-cash group had higher produce consumption at age two, but no impacts were found on health, sleep, or healthcare utilization at age three.

Researchers evaluated the impact of a civic education program involving learning-by-doing and student-centered teaching approaches in middle schools across three European countries. The program increased students’ academic performance, respect for school rules, and friendship networks with people with different social and cultural backgrounds.

In Bihar, India, researchers examined how double fortified salt could be most effectively priced, marketed, and distributed in order to have the greatest impact on a range of health, education, and economic outcomes.

Researchers are examining the impact of a socioemotional learning curriculum on student mental health, academic achievement, and other social outcomes.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of providing a gender-specific managerial training program on career advancement prospects for women and workplace productivity.

Researchers introduced a soft skills component into a vocational training program in the Dominican Republic to assess the interaction between job and soft skills training on labor market outcomes and expectations. Women experienced increased employment rates and wages in the short term, which dissipated over time; men, on the other hand, experienced negative or no impacts on employment rates and wages in the short term, and no effects in the long term.

In China, students in districts with average incomes that are below the national average achieve lower levels of learning compared students in wealthier districts. Researchers introduced a computer-assisted learning program (CAL) to classrooms in Shaanxi Province to evaluate its impact on math test scores. The CAL program increased test scores on average and the cost of the program was halved by having two students share a computer. Furthermore, pairing students performing below the class average with students performing above the class average improved the effectiveness of CAL for both types of students.

In partnership with Avanti Fellows, this study evaluates the impact of the Sankalp program, which provides teachers with resources and training to blend their instruction with video-based learning materials, on student’s math and science test scores.

This study evaluated the impacts of information about children’s academic performance on parents’ subsequent investments in their children’s education. Findings indicate that parents’ perceptions of their children’s academic needs tend to be inaccurate, and that providing parents with information on students’ academic performance, communicated both verbally and in writing, can help them target their educational resources more effectively.

Researchers in Kenya conducted multiple lab studies at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics to explore the degree of ethnic bias in the local population and assess how bias may affect participants’ behavior. Contrary to existing assumptions about ethnic preferences in Kenya, researchers found no evidence of ethnic bias in decision-making related to sharing of economic benefits and political alignment.

Researchers examined whether intra-household risk-sharing mechanisms such as financial transfers between spouses operate efficiently in Western and Nyanza Provinces of Kenya and found that intra-household insurance to protect against economic shocks was inefficient among daily income earners.

Researchers tested the effects of providing low-income students in urban Chile with information about financial aid for higher education on their educational attainment and their likelihood of progressing to higher education. A video informing students about financing higher education increased enrollment in college preparatory schools and increased school attendance, particularly among medium- and high-performing students, but had no effect on grades.

Researchers evaluated the impact of hiring extra contract teachers in primary schools in India on student learning. Results show that students in schools with an extra contract teacher performed significantly better than those in comparison schools in both math and language areas. Evidence also suggests that contract teachers in this context faced stronger incentives to perform well than regular teachers.