Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to measure a major preschool construction program underway in Morocco.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a video-mediated extension approach on the uptake of technologies recommended by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture. The video-mediated instruction increased uptake through improved access to extension and farmer knowledge but did not improve crop yields. Targeting spouses in addition to heads of households with the video approach increased spouses access to extension services and knowledge of the recommended technologies but it did not further increase technology adoption.

Researchers tested whether sharing messages that appealed to negative emotions, like shame or disgust, increased households’ hand washing behavior and willingness to pay for water chlorination in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Negative messaging had no impact on chlorination levels or willingness to pay, but the provision of low-cost hand washing facilities did increase hand washing.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of introducing a pay-as-you-go car insurance contract, which reduces minimum purchase requirements, to uninsured drivers in California. Applicants who were offered this type of insurance were nearly twice as likely to purchase car insurance than those who were offered a traditional car insurance contract, but this impact faded over time.

Researchers examined the impact of local watchdog journalism investigations on public service provision. Local journalism improved government performance and service delivery, likely by helping central governments monitor bureaucrats at the district-level.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of short informational meetings with students and parents on secondary school choice. They found that these meetings increased students’ and parents’ knowledge of the application process and led students to pick lower-cost and more commutable schools.

In western Uganda, researchers conducted a series of randomized evaluations that assessed the impact of introducing a combination of post-harvest services, training on agricultural best practices, and access to a market for high-quality maize on farmers’ productivity and profits. Researchers found that the extension services only intervention had little to no impacts on productivity and farmer profits.

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.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of offering frequent HIV testing on rates of marriage and pregnancy. Offering high-frequency, opt-out HIV testing to young women and their partners changed beliefs of partner’s sexual safety, accelerated marriage, and increased the probability of pregnancy.

Researchers introduced text message reminders to evaluate their effect on Kenyan patients taking their antiretrovirals consistently and not skipping doses. Patients who received weekly text messages were more likely to take their medicine 90 percent of the time and were less likely to skip doses for more than 48 hours than their counterparts in the comparison group.

Training teachers to improve teacher quality and student learning is a common strategy taken by policymakers. In Nepal, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a government teacher training program for math and science teachers to evaluate the impact on student learning in secondary schools.

Despite making great strides in expanding access to education, developing countries like India continue to lag in measures of actual student learning. To understand how quality of education mediates learning, this randomized control trial evaluates a pedagogical intervention training science teachers in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. The curiosity-based curriculum emphasizes practical techniques along with foundational principles on effective answer-seeking, guided research, constructive feedback, and peer-to-peer communication. The researchers assess whether active teaching approaches increase student recall of course material, curiosity, student engagement, critical thinking, and other soft skills foundational to developing students’ intrinsic motivation to learn.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing information to students on their decision to pursue courses and majors in economics at a public university in the United States. The intervention increased male students' likelihood of studying additional economics courses when compared to female students, but the intervention did not impact students’ decision to major in economics, irrespective of gender.

Researchers evaluated the impact of exposure to and incentives to consume discordant media on political attitudes and behaviors in Turkey. Participants changed their media consumption habits, trusted discordant media sources more, and had less polarized attitudes towards the government, but did not change how much they trusted people with opposing political views.

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