This paper estimates the short-term, partial-equilibrium impacts of a public-private partnership program for low-cost private secondary schools in Uganda. The public-private partnership program is part of a broader strategy to absorb large increases in secondary enrollment following the...

This paper examines the short-term impacts of a labor-intensive public works program on household welfare and economic prospects. Using a community-level randomized control trial approach, the paper finds that the public works program targeted at youth in Sierra Leone successfully provided...

A textbook provision program in Sierra Leone demonstrates how volatility in the flow of government-provided learning inputs to schools can induce storage of these inputs by school administrators to smooth future consumption. This process in turn leads to low current utilization of inputs for...

The time teachers spend teaching is low in several developing countries. However, improving teacher effort has proven difficult. Why is it so difficult to increase teacher effort? One possibility is that teachers are resistant to increasing effort because they do not believe their effort is...

Empirical literature on digital technologies for student learning is generally unable to identify separately whether learning gains arise from reciprocity in response to the gift of a valuable gadget (the' gadget effect') or from increasing exposure to relevant materials (the' content effect')....

Do teachers have accurate beliefs about their effort and ability? This paper explores this through a survey experiment in public-private partnership schools in Uganda, wherein teacher self-beliefs are contrasted with their beliefs about other teachers in the same school. The study finds that, on...

The standard summary metric of education-based human capital used in macro analyses - the average number of years of schooling in a population - is based only on quantity. But ignoring schooling quality turns out to be a major omission. As recent research shows, students in different countries...

Do women weather economic shocks differently than men? The evidence shows this to be the case, especially in low-income countries. The first-round impacts of economic crises on women's employment should be particularly salient in the current downturn, since women have increased their...

How do conditional cash transfers impact health-related outcomes? This paper examines the 2010 randomized introduction of a program in Tanzania and finds nuanced impacts. An initial surge in clinic visits after 1.5 years -- due to more visits by those already complying with program health...

A significant body of research demonstrates that teachers and the quality of their teaching are crucial components of student learning. Many teachers in resource-poor environments have limited knowledge, skills, or motivation. Some impact evaluations have shown promising results from...