Professor Abhijit Banerjee (MIT) Director, J-PAL

12 November 2014

Reinventing Education:

What Does the Evidence Tell Us?

J-PAL started in 2003 as a center in the economics

department at MIT and works to reduce poverty by

ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence

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J-PAL’s Work in Education

Narrowing in on the “small picture”

135 ongoing and completed evaluations

in 32 countries

33 studies in South Asia

Broad policy lessons in primary

education

Exploring new research in post-primary

education through a dedicated research

initiative

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WHY EVIDENCE MATTERS

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How do you improve learning outcomes?

1. Books for Free

2. Improved School Buildings

3. Cash Grants for Attendance

4. Community Participation

5. Deworming

6. Lunch for Free

7. Remedial Education

8. Information Campaigns

9. School Supplies

10. Teacher Attendance (Monitoring)

11. Free Uniforms

12. Merit Scholarships Children in Udaipur, India wait for their absent teacher

Which initiatives work? Which work best? Which are the most cost-effective?

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Why Evaluate Impact?

Causality Matters

IMPACT = Causal effect of a program or policy on an outcome of interest

Causal effect can be determined only through a rigorous evaluation, that separates out impact of the program from other factors

Rigorous evaluations have produced important and surprising results

Major programs not as effective as previously thought (e.g. business-as-usual inputs to education)

Small interventions proved very cost-effective (e.g. deworming)

Conventional wisdoms have been undermined (e.g. pupil-teacher ratios)

Creates space for evidence based social investments

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J-PAL conducts randomized evaluations to test the effectiveness of programs aimed at reducing poverty

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Before the program starts, eligible individuals are randomly assigned to two groups so that they are statistically identical before the program.

• Any differences in outcomes between the groups can be attributed to the program

• Two groups continue to be identical, except for treatment

A Model for Funding Evidenced Based Interventions

Stage 1 funding:

Proof of Concept for new innovations and testing

Stage 2 funding:

Replication studies to further develop scalable and generalizable models

Stage 3 funding:

Scaling-up programs backed by strong evidence

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A QUICK REVIEW OF J-PAL’S EVIDENCE IN EDUCATION

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Landscape of Education in India

Over 96 percent of children ages 6-14 are

enrolled in school (ASER 2013)

But being in school does not seem to imply

that children are learning

2013 ASER survey: majority of 5th graders in rural

India are three or more grades behind in reading

Similar results from ASER Pakistan and Uwezo in East

Africa

Very poor results on international exams such as

TIMSS, PISA

Why might this be and what are possible

solutions?

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There are many avenues

through which this might

occur

Teacher absenteeism is high

Even when present, often not

teaching

Teachers rarely held

accountable for either

Low Teacher Effort May Contribute to Low Learning Levels

Could this be solved through monitoring and incentives?

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Monitoring and Incentives Work, With a Few Caveats

Monitoring and incentives can be a useful to motivate teachers, increase attendance, and improve learning

Camera Monitoring in Udaipur cut absenteeism in half and improved test scores

Small incentives (3% of annual salary) improved test scores in AP

But can also be ineffective or lead to undesirable outcomes

Performance pay in Kenya led to “cram sessions”

Strengthening VEC monitoring had no effect on teacher effort or learning outcomes

Need a credible way of measuring teacher effort and enforcing accountability

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Proliferation of low-cost private schools and tuitions

Almost 30% of India’s children in Standards 1-V attend private schools

The proportion of children taking private tuitions is increasing

Vouchers for private schools in AP had mixed results

No effect of private schools on Math and Telegu test scores

More efficient? Achieved similar results with less instructional time and

lower cost

Ultimately, private schools don’t seem to be focused on

building basic skills

Vouchers v. PPP

Are Private Schools the Answer?

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Teaching at the Right Level Works

Interventions that facilitate teaching at the child’s level are

most consistently effective across many studies

In India, J-PAL has worked with Pratham to test many remedial

education programs

Remedial tutoring

After-school tutoring and summer camps

How do you get entire school systems to focus on learning

outcomes?

Dedicated time plus monitoring

Learning Enhancement Program (LEP) in Haryana government schools

Teacher Community Assistant Initiative, Ghana

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Concluding Thoughts

Huge role for CSR in designing, funding, and testing promising

“solutions”

And in bringing proven interventions to scale

Evidence base currently strongest on the impact of

investments in remedial education programs

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THANK YOU

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