Reinventing Education: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?
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Transcript of Reinventing Education: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?
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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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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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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