About the course:
Governments and donors are increasingly focused on the use of evidence in evaluating human development programs and setting policy priorities. This master class will provide early career researchers with cutting-edge methodological tools for experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation of early childhood development interventions. The course is intended for current PhD students and recent graduates whose doctoral work is focused on early childhood development, education, development economics, or public policy.
Topics covered in the course:
- Measurement of early childhood development outcomes
- Design and analysis randomized experiments
- Quasi-experimental impact evaluation of ECD interventions
- Communicating and publishing your research findings
Instructors:
Pamela Jakiela (CGD), Owen Ozier (World Bank), Elizabeth Prado (UC Davis)
Participant bios:
Julie Berthet Valdois
Julie Berthet Valdois is a Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. She spent 8+ years working in the area of Monitoring and Evaluation for education and health projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Julie holds a Masters of Research in International Economics and Development from Paris-Dauphine University. Currently, she is a Ph.D. Economics candidate at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her research interests include economics of education and health economics.
Oswald Koussihouèdé
Oswald Koussihouèdé holds a PhD in Education from University Gaston Berger of Saint-Louis (Senegal). He is Education policy analyst at UNESCO IIEP-Pôle de Dakar since January 2017. As such, he contributes to the training programme on analyzing and managing education systems and participates in education sector analysis in support for countries. Prior to joining UNESCO IIEP-Pôle de Dakar, he worked for two years (April 2008-March 2010) as a Consultant at the World Bank regional office in Dakar and subsequently at the Programme for the analysis of education systems of CONFEMEN (PASEC). At PASEC, he was a technical advisor from April 2010 to December 2011 before holding the position of chief of the division in charge of data management and analysis for five years (January 2012-December 2017).
Mofioluwasademi Odunowo
Mofioluwasademi (Moffii) Odunowo is a PhD candidate in Economics at Texas A&M University studying applied microeconomics and behavioral economics. Her research agenda is tied together by her interest in understanding the factors that affect human capital accumulation, and how increased human capital improves the economic outcomes of economically disadvantaged individuals. This area of research is informed by questions in development economics , the economics of education, health economics, labor economics, and public economics.
Samuel G. Weldeegzie
Samuel G. Weldeegzie received his PhD in Economics from the Australian National University (ANU) in 2017. Prior to that, he obtained his BA degree in Economics from Jimma University and an MA degree in Development Studies from the ISS of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Samuel is interested in exposure to (dis)advantages in early life and later outcomes with emphasis on causal factors that change the accumulation of human capital and poverty/wellbeing among others.
Dan Rodriguez-Segura
Dan Rodriguez-Segura is a doctoral student in Education Policy at the University of Virginia. Dan’s research has focused on education deserts, tailored preparation for national exams, and curriculum reform policies in East Africa and Costa Rica. Before his doctoral work, Dan worked as a research assistant for the Nudge4 Lab, and as a research analyst at the Latin America Public Policy Expertise Hub at McKinsey and Company. He holds a BA in Economics from Washington and Lee University and a Master’s Degree of Economics from the University of Virginia. Dan was born and raised in Costa Rica.
Jean Kabore
Jean Kabore is a PhD candidate in economics at the University of Houston. He is a development economist in training with a focus in Sub Saharan Africa. His research agenda is to understand how gender equality in employment and education affect women’s bargaining power within the household, intimate partner violence, children human capital accumulation, and the evolution of cultural beliefs. He is from the beautiful country of Burkina Faso and loves to smile a lot.
Silas Onyango
Silas Onyango is a doctoral candidate in the department of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH) at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, an associated institute of the University of Basel, Switzerland. Silas possess a wealth of experience in research in early childhood development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). His research interest include early learning and stimulation, responsive caregiving, caregivers’ mental health as well as neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
Johanna Fajardo-Gonzalez
Johanna Fajardo-Gonzalez is an applied microeconomist currently working at the Inter-American Development Bank. She has conducted and led analytical work in Latin America, India, and Uganda. Her research interests include the effect of gender-biased violence on female labor market outcomes, the impact of shocks (weather, prices, economic) on different well-being measures, and the effect of public policies on human capital development. Johanna holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota, a M.Sc. in Economics from University College London, and a B.A. in Economics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá). She has previously worked for the World Bank, UNESCO, and the University of Minnesota on projects related to poverty, inequality and education.
