Despite a steady rise in literacy rates over the past 50 years, there are more than 750 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write. While policymakers and academics have primarily focused on educating children, and for good reason, adult learning and education programs are an important compo...

Much ink has been spilled over the impact of borrowing country institutions and the policies and practices of donor organizations on aid effectiveness. But what do we know about the role of those individuals who often represent the key interface between country-level institutions and donor-funded pr...

When a policymaker or donor partner (a “decision maker” for the purposes of this post) poses a policy question—“What’s the best evidence to retain health workers in rural clinics?” “How can we scale an agricultural extension program effectively?” “Was that program to root out school violence success...

A formal meta-analysis of the impact of non-chain private schools on children in low- and middle-income countries.

It is now 10 years since Jaime Saavedra became the education minister of Peru and 7 years since he left that position. This blog summarizes key insights from a new paper with former Minister Saavedra—reflections on what Peru has achieved in education over the past 15 years, what else might have been...

We are often asked whether teacher professional development “works.” But it’s an impossible question to answer because we call so many different things teacher professional development. Some of these things—like coaching in South Africa and Peru, assessment-informed instruction in Liberia, or traini...

This week was the Centre for the Study of African Economies’ annual conference. Every year, scholars from around the world—including many based on the African continent—convene to present their research findings on a vast array of topics. This year’s conference included more than 200 presentations o...