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Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, and read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters. For media inquiries, please email us.

The Impact of Decentralizing Education Spending on Student Learning in Senegal

Oswald Koussihouede
Nathalie Lahire
Corina Mommaerts
Researchers partnered with the Senegalese government to evaluate the impact of a decentralized school grants program on student learning. The program improved test scores overall and for girls in younger grades. The impact was stronger in schools that invested more in human resource training rather...

Providing Primary Education for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in Guinea Bissau

Peter Boone
Ila Fazzio
Jenny Hsieh
Robin Lumsdaine
Researchers evaluated the impact of creating schools offering four years of primary education, in lieu of the government, on early grade reading and math skills in rural Guinea Bissau. The intervention led to substantial improvements in literacy and numeracy.

Leveraging the Parents and Children Together (PACT) Program for Increased Parental Engagement in the United States

Sebastian Gallegos
Ariel Kalil
Susan Mayer
Researchers evaluated the impact of providing small behavioral tools, including a goal-setting website, text message reminders, and social rewards, to parents to encourage their participation in the Parents And Children Together (PACT) program. These behavioral tools more than doubled parents’...

Leveraging Technology to Incentivize Student Effort in India

Sarojini Hirshleifer
Using a technology-based math curriculum, researchers evaluated the impact of different incentive types—rewarding continuous effort in the classroom versus rewarding test performance—on student learning. Results indicate that effort-based incentives can be a more effective and cost-effective way of...

Comparing Cash and Mobile Transfers in Niger

Rachid Boumnijel
Amanda McClelland
Niall Tierney
In partnership with Concern Worldwide, researchers examined the relative effectiveness of traditional versus mobile cash transfers in Niger. Households who received electronic transfers had more diverse diets than those who received traditional cash transfers, in part due to time savings and shifts...

The Impact of Information on Selective and Less-Selective Schools in Chile

Mattias Busso
Claudia Martinez
Dario Romero
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing information to students on enrollment at different quality schools. Students who were provided information applied to and enrolled in different types of schools. However, overall a greater number of students did not enroll...