Researchers partnered with the Indian NGO Pratham to evaluate whether different technologies and implementation methods can increase students’ English test scores. Overall, the interventions were effective at increasing students’ knowledge of English.

Researchers worked with Bank Rakyat Indonesia and the Microfinance Innovation Center for Resources and Alternatives to measure the impact of incentives and financial education on savings account take-up. Results indicated that the financial education program was not an effective tool for promoting the use of bank accounts, but modest financial subsidies did increase the share of households that opened a formal savings account. Overall, these results suggest that take-up of formal financial services may be more easily achieved through measures designed to reduce the price of financial services, rather than through large-scale financial literacy education.

Researchers partnered with the Akshara Foundation in Bangalore, India to evaluate the impact of hiring trained librarians in primary schools on students’ academic achievement. Overall, the intervention had little effect on students' language, math, and science skills and had no impact on student attendance rates.

Researchers in India attempted to measure the impact of a daily Computer Assisted Learning program on student test scores when delivered as either a substitute for or supplement to the status quo curriculum (delivered during or after school, respectively). While the program improved math scores for students when delivered as a supplement, it actually had a negative impact on math scores when delivered as a substitute for the status quo curriculum.

Researchers partnered with BRAC to evaluate their multi-faceted livelihood program known as the Graduation Approach, which aims to encourage occupational change among women living in extreme poverty. The Graduation Approach enabled these women to shift away from seasonal casual wage labor and into livestock rearing, leading to an increase in earnings and a reduction in extreme poverty.

In India, researchers measured the impact of providing vouchers to attend private schools on student learning. Students who won vouchers had test scores that were 0.13 standard deviations higher across all subjects.

Researchers evaluated the impact of hiring extra contract teachers in primary schools in India on student learning. Results show that students in schools with an extra contract teacher performed significantly better than those in comparison schools in both math and language areas. Evidence also suggests that contract teachers in this context faced stronger incentives to perform well than regular teachers.

In Uganda, researchers examined the impact of a combination of life skills and vocational training on adolescent girls’ engagement in income-generating activities, control over their bodies, and aspirations. The bundled provision of hard vocational and soft life skills training led to substantial advances in economic empowerment and control over the body for adolescent girls, which persisted for four years.

In Mexico, researchers are testing whether this lagging productivity could be due to lower managerial capacity. They found that providing subsidized managerial consulting to Mexican SMEs boosted their productivity and hiring.

What are the impacts of vocational education on labor markets, migration patterns, and health and fertility outcomes in Kenya?

An intensive counseling program for job seekers at risk of long-term unemployment in France helped them find work sooner than the standard low-intensity counseling program, and the counseling was more effective when provided by a public agency than by private contractors.

Researchers sought to test whether intensive job counseling with a private provider is an effective means of increasing employment rates, even for a population with such a low attachment to the labor market. Results suggested that job-counseling increased employment rates among counseled individuals, and somewhat reduced their dependence on welfare. However, take-up of the service was low, and the cost of the program exceeded the savings generated from lower welfare payments.

In Western Kenya, researchers evaluated the impact of two preventive approaches—community-based testing and free condom provision—on behavioral and biological outcomes. Neither community-based testing, free condoms, nor these interventions offered together reduced the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections or risky sexual behaviors among youth.

In India, researchers partnered with Bandhan Konnagar to evaluate the impact of a multi-faceted livelihoods program known as the Graduation approach, which aims to encourage occupational change among people living in extreme poverty. The Graduation approach had large and positive effects on economic well-being and health over the long term, even ten years after the productive asset transfer.