Training teachers to improve teacher quality and student learning is a common strategy taken by policymakers. In Nepal, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a government teacher training program for math and science teachers to evaluate the impact on student learning in secondary schools.

Despite making great strides in expanding access to education, developing countries like India continue to lag in measures of actual student learning. To understand how quality of education mediates learning, this randomized control trial evaluates a pedagogical intervention training science teachers in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. The curiosity-based curriculum emphasizes practical techniques along with foundational principles on effective answer-seeking, guided research, constructive feedback, and peer-to-peer communication. The researchers assess whether active teaching approaches increase student recall of course material, curiosity, student engagement, critical thinking, and other soft skills foundational to developing students’ intrinsic motivation to learn.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing information to students on their decision to pursue courses and majors in economics at a public university in the United States. The intervention increased male students' likelihood of studying additional economics courses when compared to female students, but the intervention did not impact students’ decision to major in economics, irrespective of gender.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact and cost-effectiveness of fully online and blended STEM classes in Russia on student test scores. Students in online and blended courses achieved similar scores to students in traditional in-person courses at a lower cost.

In this study, researchers explored the impact of a soft-skills training program on youth employment.

Researchers partnered with a local non-profit, Walter, to evaluate the effectiveness of two school-based social cohesion interventions for immigrants’ children in Finnish schools.

Researchers evaluated the impact of exposure to and incentives to consume discordant media on political attitudes and behaviors in Turkey. Participants changed their media consumption habits, trusted discordant media sources more, and had less polarized attitudes towards the government, but did not change how much they trusted people with opposing political views.

The City of Chelsea implemented a cash transfer program called Chelsea Eats, which provided eligible households with up to US$400 per month for nine months. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation on the impact of the unconditional cash transfer on health care utilization and a variety of health outcomes. Those who received the cash transfer had fewer emergency department visits, including those related to behavioral health or substance use, fewer admissions to the hospital from the emergency department, and more outpatient visits to subspecialists than those who did not receive the cash transfer.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test disbursing microfinance loans through digital accounts on business outcomes in Uganda. Women who received their loan through a digital account experienced higher business capital and profits compared to those who received their loans via cash.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing information about police alternatives on individuals' reported likelihood of calling the police and a follow-up randomized evaluation to understand key public-safety stakeholders’ receptiveness of police alternatives. The first study found that information about police alternatives had a bipartisan decrease on police reliance in nonviolent scenarios. The second study revealed that police are more responsive to evidence on public interest in police alternatives when it is presented using some framing devices compared to others.

Uninformed elected leaders or voters can negatively affect political accountability, such as decision-making on what and how public services are delivered to citizens. The researcher partnered with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party in Lahore to evaluate the demand and responsiveness of local politicians to information about their citizens’ preferences.

Can using technological innovations for monitoring improve the administrative implementation of social protection programs? In partnership with the Ministry of Rural Development in two states in India, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a new internet- and mobile-based management and monitoring platform, PayDash, to improve the administration of MGNREGS, a large workfare program in India. Platform access significantly reduced wage payment delays in areas with worse baseline performance and its use was higher when senior officials were also provided access.

Altruistic individuals may hesitate to give when they doubt the quality of a charity, but knowing that a high-profile donor supports the charity might alleviate these concerns. Researchers evaluated the impact of publicizing a matching grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) on charitable giving to Technoserve, a US-based poverty-alleviation charity. Identifying the matching donor as BMGF increased the number of donors compared to mentioning an anonymous matching donor and compared to making no mention of a matching donor. However, the average size of donations remained the same regardless of the publicizing method used.

In partnership with Avanti Fellows, this study evaluates the impact of the Sankalp program, which provides teachers with resources and training to blend their instruction with video-based learning materials, on student’s math and science test scores.

Researchers, in partnership with Kimanya Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Education in Uganda, evaluated the impact of a program that trained teachers to learn like scientists: posing questions, framing hypotheses, and using real-world experience wherever possible. Researchers found positive impacts on classroom dynamics, teacher pedagogy, student learning, and creativity, with impacts on student learning sustained for four years.