J-PAL review research featured in Science
on challenges in education in developing countries
photocredit: MIT J-PAL
What are the greatest challenges in science education?
Science Magazine recently published a special issue on "Grand Challenges in Science Education" that invited experts to discuss what they consider to be the greatest challenges currently facing science education. The April 19 issue includes the review article "The Challenge of Education and Learning in the Developing World," written by researchers from MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).
In the article, Michael Kremer, Gates Professor of Developing Societies at Harvard University, Rachel Glennerster, Director of J-PAL Global and Scientific Director of J-PAL Africa, and Conner Brannen, Policy Analyst, J-PAL Global and Program Staff of Education, and Political Economy and Governance, examine evidence from J-PAL's randomized control trials of programs that aim to improve the learning outcomes of school-age children.
Reaching a wider audience | first analysis of its kind
The review article concisely summarizes a large number of program evaluations that attempt to either help children who are not in school gain access to education, or for those who are in school, improve their learning levels. While not the first article of its kind, J-PAL's article in Science will enable this information to reach a new, wider audience, according to Brannen.
Furthermore, this is "the first time J-PAL's cost effectiveness analysis of programs that aim to improve student learning has been released, and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first analysis of its kind," Brannen says.
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