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This study is one of the first evaluations of independent (i.e., self-guided) practice in math in a developing country. We randomly assigned 4,461 students in grades 4-7 in "unaided" private schools across seven Indian cities who were using a computer-assisted learning software to: (a) a control group, in which they moved from one unit to the next upon completion; or (b) a treatment group, in which they had to complete practice exercises before progressing to the next topic. After six months, the additional practice had a precisely estimated null effect on the math achievement of the average student. However, treatment students with low initial performance outperformed their control counterparts by 0.14 standard deviations (SDs). Our results suggest that independent practice may help private-school students from relatively well-off families in need of catching up with their peers.

This study examines the relationships between school processes and literacy in public schools that serve low-income families in a midsize city in Colombia. We focus on four categories of school processes: instructional practice; school-community engagement; well-being of students, teachers, and parents; and community belonging. We present two key results. First, we find considerable variation in literacy performance across schools, despite serving students with similar family background characteristics. Second, we find community belonging to be the most salient school process for predicting literacy. Among measures of community belonging, higher levels of students' sense of belonging and lower levels of bullying were associated with higher literacy. This study contributes to the field of international and comparative education by highlighting the importance of relational and interpersonal dimensions of school processes for children's learning. Our study also demonstrates the value of adopting an interdisciplinary lens that combines economics, child development, and sociology to better understand the links between school processes and student learning.

There is substantial emphasis on improving classroom practices, primarily through activity-based instruction, to increase the productivity of schooling. We study a large programme that seeks to promote mathematics learning in government primary schools in India. Through a cluster-randomised trial we find that the programme increased activity-based instruction, but yielded only muted impacts on learning. We provide a potential explanation: school value-added models suggest a negative relationship between activity-based instruction and test score gains. Our findings are robust to adding a community-engagement component to the intervention. These results highlight the limitations of activity-based instruction programmes for increasing school productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is one of the first studies to evaluate the impact of computer-based individualized instruction in a developing country. We randomly assigned 1,528 students in grades 6–8 in 15 "model" public schools in Rajasthan, India who were using a computer-adaptive learning software to: a control group, in which they were only able to access the activities for their enrolled grade level; or a treatment group, in which they were able to access exercises appropriate for their performance level. After 9 months, computer-based individualized instruction had a null average effect on math achievement. However, treatment students with low initial performance outperformed their control counterparts by 0.22 standard deviations. Our results suggest that computer-based individualized instruction is most beneficial for low-performing students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This randomized trial investigates the long‐term effects of a primary school scholarship program in rural Cambodia. We estimate impacts—9 years after program inception—on educational attainment, cognitive skills, socio‐emotional outcomes, labor market outcomes, and well‐being. Our results point to systematic improvements in educational attainment but no average impacts on long‐term cognitive or socio‐emotional outcomes. A merit‐based (as opposed to poverty‐based) targeting strategy did, however, increase cognitive outcomes, especially for poorer students. The results suggest positive effects on cognition for males. We find no improvements in labor market outcomes, yet positive effects on well‐being, driven by recipients of merit‐based scholarships. These findings shed light on the complex relationship between barriers to primary schooling and long‐term outcomes, emphasizing the need for targeted approaches that consider both socioeconomic factors and individual merit, while also raising important questions about gender dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is one of the first evaluations of independent (i.e., self-guided) practice in math in a developing country. We randomly assigned 4,461 students in grades 4–7 in "unaided" private schools across seven Indian cities who were using a computer-assisted learning software to: (a) a control group, in which they moved from one unit to the next upon completion; or (b) a treatment group, in which they had to complete practice exercises before progressing to the next topic. After six months, the additional practice had a precisely estimated null effect on the math achievement of the average student. However, treatment students with low initial performance outperformed their control counterparts by 0.14 standard deviations (SDs). Our results suggest that independent practice may help private-school students from relatively well-off families in need of catching up with their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]