Mostly Harmless Econometrics An Empiricists Companion

Latin American economic development has been perceived as a puzzle. The region has trailed most other world regions over the past half century despite relatively high initial development and school attainment levels. This puzzle, however, can be resolved by considering educational achievement, a direct measure of human capital. We introduce a new, more inclusive achievement measure that comes from splicing regional achievement tests into worldwide tests. In growth regressions, the positive growth effect of educational achievement fully accounts for the poor growth performance of Latin American countries. These results are confirmed in a number of instrumental-variable specifications that exploit plausibly exogenous achievement variation stemming from historical and institutional determinants of educational achievement. Finally, a development accounting analysis finds that, once educational achievement is included, human capital can account for between half and two thirds of the income differences between Latin America and the rest of the world.

Schooling, educational achievement, and the Latin American growth puzzle

Building back better to avert a learning catastrophe: Estimating learning loss from COVID-19 school shutdowns in Africa and facilitating short-term and long-term learning recovery

Digital technology offers the potential to address educational challenges in resource‐poor settings This meta‐analysis examines the impact of students' use of technology that personalises and adapts to learning level in low‐ and middle‐income countries Following a systematic search for research between 2007 and 2020, 16 randomised controlled trials were identified in five countries Studies involved 53,029 learners aged 6–15 years Coding examined learning domain (mathematics and literacy);personalisation level and delivery;technology use;and intervention duration and intensity Overall, technology‐supported personalised learning was found to have a statistically significant—if moderate—positive effect size of 0 18 on learning (p = 0 001) Meta‐regression reveals how more personalised approaches which adapt or adjust to learners' level led to significantly greater impact (an effect size of 0 35) than those only linking to learners' interests or providing personalised feedback, support, and/or assessment Avenues for future research include investigating cost implications, optimum programme length, and teachers' role in making personalised learning with technology effective Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic? Promoting personalised learning is an established aim of educators Using technology to support personalised learning in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) could play an important role in ensuring more inclusive and equitable access to education, particularly in the aftermath of COVID‐19 There is currently no rigorous overview of evidence on the effectiveness of using technology to enable personalised learning in LMICs What this paper adds? The meta‐analysis is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of technology‐supported personalised learning in improving learning outcomes for school‐aged children in LMICs Technology‐supported personalised learning has a statistically significant, positive effect on learning outcomes Interventions are similarly effective for mathematics and literacy and whether or not teachers also have an active role in the personalisation Personalised approaches that adapt or adjust to the learner led to significantly greater impact, although whether these warrant the additional investment likely necessary for implementation at scale needs to be investigated Personalised technology implementation of moderate duration and intensity had similar positive effects to that of stronger duration and intensity, although further research is needed to confirm this Implications for practice and/or policy: The inclusion of more adaptive personalisation features in technology‐assisted learning environments can lead to greater learning gains Personalised technology approaches featuring moderate personalisation may also yield learning rewards While it is not known whether personalised technology can be scaled in a cost‐effective and contextually appropriate way, there are indications that this is possible The appropriateness of teachers integrating personalised approaches in their practice should be explored given ‘supplementary’ uses of personalised technology (ie, additional sessions involving technology outside of regular instruction) are common What is already known about this topic? Promoting personalised learning is an established aim of educators Using technology to support personalised learning in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) could play an important role in ensuring more inclusive and equitable access to education, particularly in the aftermath of COVID‐19 There is currently no rigorous overview of evidence on the effectiveness of using technology to enable personalised learning in LMICs What this paper adds? The meta‐analysis is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of technology‐supported personalised learning in improving learning outcomes for school‐aged children in LMICs Technology‐supported personalised learning has a statistically signifi ant, positive effect on learning outcomes Interventions are similarly effective for mathematics and literacy and whether or not teachers also have an active role in the personalisation Personalised approaches that adapt or adjust to the learner led to significantly greater impact, although whether these warrant the additional investment likely necessary for implementation at scale needs to be investigated Personalised technology implementation of moderate duration and intensity had similar positive effects to that of stronger duration and intensity, although further research is needed to confirm this Implications for practice and/or policy: The inclusion of more adaptive personalisation features in technology‐assisted learning environments can lead to greater learning gains Personalised technology approaches featuring moderate personalisation may also yield learning rewards While it is not known whether personalised technology can be scaled in a cost‐effective and contextually appropriate way, there are indications that this is possible The appropriateness of teachers integrating personalised approaches in their practice should be explored given ‘supplementary’ uses of personalised technology (ie, additional sessions involving technology outside of regular instruction) are common [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of British Journal of Educational Technology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )

The effectiveness of technology‐supported personalised learning in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A meta‐analysis

A Country-Level Research Review: EdTech in Tanzania

This study provides novel evidence on the relative effectiveness of computer-assisted learning (CAL) software and traditional teaching. Based on a randomized controlled trial in Salvadoran primary schools, we evaluate three interventions that aim to improve learning outcomes in mathematics: (i) teacher-led classes, (ii) CAL classes monitored by a technical supervisor, and (iii) CAL classes instructed by a teacher. As all three interventions involve the same amount of additional mathematics lessons, we can directly compare the productivity of the three teaching methods. CAL lessons lead to larger improvements in students' mathematics skills than traditional teacher-centered classes. In addition, teachers add little to the e ectiveness of learning software. Overall, our results highlight the value of CAL approaches in an environment with poorly qualified teachers.

The Relative Effectiveness of Teachers and Learning Software: Evidence from a Field Experiment in El Salvador

Education is one of the key resources in the fight against poverty. While substantial progress has been made in terms of school enrollment, evidence suggests that educational quality is still alarmingly low in many developing countries. Various explanations have been suggested, but one very obvious factor in the educational production function has received surprisingly little attention: the content knowledge of teachers. For this study, we administered an exam-type assessment to a representative sample of 224 primary school teachers in Morazan, El Salvador. The average teacher scored 47% correct answers on 50 questions covering the official math curriculum for second to sixth graders. Overall, our results point to an even more worrying situation than suggested by previous findings based on indirect measures of content-related teacher skills in several African countries.

Teacher Content Knowledge in Developing Countries: Evidence from a Math Assessment in El Salvador

This report presents the results of a quantitative impact evaluation on a basic education program that aims to improve math skills among third to sixth graders in Morazán, El Salvador. The backbone of the evaluation is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that evaluates the impact and compares the cost-effectiveness of three different interventions providing additional lessons in basic math, namely: (i) math lessons based on computer-assisted learning software and instructed by a qualified teacher, (ii) math lessons based on computer-assisted learning software and conducted by a supervisor, and (iii) math lessons taught by a qualified teacher but without learning software. We find that using computer-assisted learning software consistently outperforms the more traditional approach to teaching math. The computer-assisted learning courses not only produced a higher impact on math skills, but also turned out to be more cost-effective than traditionally designed math lessons. The evaluation also uncovers significant positive spillover effects in Consciente’s partner schools: Children that were assigned to control classes in program schools experienced an increase in math knowledge compared to children in geographically separated control classes. Overall, this study confirms the benefits of expanding school time, especially if the additional math lessons are built around computer-assisted learning methods.

Expanding School Time and the Value of Computer-Assisted Learning: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in El Salvador

This study provides novel evidence on the relative effectiveness of computer-assisted learning (CAL) software and traditional teaching. Based on a randomized controlled trial in Salvadoran primary schools, we evaluate three interventions that aim to improve learning outcomes in mathematics: (i) teacher-led classes, (ii) CAL classes monitored by a technical supervisor, and (iii) CAL classes instructed by a teacher. As all three interventions involve the same amount of additional mathematics lessons, we can directly compare the productivity of the three teaching methods. CAL lessons lead to larger improvements in students' mathematics skills than traditional teacher-centered classes. In addition, teachers add little to the effectiveness of learning software. Overall, our results highlight the value of CAL approaches in an environment with poorly qualified teachers.

Daniel Steffen

Papers

The Relative Effectiveness of Teachers and Learning Software: Evidence from a Field Experiment in El Salvador

Teacher Content Knowledge in Developing Countries: Evidence from a Math Assessment in El Salvador

Expanding School Time and the Value of Computer-Assisted Learning: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in El Salvador

The Relative Effectiveness of Teachers and Learning Software: Evidence from a Field Experiment in El Salvador

How effective are computer-based teacher training programs? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in El Salvador