Improving the quality of education is a challenging task. Even though achieving this goal is a priority on the agenda of every country in Latin America, we do not know too much on how to get there. Rigorous evidence is scarce, and results are mixed on what works. And when effects are found, they are usually small and contingent on a number of conditions dictated by the … [Read more...] about Do we know how to improve the quality of education?
Effectiveness
Policy, politics and evidence: why does it matter?
At the Mind the Gap conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico, the main theme was how to affect policy with hard evidence. Some would argue that this is the essence of why we evaluate programs. We want to know what works and why so we can improve upon what we have, replicate what works or move away from what does not. Although it seems reasonable, policy-making is about politics … [Read more...] about Policy, politics and evidence: why does it matter?
Microfinance: big questions and small answers
Although the effectiveness of microcredit as a development tool has been recently questioned, its use seems to still be out of the discussion. In 2009, more than 128 million of the world’s poorest families received some sort of microloan (State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2011). Supporters of microcredit argue that it alleviates poverty, creates … [Read more...] about Microfinance: big questions and small answers
How can experiments teach us more?
Let’s suppose that we wanted to evaluate the broken windows policing theory developed by Kelling and Wilson (1982) and so widely implemented in New York City in the last few decades. Broken windows policing is based on the idea that enforcement of minor crimes should lead to a decrease in the realization of more serious crimes. The argument is that neighborhood disorder and … [Read more...] about How can experiments teach us more?
Policy, politics and impact evaluation
At the closing session of the Mind the Gap: From Evidence to Policy Impact conference that took place on June 17th, the Chilean Planning Minister Felipe Kast made some interesting points about how to persuade politicians to embrace evaluations. His perspective is interesting as until last year he was an academic engaged in impact evaluations, and today he is one of the … [Read more...] about Policy, politics and impact evaluation