Many Sub-Saharan African countries have instituted free primary education policies, and this has led to a significant increase in the primary school enrollment rate. However, many children who are in school are not learning. It is not clear whether free primary education policies have...

This article investigates the effect increasing secondary education opportunities has on teenage fertility in Brazil. Using a novel dataset to exploit variation from a 57 increase in secondary schools across 4,884 Brazilian municipalities between 1997 and 2009, the analysis shows an important...

In 2015, students from more than 72 countries and economies participated in PISA, an international assessment. Administered every three years by the OECD, PISA measures the skills of 15 year-old students in applying their knowledge of science, reading, and math to real life problems. PISA...

In many low-income countries, teachers do not master the subject they are teaching, and children learn little while attending school. Using unique data from nationally representative surveys of schools in seven Sub-Saharan African countries, this paper proposes a methodology to assess the effect...

This article investigates the causal relationship between women's schooling and fertility by exploiting variation generated by the removal of school fees in Ethiopia. The increase in schooling caused by the reform is identified using both geographic variation in the intensity of its impact and...

This study documents the results of a pilot study jointly undertaken by the World Bank and the Guangdong Department of Education to assess teaching practices in public primary and junior secondary schools using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System tool. The tool was used to conduct classroom...

This paper reports on a randomized experiment to investigate the long-term effects of a primary school scholarship program in rural Cambodia. In 2008, fourth-grade students in 207 randomly assigned schools (103 treatment, 104 control) received scholarships based on the students' academic...

Countries that have sustained rapid growth over decades have typically had a strong public commitment to expanding education as well as to improving learning outcomes. South Asian countries have made considerable progress in expanding access to primary and secondary schooling, with countries...

The main objective of the report is to provide recommendations for policy makers and sector managers to help improve service delivery and the resultant outcomes in primary education. The fundamental premise of this analysis stems from Punjab Social Sector Public Expenditure Review conducted in...