Interventions in Developing Nations for Improving School Enrolments

No systematic review of randomized controlled trials and quasi-experiments of strategies in developing nations to get children into school (enrollment) and keep them there (attendance, persistence, continuation) has yet been reported, nor has any looked at supplemental outcomes focused on learning. By systematically gathering and analyzing rigorous research about the program effects of primary and secondary school enrollment and completion policies, our review will hopefully provide evidence to inform the next wave of funding, intervention and evaluation efforts in this area.

For this project, our objectives were to respond to the following questions:

• Main Question: What are the effects of interventions implemented in developing countries on measures of students’ enrollment, attendance, graduation, and progression?
• Supplemental Question: Within those studies that report the effects of an intervention on measures of students’ enrollment, attendance, graduation or progression, what are the ancillary effects on learning outcomes as measured by students’ test scores, grades, and other achievement measures?