Research in the context of decentralization has primarily focused on the role of school-based actors in improving educational outcomes for students in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The role of the "middle tier," such as subnational staff at the regional or district levels of educational leadership within the education…

This case illustrates ideas about systematic reviews of evidence and meta-analysis in a stepwise fashion. Presented is a discussion about studies of the effectiveness of interventions that are designed to prevent school dropout in low and low to middle income countries and to use tests in high-quality randomized controlled trials and high-quality…

Background: For a majority of the world's children, despite substantial increases in primary school enrollment, academic learning is neither occurring at expected rates nor supplying the basic foundational skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. The significant lag in academic achievement tells us that simply making formal education…