Draft available upon request [Pre-registration]

We study a light-touch peer tutoring intervention (at scale) facilitated by teachers and embedded within rural public primary schools in the poorest Indian state of Bihar in partnership with the district education administration and an NGO. Teachers in treatment schools were encouraged to form and maintain groups of size 5-6 with a high-performing student as the tutor and conduct such sessions at least thrice a week in one period of the regular school day. We find that the program increased math performance by 0.15-0.16 standard deviations for both learners and tutors driven by gains in learning across a range of math competencies. Learners in treatment schools report finding studies easier (+0.11 standard deviations), feeling less anxious when studying with friends (-0.1 standard deviations) and feeling more aspirational (+0.09 standard deviations) but they also report that poorly performing students are more likely to be excluded from student groups (+0.1 standard deviations). Tutors also report feeling more aspirational (+0.17 standard deviations). We do not find any effects on a range of socioemotional skills. We also find a tightening of student peer groups such that both tutors and learners are reported by a smaller number of peers as part of study groups (-0.13 for learners and -0.26 for tutors) while learners also report studying with fewer peers (-0.17). Both learners as well as tutors are reported as part of better study groups. We do not find any effect on the size or quality of friendship networks. These results demonstrate that same-grade peer tutoring within primary school classrooms can be both effective and scalable when implemented by teachers.

Draft available upon request [Pre-registration]
We investigate whether a government-led, whole-school reform in public lower secondary schools can simultaneously reduce dropout and improve both academic and socioemotional outcomes. We employ a prospective difference-in-differences design, matching 200 reform schools in Morocco to 100 comparable schools using machine learning on nationwide administrative data. The analysis combines primary assessment data for 20,036 students with enrollment records for 637,587 observations. After one year, the reform reduced end-of-year dropout by 1.6 percentage points (a 31.4 percent decline), increased learning by 0.52 standard deviations (a 3.3-fold acceleration), and improved a pre-specified index of socioemotional skills by 0.22 standard deviations. These findings demonstrate that government-led interventions can deliver multidimensional benefits during the critical lower secondary school years and highlight the potential of whole-school reform to support adolescent development.

Draft available soon [conditionally accepted via pre-results review at The Journal of Development Economics]

We experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of a socioemotional support intervention in public schools in Morocco. Implemented as part of a broader school reform, the intervention trains and equips social specialists in schools to give workshops in small classes for students in the first and second grades of lower secondary education. The intervention aims to develop students' intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, and ultimately improve student learning and reduce student dropout. Our study contributes to the evidence base on school-based socioemotional interventions in low- and lower middle-income countries.

Draft available soon [Pre-registration]

Field implementation in progress

Field implementation in progress

Supported by Harvard University Center for International Development GEM Incubation Fund 2025