Interventions in developing nations for improving primary and secondary school enrollment of children: a systematic review

Education is considered critical to economic development and social welfare in developing nations. In light of compelling evidence that links expanded education systems and socioeconomic development while highlighting the importance of policies to offset inequality in access, governments and donor agencies have invested considerable funding to promote educational initiatives. Considerable funding for such initiatives has brought with it a concomitant increase in accountability and decision-makers want to know if the funds they have put toward such programs are having positive impact. Concurrently, there has also been a rise in impact evaluations in the developing world, particularly in education. Given the importance of education, particularly to outcomes in the most economically challenged nations, the amount of interventions that have been implemented to address education in developing nations, and the increase in relevant controlled impact evaluations, the need for a systematic review seems clear. 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, this review aims at providing evidence to inform the next wave of funding, intervention and evaluation efforts in this area. For this project, the 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?