OUR APPROACH

In 2003, a team of researchers led by Tahir Andrabi at Pomona College, Jishnu Das at Georgetown University (formerly the World Bank), and Asim I. Khwaja at the Harvard Kennedy School, embarked on an ambitious research program, “The Learning and Educational Achievement in Pakistan Schools (LEAPS)" project. LEAPS began as a large-scale, independent survey and testing exercise and has since expanded into a long-term engagement and a series of experiments . The LEAPS PIs bring a unique approach to education research by using systems thinking to to examine how to catalyze innovation in education and improvements in learning outcomes.

Systems Thinking

 

The Ecosystem

The education ecosystem is made up of a wide set of actors all of whom engage with each other in complex ways. Often, there are systemic frictions that inhibit these actors from engaging in the best possible way to ensure that the whole system thrives. Click the image on the left for a diagram of the complex interactions in Pakistan’s education ecosystem.


The Challenge

Our own decades of research has shown that each community, school, and even child struggles with unique challenges. This means innovations that are successful in one context can fail in others. Instead of specific innovations, we need approaches.


Our Approach

Instead of asking “what specific inputs work to improve education outcomes?”, because those can differ widely by context, we invert the question and ask, “what are the obstacles that are holding schools back from innovating, improving, and growing?”

Understanding the Ecosystem

  • Icon graphic of open book

    73%

    Of 3rd grade students cannot read a simple sentence in a local language

  • Icon graphic of three students

    42%

    Of Pakistani students attend low-cost private schools (over 20 million children)

  • Icon graphic of four circles with addition subtraction multiplication and equals signs

    78%

    Of 3rd grade students cannot perform simple arithmetic (such as two digit addition)

  • Icon graphic of a household including a man, woman, and child under a roof

    20%

    Of even the poorest households are paying for private schooling if available.

  • Icon graphic of three circles with the letters A, B, and C inside them

    64%

    Of 3rd grade students cannot identify any words written in English

  • Icon graphic of large dollar sign with graduation hat

    78%

    Of private schools are small businesses with monthly fees under $5

  • Icon graphic of a person symbolizing a teacher

    900,000+

    Women work in low-cost private schools making them the largest single employer of women in Pakistan