Impact Evaluation and Policy Research

[Impact Evaluation] Despite the popularity and widespread implementation of school feeding programs, evidence on the impact of school feeding on school participation and nutritional status is mixed. This study evaluates school feeding programs in three northern districts of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Feeding modalities included on-site feeding, take-home rations, and a combination. District-level implementation of the intervention sites and selective take-up present considerable evaluation challenges.

The Oaxaca-Blinder technique was originally used in labor economics to decompose earnings gaps and to estimate the level of discrimination. It has been applied since in other social issues, including education, where it can be used to assess how much of a gap is due to differences in characteristics (explained variation) and how much is due to policy or system changes (unexplained variation). The authors apply the decomposition technique in an effort to analyze the increase in Indonesia's score in PISA mathematics.

This paper reports on the quality of early childhood education in rural Indonesia. On average, the paper finds that centers created under the Indonesia Early Childhood Education and Development Project provide higher quality services than other types of preschools, as measured by a comprehensive instrument of preschool quality based on direct observation of classrooms in session (the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised).

[Impact Evaluation] This paper uses three waves of longitudinal data to examine the impact of expanding access to preschool services in rural areas of Indonesia on two cohorts of children. One cohort was children aged 4 at the start of the project and was immediately eligible for project-provided services when they began operation in 2009. The other cohort was children aged 1 at the start of the project and became eligible for project-provided services two years later.

[Impact Evaluation] This paper assesses whether the Indonesia Early Childhood Education and Development project had an impact on early achievement gaps as measured by an array of child development outcomes and enrollment. The analysis is based on longitudinal data collected in 2009 and 2010 on approximately 3,000 four-year-old children residing in 310 villages located in nine districts across Indonesia. The study begins by documenting the intent-to-treat impact of the project.

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country, with more than 238 million people living in an archipelago comprising over 17,000 islands. Over the past decade the Indonesian economy has experienced positive economic growth, reduced poverty, and made continued progress towards many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This paper examines the key aspects of the practices of school-based management in Indonesia, and its effect on education quality. Using a conceptual framework of an accountability system of public service delivery, the paper explores the relations among Indonesian parents, school committees, schools, and government education supervisory bodies from three tenets: participation and voice; autonomy; and accountability.

In the last 15 years, Indonesia has introduced a comprehensive package of education reforms designed to expand access and improve quality. A key component of the reform process has been the devolution of responsibility for basic education services to local governments and schools. The ability of local governments to deliver good quality basic education services varies considerably across Indonesia. Identifying the key dimensions of governance that underpin effective education service delivery can provide a starting point for addressing existing weaknesses and raising education performance.

[Impact Evaluation] Improving education outcomes by disseminating information to parents and thereby encouraging them to become more actively engaged in school oversight is attractive, since it can be done relatively cheaply. This study evaluates the impact of alternative approaches to disseminating information about a school grants program in Indonesia on parents' knowledge about the program in general, knowledge about the implementation of the program in their child's school, and participation in school activities related to the program as well as beyond it.

[Impact Evaluation] Indonesia has made remarkable strides in key human development indicators over the past few decades. Primary school enrollment is close to universal for both boys and girls, and the child mortality rate has declined rapidly. Nevertheless, infant mortality, child malnutrition, maternal mortality, junior secondary school enrollment, and educational learning quality have all remained problematic in Indonesia compared to other countries in the region.