One of the case studies in this course evaluates the effectiveness of adding extra teachers in rural Kenya. (Image courtesy of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.)

One of the case studies in this course evaluates the effectiveness of adding extra teachers in rural Kenya. (Image courtesy of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.)

As Esther Duflo’s MITx course 14.73 The Challenge of World Poverty progresses, you might be interested in looking through one of the other significant contributions Professor Duflo has made to open education. Last year, she worked with OCW to publish materials from the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Executive Training: Evaluating Social Programs 2011.
The course focuses on methodologies for randomized evaluations of social programs.  Professor Duflo co-teaches the course with Dr. Rachel Glennerster and Professor Abhijit Banerjee.  Here’s the course description:

This five-day program on evaluating social programs will provide a thorough understanding of randomized evaluations and pragmatic step-by-step training for conducting one’s own evaluation. While the course focuses on randomized evaluations, many of the topics, such as measuring outcomes and dealing with threats to the validity of an evaluation, are relevant for other methodologies.

It’s a great resource for anyone trying to demonstrate the effectiveness of a social benefit project or program.  Check it out!