This presentation focused on the impact of the Equity in Education in Refugee Camps in Kenya (EERCK) remedial education program implemented by World University Service of Canada (WUSC) in Dadaab and Kakuma, and the program’s journey to scale. We designed a rigorous two-part study to estimate the impact of the EERCK program on the cognitive and noncognitive skills of seventh- and eighth-grade girls in the refugee camps. In Kakuma, we randomly assigned the 650 program slots among 1,300 eligible girls: this randomization-by-oversubscription methodology enabled us to compare those randomly assigned to receive the program against those randomly assigned not to receive the program. In Dadaab, we used a regression discontinuity design to determine the impact of the program: We compared outcomes of 496 girls who were above the cutoff for admission into the program, to 179 girls who were just below the cutoff for admission. In both locations, we measured the impact of the program on school attendance, achievement, and retention.

The Speaker Thomas de Hoop serves as a principal economist for American Institutes for Research (AIR) in Washington D.C. He has 12 years of experience designing, implementing, and leading mixed-methods impact evaluations and systematic reviews with a focus on South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Latin-America. Currently, he oversees a research and evaluation portfolio with a focus on the impact, scalability, and cost-effectiveness of innovations in education and women’s collectives.