Summary of publication

Improving educational outcomes for female and disadvantaged primary school students in Bangladesh is an Australian Development Research Awards Scheme (ADRAS) research project, awarded under the last ADRAS round in 2012. A research team from Monash University undertook the project from April 2013 – April 2017.

This ADRAS Project evaluated several low-cost intervention programs to improve learning outcomes through greater parental involvement and supplementary teaching in Bangladesh. These interventions had a particular focus on girls and underperforming students. The research found:

• Strong evidence that parental involvement in school activities can have a significant positive effect on students' learning even in low-income countries.
• The after-school teaching by local privately hired teachers led to significant increase in students' test scores
• The intervention did not cause any substitution of efforts or expenditure on the treated children's education, but did increase household involvement in education for all the students.
• The interventions also helped to improve the performance of the other students (not targeted by this program) in the same schools, compared to those in control schools.
• There was a positive impact on low-ability primary-level girls (typically well below grade level) when placed in small study groups.

Full publication

• 
  Policy Brief: Supplementary Teaching and Parental Involvement in Developing Countries [Word 419 KB]
• Policy Brief: Supplementary Teaching and Parental Involvement in Developing Countries [PDF 526 KB]

• Research Brief: Supplementary Teaching and Parental Involvement in Developing Countries [Word 19 KB]
• Research Brief: Supplementary Teaching and Parental Involvement in Developing Countries [PDF 201 KB]