REAP Launches Impact Evaluation Graduate Course at Shaanxi Normal University

In November and December of this year, REAP researchers are working with our partners at the Center for Experimental Economics in Education (CEEE) to teach a 5-week intensive graduate course on impact evaluation at Shaanxi Normal University.  CEEE aims to raise the quality and effectiveness of education policy and projects throughout China by not only conducting actionable research, but also educating the next generation of scholars on the importance of evidence-based action and the core principles and methodology of impact evaluation.  Founded in January of 2014, CEEE has successfully established a new department of Experimental Economics in Education--with 24 Master's students and 3 PhD students in its first class of students--at Shaanxi Normal University, and will be expanding enrollment at this same rate over the next two years.  This intensive course on impact evaluation forms a core part of the curriculum for these students, and also attracted a number of students from REAP partner institutions across China.

Taught by REAP faculty, this graduate course covers all aspects of impact evaluation, from statistics and STATA to project design and randomization.  Launching this course marks a significant step forward in REAP's efforts to expand quality impact evaluation in China, thereby contributing to REAP's overarching goal of using evidence-based research to bring about effective and cost-efficient education policies and programs for the benefit of rural China's children.