Programme Lead: Raising Learning Outcomes in Education Systems in Developing Countries

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Department for International Development (DfID) Raising Learning Outcomes in Educational Systems Research Programme (RLO) aims to increase understanding of the factors that enable or constrain learning outcomes in developing countries.

The Research Programme is made up of 31 world-class interdisciplinary research teams. Principal Investigators are based in higher education institutions in the UK, USA, Australia, South Africa, and India.  The body of the research is organised under three themes that combine to examine the complex relationships between the elements that define education systems, the contexts in which the systems are embedded, and the dynamics operating within these systems, and is directed at a diverse range of countries including Honduras, Lebanon, Niger, Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

A wide range of social science research designs including panel studies, quasi experiments, and randomised control trials runs through the programme and there are strong commonalities in theoretical framing and methods for data collection.

The function of the Programme Research Lead is to support and provide evidence of the scientific, conceptual, and methodological contributions of the programme; maximise scientific quality between research grants within and across the three programme research themes; and enhance the value of the programme by promoting and supporting opportunities for collaboration and building synergies across the portfolio of grants through a coordinated programme of activities.

The Programme Research Lead is supported in this function by two Research Fellows: Dr Bronwen Magrath and Dr Monazza Aslam.