The strengths and shortcomings of RCTs: REAP's experiences in China

• In Event: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in education: revisiting the promises of the RCT method

Proposal

Prashant Loyalka (Stanford University) presents the findings of the Rural Education Action Program (REAP) in China. By drawing on REAP’s experiences, he illustrates how RCTs may be nested in theory, and in fact contribute and advance theory debates, if properly designed and replicated. RCTs are used at REAP to gain insights on how to improve policies surrounding human development (education, health and nutrition). REAP’s research agenda is not only large and comprehensive, spanning several sectors, but has also had significant policy impact. To date, over eighty percent of published impact evaluation studies on education in China have been published by REAP scholars.

Author

• Prashant Loyalka, Stanford University