Of the estimated 0.6 million teachers employed at government schools in Pakistan, 43 percent have not received any professional development training. A considerable amount of research has focused on the effects of teachers' psychological characteristics and academic qualifications on subsequent student achievement but there is limited evidence on…

For decades, Pakistan's government has continuously provided its citizens with accessible, universal, basic education; however, these efforts have not yielded any gains for the citizens. Consequently, Pakistan has a lower literacy rate, one of the lowest in South Asia and the rest of the world. Although such a substantial issue is daunting and…

The presence of a teacher in the classroom is central to the provision of schooling, with accumulating evidence showing that teacher absence compromises student learning. Teacher absence is common in schools in low- and middle-income countries. With much of the developing world making rapid progress in achieving universal primary school enrollment…

Low student learning is a common finding in much of the developing world. This paper uses a relatively unique dataset of five semiannual rounds of standardized test data to characterize and explain the short-term changes in student learning. The data are collected as part of the quality assurance system for a public-private partnership program…