found diary post, faith in development restored

it isn't every day that someone leaves behind a page in their diary in a cafe *and* it happens to be related to your work... thought some of you would enjoy this entry by an anonymous do-gooder. Dear Diary,I am happy to report that I have successfully changed the face of primary education in Kenya. Three daysContinue reading "found diary post, faith in development restored"

implementation / a ban on new ideas in India

not a lot of time to write on my own blog but here's one that i wrote for 3ie based on the recent #3ievalconf in Delhi, Measuring Results.

maybe data aren’t plural?

if google doesn't think so, is this the end of the 'data are plural' battle cry? (also, google offers, no non-U.S. locations yet?)  

cues to action: oral typhoid vaccine

this is a serious upgrade from five years ago when i last took the oral typhoid vaccine. my 7-day, 4-pill course of medicine came equipped with a check-off timeline printed on a bathroom mirror sticker and a livestrong/wriststrong-esque reminder bracelet. color me impressed, as well as 25% of the way to being re-vaccinated. (on another vaccine noteContinue reading "cues to action: oral typhoid vaccine"

adapted writing guide, a few thoughts on writing and pedagogy

i just spent some time summarizing and adapting someone else's adaptation of someone else's guide to writing (specifically for ethics and philosophy but many of the points apply more generally). i have attached it in case it is of use! i am now assisting with this particular ethics course for the first time. it was therefore no longerContinue reading "adapted writing guide, a few thoughts on writing and pedagogy"

miss marple & an apology to india

while i have been sick, i have watched/listened to (a fairly absurd amount of) british murder mysteries, including tommy & tuppance and miss marple (including the episode in which miss marple and tuppance team up!). on another track, there are always funny turns of phrase when working in english in india (and other places). one that always particularly tickled me was referringContinue reading "miss marple & an apology to india"

back (and forward) from ‘the big push forward’ – thoughts on why evidence is political and what to do about it

i spent the beginning of the week in brighton at the 'big push forward' conference, on the politics of evidence (#evpolitics) which mixed the need for venting and catharsis (about the "results agenda" and "results-based management" and "impact evaluation") with some productive conversation, though no immediate concreteness on how the evidence from the conference would itself beContinue reading "back (and forward) from ‘the big push forward’ – thoughts on why evidence is political and what to do about it"

here’s an idea — if they are trying to tell you something, make it easy for them to do so.

there's been a good deal of press around the unfortunately insignificant results of a major HIV prevention trial with products for women in south africa, uganda and zimbabwe. the results had little to do with efficacy of the products (a pill and a gel) but rather with the fact that most of the participating women did notContinue reading "here’s an idea — if they are trying to tell you something, make it easy for them to do so."

question: why do well-educated people from sub-Saharan Africa often seem not to have taken any courses in African history?

i admit that i am working from an n of 2, purposively selected from Ghana and Nigeria. nevertheless, it seems worth asking, how is national history *not* part of the standard middle or high school curriculum, insofar as knowing history is an important part of educating citizens?

causes, explanations, & getting stuff done

@edwardcarr, i also have a confession, which is that i have a small crush on you right now for the post in which you make a confession about causality and try to disentangle causes, mechanisms, and information that can be used to understand, revamp, and scale programs. i'd like to try to tweak the argument, especially in lightContinue reading "causes, explanations, & getting stuff done"