Deadline: 31-May-22
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) are seeking research proposals to study learning loss and recovery following disruptions in education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Themes
- Measuring learning loss
- Under this theme, studies empirically quantify changes in student learning levels in the wake of the pandemic.
- These studies can include the use of standardized tests or other types of education and skills measurement that can be compared with pre-pandemic results. Alternatively, a comparison could be made between areas with widespread closures and those where school closure has been more limited.
- The design could be reflexive (to reflect all changes during the pandemic) or causal (to reflect closure effects).
- Characterizing and analyzing responses
- Proposals under this theme establish datasets on actual measures taken to limit or remediate losses and/or analyze effects of such measures.
- Reponses can include those taken by governments, schools, other organizations, households, and/or students, which are not captured in existing datasets.
- Studies in this area may also include activities under the “measuring learning loss” theme to enable identification of the effects of responses on learning outcomes.
- Testing solutions for learning recovery
- As face-to-face schooling resumes, a variety of measures can be used to offset learning losses and respond to increased learning level heterogeneity.
- These measures might include placing students into “tracks” based on learning levels, providing supplementary instruction through tutors or teaching assistants, using of educational technology or supplemental media, expanding time in school, or prioritizing educational topics.
- Studies would address issues raised above. Evidence is needed on the effects of these types of measures on learning outcomes and the ability to recover learning loss. Proposals under this theme should use empirical causal designs to isolate the effects of the measures tested.
Funding Information
The maximum budget requested is $100,000.
Conditions for Funding
Research proposals must meet the following conditions:
- It relates to one or more of the three above themes
- Research activities must focus on one or more ADB developing member countries
- Intellectual property from the research (including data) will be jointly owned by ADB, with a working paper and presentation as intended initial outputs
- Researchers to be funded under the research proposal must be citizens of ADB member economies
Selection Criteria
- Relevance of the research proposal to ADB’s operations and/or developing member countries
- Rigor of the research proposal, in terms of identification strategies for causal analysis, sample power, and motivation of the hypotheses to be tested
- Cost-effectiveness, in terms of balance between scale of data/outputs and the funding amount requested
- Demonstrated capacity of the research team to deliver rigorous research on related topics
For more information, visit https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/opportunities/adb-adbi-call-for-research-proposals-learning-loss-and-recovery-in-asia-and-the-pacific-following-covid-19-school-closures
