Despite a steady rise in literacy rates over the past 50 years, there are more than 750 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write. While policymakers and academics have primarily focused on educating children, and for good reason, adult learning and education programs are an important compo...

It is widely recognized that social science research involving human participants should be based on the principles of “doing good” and “mitigating harm.” While research results are often shared with academics and policymakers alike, it is unclear whether—and how often—they are shared with the parti...

Two years ago Aker et al added to [our knowledge of “what works” in adult education in low-income environments] with a study from Niger showing that a mobile phone-based component added to a standard adult literacy program improved math and literacy scores for participants, and those res...

I have had the privilege of living and working in West Africa for the past 15 years. In 2007, I spent several months in northern Nigeria, interviewing grain traders in cross-border markets. These markets were some of my favorite places in West Africa—bustling, chaotic, open-air markets th...