J-PAL North America

06/14/2026

Our crime policy work aims to identify and promote evidence-based strategies to advance fairness within the institutions and laws that make up the criminal legal system. Learn more:

J-PAL North America’s Initiative for Effective US Crime Policy (IECP) supports randomized evaluations of strategies that foster a more effective and fair criminal legal system.

06/13/2026

Our Social Policy Research Initiative supports randomized evaluations of innovative social programs and policies to provide insights 🔍 on which policies work best and why. Learn about our current projects:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,100 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to a...

06/12/2026

💳 Affording basic needs is a challenge for many Americans. Can individualized case management, which aims to address the compounding effects of multiple, simultaneous hardships, support people in gaining economic security? Learn more:

Researchers evaluated the impact of Padua, a holistic, individualized, wrap-around support program for individuals who have recently experienced a negative economic shock. Exploratory analyses suggest that Padua impacted housing and employment outcomes specific to participants’ individual needs.

06/11/2026

Summer youth employment programs (SYEP) may offer more than just a paycheck 💵
Evidence suggests can have positive impacts in school attendance, job aspirations, and criminal legal system involvement. Curious about the details? Watch the video:

Summer youth employment programs are an evidence-based option for i...

06/10/2026

How can schools develop & keep high-quality teachers? 👩‍🏫 The first step is to identify effective teachers with easily implemented and evidence-based measures like classroom observations and student surveys:

Researchers evaluated how well different measures of teacher effectiveness predicted student performance in six school districts in the United States. Measures of teacher effectiveness based on student achievement in the previous year, classroom observations, and student surveys accurately identifie...

06/09/2026

Are you planning a randomized evaluation in health care delivery🏥? Our highlights the unique challenges to designing a well-powered, feasible study in health care contexts and shares how previous studies overcame these barriers: https://j-p.al/f9a

06/08/2026

High-performing charter schools have been shown to ⬆️ test scores of low-income students—but what about longer-term outcomes? Researchers examined the impact of charter schools after six years:

Researchers examined results of a school admissions lottery to measure the impact of charter school education on students after six years. They found that offering a charter education resulted in improved test scores, higher college enrollment, a reduction in specific risky behaviors, and no physica...

06/07/2026

Publishing in a medical journal allows non-medical researchers to expand the reach of their study. This covers medical journal guidelines and requirements ✅ that may be unfamiliar to those who usually publish in the social sciences: https://j-p.al/zft

06/06/2026

How can community colleges better support students in completing their degrees?

For , check out research from on the programs most effective at helping students persist in school and graduate 🎓

Providing community college students with a wide range of comprehensive supports, such as counseling, tutoring, and financial assistance, can improve low rates of persistence and graduation. These support programs address many simultaneous barriers that students face, which may be a key driver behin...

06/06/2026

A randomized evaluation in King County, WA found that transit subsidies 🚌 alone did not reduce rates of failure to appear in court.
Read more:

Researchers partnered with local agencies in King County, Washington to evaluate the impact of providing transit subsidies on rates of FTA in court. While the study was disrupted due to Covid-19, the pilot results indicated that transit subsidies had little effect on reducing FTA.