“What Works in Developing Nations to Get Children Into School or Keep Them There?” ranked number 2 out of the 5 most-read SAGE journal articles on the publisher’s Social Work Twitter page in 2014.

Co-authored by WestEd staff for the journal Research on Social Work Practice, the article reports on a systematic review of impact studies of school enrollment interventions in developing countries.

Due to evidence linking education and development, funding has been invested in interventions relevant to getting youth into school and keeping them there. Results from 73 included studies suggest that the average effect of intervention was positive across a range of outcomes, including enrollment, attendance, progression in school, and reducing dropout. Studies that focused on building new schools and other infrastructure interventions reported the largest average effects.

WestEd’s Anthony Petrosino, Claire Morgan, and Trevor Fronius co-wrote the article, which appeared in a Special Section on Systematic Reviews in the journal.

Drawing on the same study, Petrosino, Morgan, and Fronius co-authored a book chapter on meta-analysis, using the school enrollment data as the example. “Dropout Prevention Studies in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” (PDF) is included in the recently released SAGE Research Methods Cases, published by SAGE Publications. In addition, visit the SAGE Research Methods Database web page.