Education and Learning
In the past several years, there have been improvements in Peruvian education. For example, enrollment rates have increased, and there is an observable trend toward improvement in standardized test scores. However, there is still much to be done in terms of the quality, equality, and relevance of education in Peru.
Therefore, all GRADE studies focus on identifying the existing challenges for the Peruvian educational system in achieving its intended impact on society. In these studies, GRADE researchers place significant emphasis on educational inequality. As such, our researchers have conducted studies on the effects of poverty, living in rural areas, race and ethnicity (with a focus on indigenous peoples and the Afro-Peruvian community), and disability on educational opportunities and success. GRADE researchers have likewise incorporated a gender component into many studies.
Informed by these studies as well as others, GRADE researchers have been directly involved in policy debates in numerous sectors of government, including those of the Ministry of Education and other institutions working on topics in education.
Senior Researchers
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Lorena Alcázar Valdivia
PhD en Economics - Washington University
Lorena has a BA in Economics from the Pacific University in Peru, a Master’s Degree in Political and International Economy from the Kiel Institute of World Economics, and a PhD in Economics from Washington University. She is currently a Senior Researcher at the Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE). Previously, she served as Vice-President […]
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María Balarin Bonazzi
PhD en Educational Policy - University of Bath
María Balarin is a Senior Researcher at the Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE) in Peru. Her research explores the political economy of education reform and educational justice in the Global South, with a particular focus on gender dynamics and socioeconomic exclusion. She has examined how state weakness shapes education reforms, the processes of […]
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Martín Benavides Abanto (on leave)
PhD en Sociology - Pennsylvania State University
Martín Benavides has a PhD in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University where he also attained a Master’s Degree in Education Policy. He has a degree in Sociology and a BA in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and has been a visiting student on issues of social mobility and inequality at Nuffield College […]
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Santiago Cueto Caballero
PhD en Educational Psychology - Indiana University
Santiago Cueto holds a degree in Educational Psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a PhD in the same field from Indiana University in the United States. He has been a Visiting Researcher at the University of California at Davis and the University of Oxford. He is currently a Senior Researcher at GRADE, […]
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Gabriela Guerrero Barnechea
PhD en Educational Sciences - KU Leuven
Gabriela Guerrero has a PhD in Educational Sciences from the KU Leuven in Belgium and a Master’s Degree in Development Studies with a major in Public Policy from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, The Netherlands. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. She is currently a […]
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Juan León Jara-Almonte
PhD en - Pennsylvania State University
Juan has a PhD in Educational Theory and Policy and Comparative & International Education from Pennsylvania State University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences with mention in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Currently, he is a Senior Researcher at GRADE. His research interests are inequality in education, intercultural bilingual education, early […]
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Patricia McLauchlan de Arregui
M.A. en Sociology - Johns Hopkins University
Patricia McLauchlan de Arregui graduated in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. She obtained her MA and concluded her doctoral studies in Sociology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She has worked for GRADE as a Senior Researcher since 1985 and was Executive Director of the institution between 1988 and 1998. Her […]
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Vanessa Rojas Arangoitia
PhD en - Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
Vanessa holds a PhD in Sociology from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. She has a degree in Anthropology and a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Her work has focused on the anthropology of education and childhood, addressing issues of educational transitions, child welfare, educational quality and power relations. During 2012, she […]
Associated Researchers
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Carmela Chávez Irigoyen
PhD en - Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
Carmela Chávez Irigoyen holds a PhD in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where she also obtained a Degree in Sociology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences. She has a Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Human Rights and a Master’s Degree in Fundamental Rights from the Carlos III University in Madrid. […]
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Néstor Valdivia Vargas
PhD candidate en Sociology - El Colegio de México
Néstor Valdivia is studying for a PhD in Sociology at El Colegio de México and holds a degree in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is currently an Associate Researcher at GRADE in the fields of poverty and equality, education, the labor market and human development. He has worked on development and […]
Adjunct Researchers
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Antonio Campos Flores
PhD candidate en - University of San Andrés, Argentina
Antonio is a PhD Candidate in Economics from the University of San Andrés in Argentina. He holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of San Andrés and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. He has been a coordinator of educational policy evaluations at the Ministry of […]
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Liliana Miranda Molina
Master en - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Liliana has a master’s degree in Education Research from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a degree in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). She worked at the Ministry of Education (MINEDU), first as Head of MINEDU’s Quality Measurement Unit and then as Vice-Minister of Pedagogical Management. Currently, Liliana is an Adjunct […]
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María Fernanda Rodríguez García
PhD Candidate en - Cambridge University
María Fernanda is an Adjunct Researcher at GRADE. She holds a Master’s degree in Education, Globalization & International Development from Cambridge University in United Kingdom and a degree in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. She is currently a PhD candidate in Education at Cambridge University. Her areas of interest are the critical […]
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Paola Sarmiento Huerta
Master in Arts en - University of British Columbia
Paola holds a MA on Educational Policy from University of British Columbia (UBC) and has a degree in Educational Psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. She has been part of educational reform processes in Peru such as the Public Teaching Career and the University Reform. In addition, she has been a member of the […]
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Claudia Sugimaru Arakaki
Máster en Educational Sciences - KU Leuven
Claudia holds a Master’s degree in Educational Sciences from KU Leuven in Belgium and a degree in Psychology with a major in Education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Currently, she is an Adjunct Researcher at GRADE.
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Jessica Tapia Soriano
Master en - Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO)
Jessica holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences with an orientation on Education from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Argentina. Currently she is an Adjunct Researcher at GRADE and the Pedagogical Coordinator of the Growing with Multigrade Rural Schools in Peru (CREER) Project.
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Verónica Villarán Bedoya
Master en - Social Sciences with an orientation on Education
Verónica holds a Degree in Social Psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a Master’s degree in Social Sciences with an orientation on Education from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Argentina. Between 2011 and 2014 she worked at the Ministry of Education, first as Director of Educational Research and Documentation and […]
Research Assistants
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Aranza Ballesteros
Degree en -
Aranza holds a degree in Sociology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and will support as a research assistant to the project team: ‘AdaptED – Observatory for Educational Resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean’, led by Santiago Cueto, principal investigator.
Project Support Staff
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Mónica Lizama Egoavil
Degree en - National Agrarian University
Mónica studied Statistical and Computer Science Engineer at the National University Agrarian La Molina. Currently she is the Data Manager for Young Lives in Peru. Before joining Young Lives, Mónica worked as a statistics assistant at the Peruvian National Institute of Statistics (INEI) and the International Nutrition Institute (IIN).
External Affiliated Researchers
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David Baker
PhD en - Johns Hopkins University
David P. Baker is Professor of Education and Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on the impact of education on individuals and societies, international comparisons of school organization, academic outcomes, and educational policy. His most recent book is The Schooled Society: The Educational Transformation of Global Culture. Palo Alto CA: Stanford University […]
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Jere R. Behrman
Ph.D. en - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Professor Behrman is a leading international researcher in empirical microeconomics, with emphasis on developing economies. He is also a Research Associate at Penn’s Population Studies Center. His research interests include empirical microeconomics, labor economics, human resources (early childhood development, education, health, nutrition), project evaluation, economic demography, incentive systems and household behaviors. The unifying dimension of […]
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Marjorie Chinen
PhD en - University of California
Marjorie is a Ph.D. in Education with emphasis on Advanced Quantitative Methods in Social Research Methodology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She has over 15 years of experience in project management, technical assistance, research and fieldwork in international development. She has led multiple projects in different areas of education, and designed and […]
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Marta Favara
PhD en - University of Essex
Marta is a Senior Researcher at the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford where she is leading the quantitative research agenda of Young Lives since 2015. She is also a Research Fellow at the Oxford Martin School Programme on African Governance and an IZA Research Affiliate. Before joining Young Lives, she […]
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Sonia Laszlo
PhD en - University of Toronto
Sonia Laszlo is Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for the Study of International Development. Her main research areas cover many aspects of applied microeconomic analysis in economic development: rural development, access to markets, and the relationship between income, health and education in economic development. In addition to using traditional analytic tools […]
Visiting Researchers
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Claudia Galindo
PhD en - Pennsylvania State University
Claudia holds a Ph.D. in Educational Theory and Policy and Comparative & International Education from Pennsylvania State University, and a post-doctoral degree in Social Organization of Schools from Johns Hopkins University. She is an Associated Professor at University of Maryland, Baltimore County where she teaches in the fields of educational inequalities, inmigration and research methodologies.
Publications
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El acompañamiento pedagógico como estrategia de formación docente en servicio: reflexiones para el contexto peruano
2019 Maria Balarin, Aurora Escudero
In agreement with the team of the Office for Teacher Training in Service (DIFODS) of the Ministry of Education (MINEDU), this document contributes to the construction of the institutional theoretical reference that supports the ministerial commitment to the pedagogical support as the main strategy formative The document has allowed aligning approaches, supporting them in the light of international […]
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Brechas que perduran: una radiografía de la exclusión social en Perú
2019 Lorena Alcazar
Peru achieved many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the 2015 deadline, a sign of the great economic and social advances of recent decades. However, the high levels of heterogeneity that persist in the development indicators show the high inequalities in the country, particularly in relation to traditionally excluded groups such as women, indigenous […]
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Perú: Informe de progreso de políticas de primera infancia
2019 Gabriela Guerrero
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
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Reshaping the gender gap in child time use: unintended effects of a program expanding economic opportunities in the Peruvian Andes
2019 Carmen Ponce, Javier Escobal
In the last decades, a variety of public policies and programs across the developing world have helped narrow the historical gender gap in access to education and employment. Yet, the gender gap in higher education, labor income and power relations within families -and the rural society in general- is still substantial in most developing countries. […]
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JournalEducation policy analysis archives
Educating on a budget: the subsistence model of low-fee private schooling in Peru
2019 Maria Balarin, Clara Fontdevila, Paola Marius, María Fernanda Rodríguez
Over the last decades, Peru has experienced an extraordinary rise of low-fee private schools (LFPSs). While global debates on the quality of this modality of schooling have been gaining currency, research on the organizational practices of LFPSs remains comparatively underdeveloped. This paper aims at identifying and describing the managerial, business and organizational practices exhibited by […]
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Las actitudes de los estudiantes peruanos hacia la lectura, la escritura, la matemática y las lenguas indígenas
2003Santiago Cueto, Juan Leon,
Resultados de la administración de diversas escalas de actitudes a estudiantes de cuarto y sexto de primaria y cuarto de secundaria durante la evaluación nacional del rendimiento estudiantil a fines del 2001.
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Oportunidades de aprendizaje y rendimiento en matemáticas en una muestra de estudiantes del sexto grado de primaria de Lima
2003Santiago Cueto, Juan Leon,
Las oportunidades de aprendizaje (ODA) de matemática en estudiantes de sexto de primaria de escuelas públicas así como la relación entre ODA y el rendimiento de los estudiantes basado en el currículo peruano.
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Economic shocks and changes in school attendance levels and education expenditure in Peru
2003Javier Escobal,
Se analiza cómo los shocks económicos tienen un efecto sobre los patrones de inversión en capital humano de las familias, analizando cóm
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Teacher unionization and the quality of education in Peru: an empirical evaluation using survey data
2002Eduardo Zegarra, ,
This paper analyzes the evolution and current profile of teacher unionization and estimate the impact of unionization on the quality of public education in Peru.
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Projects
News
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GRADE among the most influential social policy think tanks worldwide, according to University of Pennsylvania
January 30, 2017 Education and learning, Employment, productivity and innovation, Rural development and agriculture, Ethnicity, gender and citizenship, Methodologies for research and evaluation of policy and programmes, Poverty and equality, Natural resources, extractive industries and social conflict, State reform and public institutions, Health and nutrition
For the seventh consecutive year, GRADE has been distinguished among the Top Social Policy Think Tanks in the world —25th place—, according to 2016 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. This study, conducted by the Think Tanks and Civil Society Program at the University of Pennsylvania, classified 6846 organizations around the world in global […]
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How to regulate the market for educational services? To answer this question, Hugo Ñopo, senior researcher at GRADE, address 11 arguments in Foco Económico blog to explain in which way this particular market differs from the free competition model.
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María Balarin discusses on the unique university model promoted by the university reform law
January 4, 2017 Education and learning
“The (university) law takes over a homogeneus model of university, for which all institutions are aim to do the same”. María Balarín, senior researcher at GRADE, discussed on the challenges to university reform, including setting up a unique model. In this sense, Balarín argued that, with the massification of higher education, “there are relevant processes of institutional differentiation, […]
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Hugo Ñopo talked about Peru’s progress in PISA 2015: “We are the Latin America country which has improve the most “
December 14, 2016 Education and learning
Hugo Ñopo, senior researcher at GRADE, talked about Peru’s progress in PISA 2015: “We are the Latin American country which has improve the most in math, science and reading comprehension. Besides, between 2012 and 2015, we have grown more than we have previously grown”. The media report was released on Wednesday, December 7, in a […]
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Hugo Ñopo discussed the challenges of education reform regarding PISA 2015 results for Peru
December 14, 2016 Education and learning
“The status of the teaching career has to change. The (education) reform will have taken effect when we are able to attract the most talented young people to pedagogy”. Hugo Ñopo, senior researcher at GRADE, discussed the challenges of education reform regarding the results of PISA 2015 for Peru. Hugo gave this interview in a local news channel […]
Events
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Santiago Cueto will be panelist at the Embassy of Finland in Lima and the Lima Chamber of Commerce “Education and economic growth. Finnish perspectives” Forum
21/02/2017 8:00 am - 1:00 pm Auditorio Samuel Gleiser de la Cámara de Comercio de Lima (Av. Giuseppe Garibaldi 396, Jesús María) Education and learning
What has been the impact of the education system of Finalnd in the development of a competitive, innovative and well-being society? The Embassy of Finland in Lima and the Lima Chamber of Commerce will held “Education and economic growth. Finnish perspectives” Forum on Tuesday, February 21 at 8:00 a.m. Our Research Director, Santiago Cueto, will […]
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Santiago Cueto will speak about PISA 2018, at the British Council Regional Policy Dialogue “Core skills: discovering a world of opportunities”
02/02/2017 12:05 pm - 1:05 pm Hotel Hilton (Av. La Paz 1099, Miraflores) Education and learning
The British Council will held the first Regional Policy Dialogue on Core Skills on Thursday, February 2. The event sets the opening of a series of activities on the internationalization of education systems, with an emphasis on the so-called 21st century skills or core skills, closely linked to the implementation of the new national curriculum in Peru. […]
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Hugo Ñopo will be panelist at Leading Education 2017
19/01/2017 11:45 am - 1:00 pm Education and learning
Hugo Ñopo, senior researcher at GRADE, will be part of the Annual Conference “Leading Education 2017” from Wednesday 18 to Friday 20, January 2017, held by FormarHub Foundation with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank. The event aims to gather several leaders from different sectors to share strategies and successful experiences developing innovative educational reforms. Apply […]
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Santiago Cueto and Néstor Valdivia will join the XI CNE National Meeting of Regions
24/11/2016 → 25/11/2016 10:30 am - 2:30 pm Education and learning
The National Council of Education (CNE) of Peru will hold its XI National Meeting of Regions “The school as the core of the education system”, on November 24 and 25. The event is a space for dialogue on educational policies that aim to strenghten the school at all levels of management of the education system. The XI Meeting is supported […]
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Investigadoras e investigadores de GRADE dictarán talleres metodológicos, presentarán ponencias y moderarán mesas en el V Seminario Nacional de la SIEP
10/11/2016 → 12/11/2016 9:00 AM - 8:00 pm Instituto La Pontificia y Centro Cultural de la Universidad San Cristóbal de Huamanga Education and learning
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
- Education and Learning
- Employment, Productivity and Innovation
- Rural Development and Agriculture
- Ethnicity, Gender and Citizenship
- Methodologies for Research and Evaluation of Policy and Programmes
- Poverty and Equity
- Natural Resources, Extractive Industries and Social Conflict
- State Reform and Public Institutions
- Health and Nutrition
- Urbanization and Sustainable Cities






