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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Políticas de educación superior y procesos de internacionalización: el caso peruano a la luz de la reforma universitaria
Políticas públicas para la internacionalización de la educación superior en América Latina2020 Carmela Chávez, Santiago Torres Manrique
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Las pedagogías invisibles de género en escuelas multigrado rurales Análisis de prácticas pedagógicas
2020 Themis Castellanos, María José Sánchez
Este informe presenta los hallazgos del procesamiento y análisis de la información recolectada en el estudio realizado por el proyecto CREER en Cajamarca, Piura y Loreto durante el segundo semestre del año escolar 2019. El objetivo de este estudio era hacer un análisis de género de las prácticas pedagógicas de un conjunto de escuelas multigrado […]
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La educación multigrado: debates, problemas y perspectivas
2020 Liliana Miranda
En el mundo rural, el rostro de la educación peruana es la escuela multigrado. Por esta razón, el proyecto CREER tiene como objetivo mejorar los aprendizajes y las condiciones de bienestar en las escuelas rurales multigrado primarias castellanohablantes del Perú. En este marco se inscribe el presente documento, elaborado por Liliana Miranda, que busca ofrecer […]
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JournalJournal of Development Economics
The value of redistribution: Natural resources and the formation of human capital under weak institutions
2020 Jorge Aguero, Carlos Felipe Balcázar, Stanislao Maldonado, Hugo Ñopo
Researchers exploit time and spatial variation generated by the commodities boom to measure the effect of natural resources on human capital formation in Peru, a country with low governance indicators. Combining testscores from over two million students and district-level administrative data of mining taxes redistributed to localgovernments, they find sizable effects on student learning from […]
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Acceso a dispositivos y habilidades digitales de dos cohortes en el Perú
2020 Santiago Cueto, Juan Leon,
The technical note on which this policy brief is based details the construction of two indicators: basic computer skills and basic internet skills. This document also explores the determinants of access and digital skills in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. However, this publication focuses on the findings for Peru.
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Promoting early childhood development through a public programme: Wawa Wasi in Peru
2009Santiago Cueto, Gabriela Guerrero, Juan Leon, Claudia Sugimaru,
This paper presents the results of a Young Lives study into the impact and perceptions of the Programa Nacional Wawa Wasi, a Peruvian government programme for impoverished children aged six to 48 months. Up to eight children spend five days a week at a Wawa Wasi centre where they are assisted by a carer carefully […]
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Psychometric characteristics of cognitive development and achievement instruments in round 2 of Young Lives
2009Gabriela Guerrero, Juan Leon, Santiago Cueto,
Young Lives (YL) is a long-term international research project about childhood poverty based at the University of Oxford that integrates cutting edge research with local, national and international policy analysis engagement. The project seeks to a) improve understanding of the causes and consequences of childhood poverty and to examine how policies affect children’s well-being and […]
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Early nutrition and cognitive achievement in pre-school children in Peru
2009Alan Sanchez,
This paper examines the relationship between early stunting and later cognitive achievement.
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Starting school: Who is prepared? Young Lives’ research on children’s transition to first grade in Peru
2009
In recent years, a growing body of literature has pointed to the importance of children’s experiences of pre-school and Grade 1 as foundational for success during the subsequent school years. However, most of this research has been carried out in industrialised countries and has paid little attention to developing countries. This paper therefore seeks to […]
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JournalInternational Review of Education
Determinant of school performance among Quechua children in the Peruvian Andes
1999, Santiago Cueto,
In the rural Andes of Peru, primary school inefficiency ranks higher than in the rest of the country, with a nearly 50 per cent rate of first grade repetition.
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JournalRevista de Psicología
Impacto de la educación inicial en el rendimiento en primer grado de primaria en escuelas públicas urbanas de Lima
1999Santiago Cueto, Juan Jose Diaz,
En el presente artículo se analiza el impacto de dos tipos de programas de educación inicial pública, los Centros de Educación Inicial (CEI) y los Programas No Escolarizados de Educación Inicial (PRONOEI).
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JournalJournal of Applied Developmental Psychology
Breakfast prevents delays of attention and memory functions among nutritionally at-risk boys
1998Santiago Cueto, ,
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JournalAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition
When science and politics listen to each other: good prospects from a new school breakfast program in Peru
1998, Santiago Cueto,
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JournalAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Fasting and cognition in well- and undernourished schoolchildren: a review of three experimental studies
1998, Santiago Cueto,
This paper reviews three experiments on the effects of an overnight and morning fast on attention and memory processes among 9-11-y-old children.
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Projects
News
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Hugo Ñopo in Cuarto Poder: What is the teaching achievement assessment?
August 27, 2017 Education and learning, State reform and public institutions
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
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Hugo Ñopo en La Rotativa del Aire en RPP: Evaluaciones de desempeño docente
August 25, 2017 Education and learning
En el marco de la huelga de maestros, Hugo Ñopo, investigador principal de GRADE, analizó las condiciones y bienestar laboral de la profesión docente, y explicó en qué consiste la evaluación de docentes y su relevancia.
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Hugo Ñopo in RPP TV: How and why teachers are asssess?
August 25, 2017 Education and learning, State reform and public institutions
Why and how teachers are assess? Hugo Ñopo, senior researcher at GRADE, shared his thoughts on the sidelines of the teaching strike: “94% of the country supports assessments. Our system will improve as our teachers have high standars and high pay. This is the path to the solution. Hugo was interviewed in RPP TV.
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Hugo Ñopo in Canal N: Teacher reassessment and renewal is the way to improvement
August 22, 2017 Education and learning, State reform and public institutions
On the sidelines of the teaching strike, our senior researcher, Hugo Ñopo, talked with Mario Ghibellini of Canal N’s news program De 6a9 about the situation of the teaching profession and the pertinence of the teacher evaluation: “There is no system in the world that can improve without renewal. 94% of the country agrees with […]
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How and why teachers are evaluated?, Hugo Ñopo’s thoughts
August 21, 2017 Education and learning, State reform and public institutions
“The best teachers should be in the classroom. That is a conviction that we need to take as a country”. On the sidelines of the teaching strike, Hugo Ñopo, senior researcher at GRADE, explained the objectives of the teacher assessment and discussed its pertinence. The video was published by El Comercio.
Events
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Sri Lanka: Lorena Alcázar joins Southern Voice on State of the SDGs initial meeting
18/07/2018 → 20/07/2018 Negombo, Sri Lanka Education and learning, Employment, productivity and innovation
Our senior researcher, Lorena Alcázar, joins the initial meeting between the teams of the Southern Voice on State of the SDGs initiative. GRADE will conduct the study on SDG 4 and 8 titled Poor education and precarious jobs in Peru: Understanding who is left behind and why?
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Hugo Ñopo will be panelist at Sunedu seminar on the challenges and proposals for the Peruvian university
13/07/2018 8:00 am - 6:00 pm Auditorio de GRADE (Av. Almirante Grau 915, Barranco) Education and learning
Four years after the promulgation of the University Law, the National Superintendence of University Education (Sunedu) will organize the seminar “Challenges and proposals for the Peruvian university”, with the aim of broadening the debate on the current situation and the challenges of the Peruvian university system. Our senior researcher, Hugo Ñopo, will be one of […]
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María Balarin will discuss the state of education in Peru at CIUP conference
09/07/2018 9:10 am - 10:40 am Universidad del Pacífico (Av. Salaverry 2020, Jesús María) Education and learning
Our senior researcher, María Balarin, will join the conference “The challenges of development in Peru”, held by the Research Center of the Universidad del Pacífico on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10, July. During the first day, María will discuss the situation of educational policies in the country, as part of the session “Global trends: comparative visions of Latin […]
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Presentation: What have we learned from the longitudinal study Young Lives Peru? Summary of findings
14/06/2018 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Auditorio de GRADE (Av. Almirante Grau 915, Barranco) Education and learning, Health and nutrition
Niños del Milenio, known internationally as Young Lives, will share the synthesis of its findings in Peru. “What have we learned from the longitudinal study Young Lives in Peru?” will be held on Thursday, June 14. The findings will be published in a report that covers the following chapters: “Changes in living standards and the […]
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GRADE’s International Conference ‘Territories and Development in Peru’
05/06/2018 → 06/06/2018 9:00 am - 7:00 pm Auditorio de GRADE (Av. Almirante Grau 915, Barranco) 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
GRADE’s International Conference on Territories and Development in Peru was held on 5-6 June, 2018. In this event we shared the findings of a research program that we have carried out over the last three years, due to the agreement between GRADE and the Think Tank Initiative managed by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Through this research program, […]
- 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






