In reflecting upon a decade of research at NYU Global TIES aimed at supporting children's holistic development within contexts of conflict and crisis, this white paper encapsulates our collective learnings from working with a network of actors in low- and middle-income and conflict affected contexts who aim to understand what works, how, and for whom. The goal of this paper is to distill insights from the diverse perspectives and experiences of dedicated researchers, inspire action, and provide recommendations for a future distinguished by inclusive and impactful outcomes.

Despite widespread enthusiasm for remedial education programming with refugee populations, there is little rigorous evidence on how to design and implement such programs. We employ a cluster-randomized design of non-equivalent treatment groups to test the impact of access to two types of program enhancement: longer program duration and the addition of skilltargeted social and emotional learning (SEL) activities for Syrian refugees enrolled in Lebanese public schools. We find that, compared to 10 weeks of programming, 26 weeks marginally increases students’ literacy skills (ES = 0.04) and significantly improves behavioral regulation (ES = 0.31), but students reported less positive perceptions of their public school environment (ES= −0.83 to −0.89) and remedial tutoring site (ES= −0.15 to −0.24). We also find that the addition of skill-targeted SEL activities to 26 weeks of programming results in higher student reports of school-related stress compared to programming without skill-targeted activities (ES = 0.21). Implications for program and policy are discussed.

The purpose of this product is to summarize and showcase the achievements on communication of the evidence and lessons learned from the 3EA E-Cubed project. In sum, we generated 59 total communications products across 12 different formats targeting diverse audiences. These products are presented in 12 different formats, to cater to these diverse audiences and maximize the reach and impact, ranging from academic journals, policy briefs, and datasets to press releases, blogs, webinars, interactive online tools, and more.

Science is the most useful when it catalyzes change. In this tool, we provide actionable recommendations and guidance on how to best support education in emergencies, to get the evidence into the capable hands of the education stakeholders.

The recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria hit an already war-torn region and populations in the Middle East. They have left lasting psychological and physical trauma for 8.8 million affected people in Northern Syria alone–a region where 4.1 million people already depend on humanitarian assistance. While immediate emergency responses are essential, once the initial crises pass, children impacted by conflict and crises still need to grow up and learn, coping with painful memories and unpredictable and often hostile environments. They deserve and need support that can help them to navigate the adversities on their own. Unfortunately, the disruptions in the aftermath of crises can exacerbate the emotional and psychological toll on children, affecting their physical and emotional well-being, learning and development over the long term.

Key messages for researchers and practitioners:Key messages for researchers and practitioners:

When studying brief and skill-targeted social-emotional learning activities, consider calculating measures of dosage: how much (quantity), how often (repetition pattern), and for how long (duration) the activities are implemented. Examine these measures as potential predictors of program outcomes or moderators of the program impact; and use the information to determine the “optimal dosage” when scaling up.

Link these measures with teachers’ and enumerators’ reports on implementation to provide better guidance on overall implementation quality. Examine these measures as potential predictors of program outcomes or moderators of the program impact; and use the information to determine the “optimal dosage” when scaling up.

Link these measures with teachers’ and enumerators’ reports on implementation to provide better guidance on overall implementation quality."

In humanitarian settings, social-emotional learning (SEL) programs for children are often delivered using a field-feasible approach where the programs are more easily deployable and adaptable in the field, require minimal training, and depend less on the strict sequence and structure of the program components to elicit the intended treatment effect. However, evidence is lacking on what aspects of this implementation approach enable the SEL programming to be more beneficial to children’s SEL development.

Refugee children face significant adversities that can threaten critical developmental processes and hamper learning outcomes. This study examines how post-migration risk factors at the community, household, and individual level experienced by primary school-aged Syrian refugee children in Lebanon (N = 448, Age M = 9.08, SD = 1.90) are associated with cognitive, emotional, and behavioral developmental processes as well as literacy and numeracy performance. We identified several risk factors, including attending a lower grade than their age-expected grade level, that uniquely predict Syrian refugee children's developmental processes and academic outcomes.

Despite substantial cross-national interest in remedial programming as a way to support low-achieving students, evidence of its effectiveness is rare, particularly in low-income and/or crisis-affected contexts. In this article, we present experimental evidence of the impact of a remedial tutoring program on academic outcomes from a two-level randomized trial of two treatments in Niger: school randomization testing the impact of skill-targeted SEL activities and within-school student-level randomization testing the impact of access to remedial tutoring.

An accompanying interactive infographic to the working paper #1 from the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) Research Programme Consortium. This paper outlines the theoretical framework governing the studies to be deployed throughout the Consortium's lifetime.

Working paper #1 from the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) Research Programme Consortium. This paper outlines the theoretical framework governing the studies to be deployed throughout the Consortium's lifetime.

This brief is prepared to provide recommendations on promising and practical approaches to support education during the acute crises period in Ukraine and to mitigate the impacts of the Russian invasion on children’s learning and wellbeing. It is primarily designed to support multilateral and bilateral organizations, as well as other actors and stakeholders, to identify priorities and approaches to support education for children affected by the Ukraine crisis. In this brief, we provide:

1. An overview of the conditions of education for Ukrainian children thus far

2. Options and priorities for supporting the children affected by the Russian Invasion, both (a) for the children remaining in Ukraine and (b) for the Ukrainian refugee children in neighboring host countries.

3. State of evidence and implications of future responses and research

The original Response to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ: Connor-Smith et al., 2000) was designed to capture the ways that individuals react to and cope with specific sources of stress, including parental depression, family conflict, and academic stressors. In order to assess local and refugee children’s stress experiences and stress responses in Nigerien public school settings, researchers adapted the child self-report version of the RSQ-Academic Problems (RSQ-AP). It includes two subscales intended to assess: (a) academic problems stress and (b) involuntary engagement response to stress.

The Self-Regulation Assessment-Assessor Report (SRA-AR) is a measurement tool used to capture assessors’ perceptions of of Nigerian refugee and Nigerien children’s skills at regulating their behavior during an assessment. The SRA-AR was developed based on the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment-Assessor Report (PSRA-AR) (Smith-Donald et al., 2007). The developers tested this measurement tool in Niger.

The COVID-19 outbreak ignited a monumental education emergency, disrupting in-person learning and relying on technological schooling solutions that exacerbated many pre-existing education inequities. Lack of child care options, inconsistent access to technology, and variable quality of remote learning experiences all contributed to some students’ infrequent or complete lack of attendance to virtual schooling. As kids go back to in-person learning, schools and educators face a critical question: How do we handle students who have missed most or all of remote learning?

Image credit: IRC

To generate the evidence needed to understand, improve and share what works to help refugee children learn and succeed in school, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and NYU Global TIES for Children (TIES/NYU) established a strategic partnership, the Evidence for Action: Education in Emergencies (3EA) initiative. In Lebanon, this program was designed and delivered to complement the Lebanese public education system and enhance learning and retention of Syrian refugee children through remedial tutoring programs infused with climate-targeted social-emotional learning (SEL) principles and practices (Tutoring in a Healing Classrooms - HCT) and skill-targeted SEL interventions (Mindfulness activities, Brain Games, 5-Component SEL Curriculum).

To generate the evidence needed to understand, improve and share what works to help refugee children learn and succeed in school, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and NYU Global TIES for Children (TIES/NYU) established a strategic partnership, the Evidence for Action: Education in Emergencies (3EA) initiative. 3EA in Niger was designed and delivered to help strengthen the public education system in Niger and to serve refugee, IDP and host community children in the hard-hit Diffa region. It strove to achieve this through a remedial tutoring program infused with climate-targeted social-emotional learning (SEL) principles and practices (Tutoring in a Healing Classrooms), and adding skill-targeted SEL interventions (Mindfulness activities, Brain Games).

To generate the evidence needed to understand, improve and share what works to help refugee children learn and succeed in school, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and NYU Global TIES for Children (TIES/NYU) established a strategic partnership, the Evidence for Action: Education in Emergencies (3EA) initiative. 3EA in Niger was designed and delivered to help strengthen the public education system in Niger and to serve refugee, IDP and host community children in the hard-hit Diffa region. It strove to achieve this through a remedial tutoring program infused with climate-targeted social-emotional learning (SEL) principles and practices (Tutoring in a Healing Classrooms), and adding skill-targeted SEL interventions (Mindfulness activities, Brain Games).

Lebanon Year 1 Deidentified Days

IHDSC met with NYU Global TIES for Children (TIES) researchers Lindsay Brown and Ha Yeon Kim to discuss their research with students in Niger and the insights and challenges that come with doing research in conflict-affected areas. This conversation was edited for clarity and length.