Webcast: Is There a Link between Conflict and Education Inequality? New Evidence from Quasi-experimental Research

Dr. Omoeva leads EPDC research and other analytic services and data management projects. Since joining EPDC in the spring of 2010, she has led research efforts in a range of domains, including education enrollment forecasting and cost projections, barriers for school participation for disadvantaged populations, the relationship between inequality in education and violent conflict, the impact of early marriage and childbirth on school attendance, as well as measurement and reliability issues pertaining to international education data, particularly on school exclusion. Dr. Omoeva serves in a technical advisory role in the design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation efforts on several FHI 360 Global Education projects. She holds a PhD in Comparative Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an EdM in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her previous work engagements include USAID Central Asia Regional Mission (Education) and NCREST Center at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she conducted data analysis on student achievement and school quality. Her dissertation focused on examining the relationship between student-centered instructional methods and learning outcomes in math and science.

Wael Moussa contributes to EPDC’s work regarding issues of educational and economic inequality in developing countries, educational inequality and conflict, and provides technical support in FHI 360’s impact evaluation efforts. His expertise and research interests lie in the economics of education, program and policy evaluation, and applied econometrics. His research has focused on evaluating the impacts of compulsory schooling laws in the United States, specific educational programming, exogenous negative shocks to students’ learning environment, and teacher performance. His research is published in the Economics of Education Review and Education Finance and Policy. Moussa holds a PhD in Economics from Syracuse University and an MA and a BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut.

Anne Smiley, EdD, is an international educational development specialist with particular expertise in education research and evaluation and education in crisis and conflict-affected environments. She currently serves as Technical Advisor with FHI 360’s Global Learning Group, where she manages a team of monitoring, evaluation and research specialists that support a broad portfolio of education programs around the world. Dr. Smiley has extensive experience designing, implementing, and evaluating international education projects funded by a range of donors including USAID, DFID, UNICEF, UNHCR, and NSF. Prior to joining FHI 360, Dr. Smiley worked for three years as a teacher and administrator in a school for African refugees in Egypt, developed a women’s literacy program for a small local organization in Southern Sudan, contributed to a strategic research initiative for the Inter-Agency Network on Education in Emergencies (INEE), and worked with UNICEF on a major research study on schools as centers of care and support for children in sub-Saharan Africa. She has also served as the managing editor of a peer-reviewed journal. Dr. Smiley received her EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 2011.

Shai Fuxman is an experienced researcher at Education Development Center (EDC) in the fields of education and public health with expertise in youth development, program evaluation, and cross-cultural relations. Dr. Fuxman serves as the protocols and metrics specialist for USAID’s Education in Crisis and Conflict Network—a community of practice for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers focused on increasing equitable education for children and youth in areas of conflict and crisis. In this role, he works with colleagues to synthesize current research and produce new knowledge, focusing on analysis of theories of change and logic models; monitoring and evaluation indicators and tools; using evaluation data to improve program effectiveness through ongoing feedback loops; and cost effectiveness analyses for education programs. He co-chairs the conflict and fragility working group, as part of the Education Equity Research Initiative. He is fluent in Spanish, Hebrew, and English, and holds an MEd and an EdD in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University.