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Alexis Le Nestour

Education Researcher (Foundational Learning)

Alexis Le Nestour is a full-time education researcher with the UNICEF Office of Research (Innocenti) where he works on the Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance research. Prior to joining UNICEF, he was a researcher at Center for Global Development (CGD) where he focused on education in developing countries, notably long-term trends of school quality and the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on education. He also worked for several years for Save the Children UK as a senior researcher on issues related to child protection, health, nutrition, and education. He started his career as a technical advisor at PASEC in Senegal where he led the analysis of the education systems of Senegal and Burundi. He is a development economist by training, holding a PhD in economics from the University of Otago, where he wrote his PhD thesis on the demand for schooling in Senegal, and a BA and Masters in development economics from CERDI (Université d’Auvergne). He is a quantitative researcher specializing in data analysis, who is particularly interested in generating evidence to inform policies. Most of Alexis’s professional experience in development has taken place in African countries, notably Benin, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

Publications

Data Must Speak: Comprendre les facteurs de performance des écoles maliennes
Publication

Data Must Speak: Comprendre les facteurs de performance des écoles maliennes

Le système éducatif malien vise à garantir unaccès universel et équitable à une éducationde qualité à tous les enfants maliens en âged’être scolarisés. Malgré les progrès réalisés dans la mise en œuvre d’une éducation de qualité au Mali, il reste certains défis. Quelles ressources et quels facteurs contextuels sont associés à de bonnes performances scolaires en Mali? En fusionnant et en analysant les bases de données administratives existantes en Mali, ce rapport permet d'identifier les écoles modèles positives - celles qui obtiennent de meilleurs résultats que les autres écoles bien qu'elles partagent des contextes et des ressources similaires. La recherche DMS sur les modèles positive est cocréée et mise en œuvre conjointement avec les ministères de l'Éducation et des partenaires clés. La recherche DMS s'appuie sur des méthodes mixtes et des approches innovantes (c'est-à-dire l'approche modèle positive, les sciences du comportement, la recherche sur la mise en œuvre et la science de la mise à l'échelle) pour générer des connaissances et des enseignements pratiques sur " ce qui fonctionne ", " pourquoi " et " comment " mettre à l'échelle des solutions locales pour les décideurs politiques nationaux et la communauté internationale travaillant dans le secteur de l'éducation. La recherche DMS est actuellement mise en œuvre dans 14 pays : Brésil, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Éthiopie, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Népal, Niger, République démocratique populaire lao, République-Unie de Tanzanie, Tchad, Togo et Zambie.
Data Must Speak: Unpacking factors influencing school performance in Niger
Publication

Data Must Speak: Unpacking factors influencing school performance in Niger

Niger has developed an Economic and Social Development Plan (PDES) aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular target 4.1 which aims, by 2030, to ensure that all girls and boys attend, on an equal footing, a full cycle of free, quality primary and secondary education, leading to truly useful learning. What resources and contextual factors are associated with good school performances in Niger? By merging and analyzing existing administrative datasets in Niger, this report helps to identify positive deviant schools – those that outperform other schools despite sharing similar contexts and resources. Data Must Speak – a global initiative implemented since 2014 – aims to address the evidence gaps to mitigate the learning crisis using existing data. The DMS Positive Deviance research is co-created and co-implemented with Ministries of Education and key partners. DMS research relies on mixed methods and innovative approaches (i.e., positive deviance approach, behavioural sciences, implementation research and scaling science) to generate knowledge and practical lessons about ‘what works’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ to scale grassroots solutions for national policymakers and the broader international community of education stakeholders. DMS research is currently implemented in 14 countries: Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Nepal, Niger, the United Republic of Tanzania, Togo and Zambia.
Data Must Speak: The effects of female head teachers and female teachers on boys’ and girls’ education
Publication

Data Must Speak: The effects of female head teachers and female teachers on boys’ and girls’ education

To address the challenges facing its education system, Côte d’Ivoire needs to go beyond a traditional sector analysis and analyse existing data in greater depth to find innovative solutions. To do so, Côte d’Ivoire has requested UNICEF’s support, as part of the global Data Must Speak initiative, to identify positive deviant practices and behaviours. This policy brief – about the effects of female head teachers and female teachers on boys’ and girls’ education – is part of a series that presents key research findings of the quantitative stage of the Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance research in Côte d’Ivoire. By merging and analyzing existing administrative datasets in Côte d’Ivoire, this series highlights specific resources and contextual factors associated with good school performances in Côte d’Ivoire. More importantly, it aims to inform policy dialogue and decision-making in Côte d’Ivoire and other interested countries. Data Must Speak – a global initiative implemented since 2014 – aims to address the evidence gaps to mitigate the learning crisis using existing data. The DMS Positive Deviance research is co-created and co-implemented with Ministries of Education and key partners. DMS research relies on mixed methods and innovative approaches (i.e., positive deviance approach, behavioural sciences, implementation research and scaling science) to generate knowledge and practical lessons about ‘what works’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ to scale grassroots solutions for national policymakers and the broader international community of education stakeholders. DMS research is currently implemented in 14 countries: Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Nepal, Niger, the United Republic of Tanzania, Togo and Zambia.
Data Must Speak: The importance of school inputs to improving learning
Publication

Data Must Speak: The importance of school inputs to improving learning

To address the challenges facing its education system, Côte d’Ivoire needs to go beyond a traditional sector analysis and analyse existing data in greater depth to find innovative solutions. To do so, Côte d’Ivoire has requested UNICEF’s support, as part of the global Data Must Speak initiative, to identify positive deviant practices and behaviours. This policy brief – about the importance of school inputs to improving learning – is part of a series that presents key research findings of the quantitative stage of the Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance research in Côte d’Ivoire. By merging and analyzing existing administrative datasets in Côte d’Ivoire, this series highlights specific resources and contextual factors associated with good school performances in Côte d’Ivoire. More importantly, it aims to inform policy dialogue and decision-making in Côte d’Ivoire and other interested countries. Data Must Speak – a global initiative implemented since 2014 – aims to address the evidence gaps to mitigate the learning crisis using existing data. The DMS Positive Deviance research is co-created and co-implemented with Ministries of Education and key partners. DMS research relies on mixed methods and innovative approaches (i.e., positive deviance approach, behavioural sciences, implementation research and scaling science) to generate knowledge and practical lessons about ‘what works’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ to scale grassroots solutions for national policymakers and the broader international community of education stakeholders. DMS research is currently implemented in 14 countries: Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Nepal, Niger, the United Republic of Tanzania, Togo and Zambia.

Articles

A group of researchers discuss data points in front of a screen.
Blog

How to Unleash the Power of Data to Transform Education Policies

The Data Must Speak (DMS) research team at UNICEF Innocenti has worked closely with Ministry of Education partners to co-create and conduct in-depth analyses of administrative data. Often, lack of data is seen as barrier to creating evidence-based policy. However, when it comes to education, the vast majority of existing administrative data is still undervalued and underused. Harnessing the potential of existing datasets is not only cost-effective but sustains ownership and investment in national data systems.