Alicia Menendez

Alicia S. Menendez is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a Senior Fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago. 

Dr. Menendez is a development economist. Her research interests include education and health, labor markets, and household behavior. Dr. Menendez has designed and managed numerous quantitative impact evaluations and qualitative evaluations and has developed tools and overseen surveys in numerous developing countries.

Menendez received her Ph.D. in economics from Boston University. Before coming to the University of Chicago, she was a lecturer in public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School and a researcher at the Research Program in Development Studies at Princeton University.

Ongoing Research

Preventing School-Related Gender-Based Violence in Uganda: A Randomized Evaluation of the LARA Program

(with R. Nayyar-Stone, I. Rojas-Arellano and MC Schulte)

This study presents randomized controlled trial evidence on the effectiveness of LARA’s school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) prevention activities in Uganda. We find modest reductions in some harmful disciplinary practices and improved reporting mechanisms for students, but corporal punishment remains widespread and reading outcomes did not improve. The findings highlight both the potential and the limits of stand-alone interventions, pointing to the need for deeper curriculum integration, stronger teacher training, and sustained system-level reform to create safer learning environments.

Paths to Dropout: Barriers to School Continuation for Girls in Rural Malawi

Using four years of longitudinal data on 1,823 students, combined with qualitative fieldwork, this study examines why many girls in rural Malawi do not complete primary school or transition to secondary despite near-universal enrollment. By early adolescence, nearly half of girls had dropped out, compared to one-third of boys. While poverty and distance affect both genders, pregnancy is the primary driver of girls’ dropout, whereas boys more often leave school for paid work. The findings identify distinct, gendered pathways out of school and highlight key intervention points including reducing grade repetition, expanding access to secondary schools, and strengthening re-entry and support for adolescent mothers.

Final Evaluation of the Salud Mesoamerica Initiative

(with R. Nayyar-Stone, A. Ome, C. Echeverria-Estrada, I. Rojas-Arellano)

Understanding Improvements in Reading Performance in Liberia: The Centrality of Text

(with U. Hoadley and A. Solovyeva) Economic Development and Cultural Change

Improving early grade reading performance in Nepal: differences between Nepali and non-Nepali students

(with Gregory Haugan) Education Economics

Using SMS and parental outreach to improve early reading skills in Zambia

(with Alejandro Ome) Education Economics

Policy Briefs

The High Absenteeism of Teachers and Learners in Uganda

Why Lule Still Can’t Read at the End of P3?

School Absenteeism Needs Immediate Attention

Instructional Reading Practices in the Classrooms

Intracluster Correlations for Early Reading Evaluations

Teachers’ Implementation of an Early Grade Reading Program in Classrooms

The Students' Overage Problem