Prashant Loyalka

Prashant Loyalka is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Education, a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and a faculty member of the rural education action program at Stanford University. He earned his BA, MA, and PhD at Stanford University. 

Loyalka’s research focuses on addressing inequalities in the education of youth and on improving the quality of education received by youth in large developing economies. In the course of addressing educational inequalities, Prashant examines the consequences of financial constraints, limited information, admissions rules, and social psychological factors in competitive education environments. His work on educational quality is built around existing research assessing student learning in higher education, high school, and compulsory schooling. Furthermore, he conducts large-scale evaluations of educational programs and policies that seek to improve student outcomes.

King Center Supported Research

2020 - 2021 Academic Year | Junior Faculty Research Grant

Mitigating the Impacts of Noise Pollution, Air Pollution, and Extreme Temperature on the Educational Outcomes of Low-Income Students in Developing Countries

Environmental stress has been tied to decreases in student learning. There is a pressing need to identify feasible and cost-effective solutions to this problem in developing countries, which educate 1.8 billion of the world’s youth, and whose populations are particularly vulnerable to environmental stress. The purpose of this study is to examine the viability of low-cost interventions for mitigating the negative impacts of environmental stress on student learning in developing countries. This research, conducted with approximately 30,000 students in 70 educational centers in Delhi, India, involves three interventions designed to mitigate the effects of external noise, air pollution, and extreme temperature. Taken together, the findings will inform policymakers across India and the developing world about ways to address growing environmental threats on human capital development.