The impact of an extensive high school counseling program on students' post-school pathways

Last registered on April 11, 2018

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The impact of an extensive high school counseling program on students' post-school pathways

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0002738

Initial registration date

March 13, 2018

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

March 14, 2018, 5:37 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated

April 11, 2018, 3:44 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

Germany

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Marita Jacob

Affiliation

University of Cologne

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Stefan Stuth

PI Affiliation

University of Cologne

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Irena Pietrzyk

PI Affiliation

WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Melinda Erdmann

PI Affiliation

WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Marcel Helbig

PI Affiliation

WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2018-01-15

End date

2020-12-31

Keywords

Education

Additional Keywords

sociology, educational inequality, social inequality, post-school pathways, counseling, higher education enrollment

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

The study aims at evaluating the impact of an extensive counseling program, which is provided to high school students in academically oriented high schools (Gymnasium) and comprehensive high schools (Gesamtschulen) in Germany. During the intervention, specifically trained guidance counselors serve as contact persons for all questions regarding post-school pathways and provide information on post-secondary educational programs. The intervention especially targets low-SES students aiming at reducing social inequality in the transition to higher education. The study will investigate whether the intervention reduces educational inequality by means of analyzing the intervention's effect on higher education enrollment rates. Additionally, the impact on students' overall subjective satisfaction with their educational choices and on non-cognitive skills will be examined. Thus, the study will contribute to the literature on the impact of counseling programs on the reduction of educational inequality.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Erdmann, Melinda et al. 2018. "The impact of an extensive high school counseling program on students' post-school pathways ." AEA RCT Registry. April 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2738-4.0

Former Citation

Erdmann, Melinda et al. 2018. "The impact of an extensive high school counseling program on students' post-school pathways ." AEA RCT Registry. April 11. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2738/history/27987

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The intervention is an extensive counseling program provided to high school students in the school setting. Specifically trained guidance counselors visit the students in their high schools, serve as contact persons for all questions regarding post-school pathways and provide information on post-secondary educational programs in one-to-one sessions on a regular basis. The intervention especially targets low-SES students aiming at reducing social inequality in the transition to higher education.

Intervention Start Date

2018-04-16

Intervention End Date

2020-10-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Higher education enrollment

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

intention to study, majors, satisfaction with post-school educational choice, non-cognitive skills, achievement

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The design combines a multisite RCT and a cluster RCT.

Experimental Design Details

The design combines a multisite RCT and a cluster RCT. Firstly, schools will be randomly assigned to a treatment and a control condition. Secondly, students will be randomly assigned to a treatment and a control condition within treatment schools. The treatment will not be provided to students in control schools.

Randomization Method

The randomization will be conducted in office using a computer program after informed consent of participating schools/subjects and after baseline measurement.

Randomization Unit

Randomization will be conducted at two different levels: Firstly, schools will be randomly assigned to a treatment and a control condition. Secondly, students within treatment schools will be randomly assigned to a treatment and a control condition.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

45 schools in total (8 control schools and 37 treatment schools)

Sample size: planned number of observations

students within treatment schools: 50 students within each of the 37 treatment schools: n = 1850 students within control schools: 25 students within each of the 8 non-treatment school: n = 200 In total: n = 2050 students

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Sample size within treatment schools: 25 students within each of the 37 treatment schools in control condition: n = 925; 25 students within each of the 37 treatment schools in treatment condition: n = 925
Sample size within control schools: 25 students within each of the 8 control schools: n = 200
In total: n = 925 students in treatment condition; n = 1125 students in control condition

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB