Informing Vulnerable Students About School Subsidies in Chile

Last registered on March 06, 2017
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Informing Vulnerable Students About School Subsidies in Chile
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000364
Initial registration date
March 06, 2017

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 06, 2017, 10:17 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
Chile
Region
South America

Primary Investigator

Name
Claudia Martinez A.
Affiliation
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Francisco Gallego
PI Affiliation
JPAL, Pontificia Universidad Católica
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PI Name
Osvaldo Larrañaga
PI Affiliation
UNDP
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2012-07-01
End date
2015-12-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
School Choice, Vouchers, Information
JEL code(s)
I24, O15
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This paper seeks to estimate the impact of increasing educational alternatives for low socioeconomic parents on school segregation, school choice and ultimately on educational outcomes. The wider range of educational alternatives is given by the Subvención Escolar Preferencial (SEP), a targeted voucher that allows low-income parents to attend private voucher schools with copayment for free. In order to estimate the impact of the SEP on school choice and educational outcomes we implement an encouragement design that randomly provides parents information on the SEP.
External Link(s)
Summary on J-PAL website

Registration Citation

Citation
Gallego, Francisco, Osvaldo Larrañaga and Claudia Martinez A.. 2017. "Informing Vulnerable Students About School Subsidies in Chile ." AEA RCT Registry. March 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.364-1.0
Former Citation
Gallego, Francisco, Osvaldo Larrañaga and Claudia Martinez A.. 2017. "Informing Vulnerable Students About School Subsidies in Chile ." AEA RCT Registry. March 06. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/364/history/14712
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We implement an encouragement design in order to estimate the impact of the Subvencion Escolar Preferencial (SEP), a targeted voucher that allows low-income parents to attend private voucher schools with copayment for free. Therefore, we randomize two treatments that are meant to inform parents about the SEP and the wider range of educational options that they can access thanks to the program.

The first treatment is the provision of a report card designed for each preschool that includes information about the SEP and a list with all the secondary schools located in the same neighborhood, their addresses, telephone numbers and a map with their locations. In order to reinforce the idea that the SEP increases educational options for low socioeconomic parents, the schools' list is divided in three groups "schools that are free for anyone" , "schools that are free for SEP students" and "schools that charge fees" . The objective is to strengthen the idea that SEP students can now attend “schools that are free for SEP students” without paying.

The second treatment is the provision of the same report card, but it includes extra information on schools' characteristics: (i) test scores, (ii)a measure of the change in test scores between years, (iii) the official tuition cost for SEP and non SEP parents, (iv) the type of school (i.e. whether it is public or private) and (v) weather it has preschool and high school.

Parents in the control group are also given a report card that includes a flyer highlighting the importance of choosing the right school for their children and a list with all the secondary schools in their neighborhood, their addresses, telephone numbers and a map with their locations. The objective of this report card is to act as a placebo.
Intervention Start Date
2012-10-01
Intervention End Date
2012-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
School Choice and Educational Outcomes
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We implement an encouragement design in order to estimate the impact of the Subvencion Escolar Preferencial (SEP). Eligible preschools are randomly assigned to control group, treatment 1 and treatment 2. Randomization is done at the preschool level in order to avoid contamination among treated and control parents attending a same preschool. Randomizing at the preschool level also facilitates the implementation of the program, given that report cards are delivered through the preschools.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Preschool
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
773
Sample size: planned number of observations
2796
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
257 preschools control, 258 preschools treatment 1, 258 preschools treatment 2.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Comite de Etica de Investigacion, Instituto de Economia, PUC
IRB Approval Date
2012-08-01
IRB Approval Number
No number associated
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
November 30, 2012, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
November 30, 2012, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

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Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials