Does Parental Involvement Improve Student Learning? The Role of Monitoring

Last registered on October 20, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Does Parental Involvement Improve Student Learning? The Role of Monitoring
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010818
Initial registration date
January 22, 2023

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
January 23, 2023, 7:33 AM EST

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

Last updated
October 20, 2023, 1:42 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Benin
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Mahounan Patrice Yedomiffi
Affiliation
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-11-22
End date
2023-07-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Education, field experiment, parent, secondary school, Africa.
JEL code(s)
I20, I25, D80, 015
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Primary education enrollment rates in developing countries have increased significantly over the past few decades, but secondary school completion rates still lag far behind. This study presents the findings of a randomized controlled trial I conducted in Benin investigating the effects of providing parents with information about their role in their child’s education through weekly phone calls. Including 2,094 8th-grade
students in 20 secondary schools, the intervention led to a substantial 6 percent increase in grade completion. This stems from a statistically significant 0.11 standard deviation increase in year-end GPA, driven by STEM subjects. The intervention benefits academically weaker students, elevating their likelihood of progression by 33 percent. Educational improvements are due to heightened parental awareness regarding their child’s academic performance, augmented parental involvement at school and home, and reductions in household child chores. These results offer a promising and extremely cost-effective strategy to improve educational outcomes.
External Link(s)
Draft of the paper

Registration Citation

Citation
Yedomiffi , Mahounan Patrice. 2023. "Does Parental Involvement Improve Student Learning? The Role of Monitoring." AEA RCT Registry. October 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10818-1.3
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2023-01-11
Intervention End Date
2023-05-27

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Students' test scores
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
We will look at students' quiz and exam scores in math and English. We will also look at the effect on the four other subjects that are part of the student curriculum.
We will look at the result for the whole group and we will also look at heterogeneity by parental literacy as well as students' gender.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Parental involvement, Parents' aspiration
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Parental involvement will be measured through several outcomes such as the number of times parents talk to their child about school, the number of times parents asked about students' tests scores, the number of times parents asked about upcoming exams/quizzes, the number of times parents asked students to review their lessons, the number of times parents visited the school.
We will look at the result for the whole group and we will also look at heterogeneity by parental literacy as well as students' gender.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomly selected 20 secondary schools in the Atlantique region in Benin. In each school, we randomly selected 5 eighth grade classes in case the school had more than 5 classes. We then invited the parents of all the students in those classes. Baseline data were collected on all the parents who showed up and agreed to participate. Within each class, we divide parents into literate and illiterate. Then, within each class-parental literacy group, we assign half of the parents who accepted to participate into treatment and the other half to control.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization was done in the office using STATA
Randomization Unit
Randomization was done at the parent level within each class.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
20 schools are parts of this study.
Sample size: planned number of observations
2265 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
In each school, we have both treatment and control.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Accounting for our experimental design, the minimum detectable effect is 0.14 Standard Deviation for student test scores.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Office for the Protection of Research Subjects
IRB Approval Date
2022-09-14
IRB Approval Number
23204
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials