The Impact and Promotion of Social Emotional Learning Classes in Rural Schools of China

Last registered on October 17, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Impact and Promotion of Social Emotional Learning Classes in Rural Schools of China
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012054
Initial registration date
October 08, 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
October 17, 2023, 11:44 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Yaojiang Shi
Affiliation
Center for Experimental Economics in Education at Shaanxi Normal University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Yi Lu
PI Affiliation
School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
PI Name
Fang Chang
PI Affiliation
Center for Experimental Economics in Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China
PI Name
Han Liu
PI Affiliation
Center for Experimental Economics in Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China
PI Name
Bin Tang
PI Affiliation
Center for Experimental Economics in Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-05-01
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Social Emotional Learning, RCTs, Rural teachers, Rural China
JEL code(s)
I24, I25, O12
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project aims to use experimental economics and educational science to improve students’ social emotional development in rural areas by conducting social and emotional learning courses in rural primary schools. The project will use randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the impact of social emotional learning (SEL) classes on students’ self-awareness, self-esteem, psychological health, interpersonal relationships, behavior problems, and psychological pressures. In the treatment arm, rural class teachers (without requirement on psychology background) will be given a 2-day training on SEL every semester and then asked to teach SEL classes to rural students once every week in consecutive semesters. The control group will not receive any treatment. This project aims to compare the effects of the intervention relative to the control group.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chang, Fang et al. 2023. "The Impact and Promotion of Social Emotional Learning Classes in Rural Schools of China." AEA RCT Registry. October 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12054-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Partner

Name
Ningshan County Education Bureau
Type
government
URL
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This project aims to use experimental economics and educational science to improve students’ social emotional development in rural areas by conducting social and emotional learning courses in rural primary schools. The project will use randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the impact of social emotional learning (SEL) classes on students’ self-awareness, self-esteem, psychological health, interpersonal relationships, behavior problems, and psychological pressures. In the treatment arm, rural class teachers (without requirement on psychology background) will be given a 2-day training on SEL every semester and then asked to teach SEL classes to rural students once every week in consecutive semesters. The control group will not receive any treatment. This project aims to compare the effects of the intervention relative to the control group.
Intervention Start Date
2023-05-01
Intervention End Date
2024-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
student's test scores and non-cognitive measures
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
student's test score includes standardized test score given by research team and student’s test scores in schools
non-cognitive measures include student’s Big-Five personality measures, self-efficacy, and dimensions related to students’ SEL development, like self-awareness, self-management, inter-personal skills, and growth mindset etc.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Teacher-student relationship, students’ learning interest, education aspiration, students’ daily behaviors in schools etc.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The research team plans to conduct questionnaire survey at 21 rural schools in Ningshan County and then randomly assign the schools to two groups, each consisting of 10 schools and 11 schools.
The treatment group is the course-intervention group (11 schools). The project team will train rural teachers on social emotional learning for two days every semester, provide SEL relevant materials (including teacher’s guideline, student textbook, instruction slides, and teaching props) to the course group, and require each rural teacher to give a class once a week and punch in after class. The rural teachers will teach the social emotional learning course once a week in their own school, and give feedback in the online community.
The control group will not receive any treatment from research team (10 schools).

By cooperating with county-level education department in Ningshan, we are able to carry out the trial in the whole county and cover 21 rural schools. In each school, one or two classes in Grade 4 are randomly drawn to make up the final sample. Research team provides intervention courses/materials to treatment schools for free and support the daily project management.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
School level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
21 primary schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
around 600 to 700 primary students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Treatment: Intervention-course group: 11 schools
Control: 10 schools
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
In order to fulfill statistical power, we assume that the minimum detectable effect size equals 0.2 SD.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Tsinghua SEM Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2021-12-07
IRB Approval Number
2021-TSEM-19
Analysis Plan