Closing the Gap: The Effects of Multifaceted School Intervention on Left-behind Children

Last registered on November 01, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Closing the Gap: The Effects of Multifaceted School Intervention on Left-behind Children
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012375
Initial registration date
October 27, 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
November 01, 2023, 4:03 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
China
Region
Hunan

Primary Investigator

Name
jia wu
Affiliation
Shandong University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Chunchao Wang
PI Affiliation
Jinan University

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2018-01-01
End date
2021-07-30
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
left-behind children, parental absence, video calling, after-school tutoring
JEL code(s)
J13, J24
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The experiment was implemented in 23 elementary schools in Yunmeng County in Hubei province of China. At the beginning of the spring semester in 2017–2018 school year, students from 3rd to 5th grades in the 23 schools participated in a baseline survey. Based on the information collected in the baseline survey, we can identify the left-behind children. We randomly selected 23 primary schools (145 classes) from 46 public primary schools to participate our experiment in the second semester in 2017-2018 school year. We design two treatment arms. First, video calling intervention. The video calling was directed by class head teachers, who participated in a training meeting to learn how to implement the video calling intervention. Each week, teachers spend two 10-minute sessions using their cell phones to give a video phone call to parents of left-behind children. The teacher schedules a time at the parents’ convenience, usually at lunchtime. After the time is agreed upon by the parents, the teacher takes the child to his/her office (or a spare room if there are people around) and provides their cell phone to let the child talk to their migrant parents by video call. Second, after-school tutoring intervention. After the last class in the afternoon, treated left-behind children took a 40-minute tutoring class, instructed by teachers. Each week, students have two lessons, one for Chinese and the other for mathematics. The content of class is to review the knowledge in the past days in the week. The treated children in the same grade and school were located in a spare classroom and instructed by a recruited teacher.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Wang, Chunchao and jia wu. 2023. "Closing the Gap: The Effects of Multifaceted School Intervention on Left-behind Children." AEA RCT Registry. November 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12375-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We conducted our program in a nearby county of Yunmeng in a pilot study in 2017. The pilot experiment includes 6 schools. The treatment effects of video-calling and after-school tutoring interventions on mathematic scores, neuroticism, and extraversion are approximately 0.2 standard deviations/points.

The approach of selecting treated and control group relies on a class randomization scheme at the school-by-grade level. If there are 3 or more classes in a grade of a school, we divided the number of the classes by 3 and round the number down to the nearest integer. Then, VC, AT, and (between-class) control classes were assigned with the same number of classes according to that integer. The remaining classes (i.e., the number of classes left after the division) were randomly assigned as VC and AT classes. If there are fewer than 3 classes in a grade of a school, these classes are randomly assigned to VC, AT, and control. Following this rule, we have 55 VC treatment classes (498 left-behind children), 56 AT treated classes (466 left-behind students), and 34 control classes (283 left-behind students). For each of the 111 treatment classes, we randomly selected two-thirds of left-behind children to receive the treatment. The remaining one-third in the same classes were assigned as within-class controls. Finally, 348 left-behind children are receiving VC intervention in 55 VC treatment classes, among which 150 students are within-class controls. 326 left-behind children receiving AT intervention in 56 classes, among which 140 students are within-class controls.

A follow-up survey tracked 951 left-behind children (76%) of the original sample three years later (July 2021). The sample includes 268 and 249 students who previously received VC and AT interventions and 220 students who were previously in the control group.

Intervention Start Date
2018-03-01
Intervention End Date
2018-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
After-school tutoring intervention leads to an increase in mathematics scores for left-behind children.
Video-calling intervention significantly improves children’s neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness. The positive effects of video calling persist for nearly three years after the intervention.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
We demonstrate that after-school tutoring intervention promotes communication between left-behind children and teachers. Video-calling intervention encourages left-behind children to interact more with their classmates and form friendships. Additionally, this intervention also helps alleviate their feelings of missing their parents.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment was implemented in 23 elementary schools in Yunmeng County in Hubei province of China. At the beginning of the spring semester in 2017–2018 school year, students from 3rd to 5th grades in the 23 schools participated in a baseline survey. Based on the information collected in the baseline survey, we can identify the left-behind children. We randomly selected 23 primary schools (145 classes) from 46 public primary schools to participate our experiment in the second semester in 2017-2018 school year. We design two treatment arms, namely, video-calling internvetion and after-school tutoring intervention.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer
Randomization Unit
Class and individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
145 classes
Sample size: planned number of observations
1247 left-behind children in 145 classes of 23 primary schools
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
55 video-calling classes, 56 after-schooling tutoring classes, and 34 control classes.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
749
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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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