Scaling-up the Science and Management for Education Programme: Evidence from an even larger randomised field experiment

Last registered on January 12, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Scaling-up the Science and Management for Education Programme: Evidence from an even larger randomised field experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012830
Initial registration date
January 12, 2024

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 12, 2024, 3:46 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Brazil
Region
Rio de Janeiro

Primary Investigator

Name
Felipe Galvão Puccioni
Affiliation
Trinity College - University of Cambridge
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-01-12
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Firms & Productivity, Governance
Additional Keywords
Causal inference, management, education, experiment, randomised field experiment, RCT, randomised control trial
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
We aim to scale up a management programme that has shown large and significant causal effects on pupils' learning and the productivity and management of the schools. This programme is called the Science and Management for Education Programme (SMEP) and was the treatment arm of a previous field RCT conducted in 2022 and 2023. The previous experiment had an experimental sample of 80 schools (31,700 pupils) randomly selected from the Rio de Janeiro schools population, of which 40 were randomly assigned to treatment. This time, we will randomly assign 120 schools (48,000 pupils) from the Rio de Janeiro population of 913 schools (the 80 schools that participated in the previous RCT were excluded) to treatment. Based on the Agile management project approach, the programme delivers the best management practices to schools through one-to-one coaching sessions and on-the-job training with school managers. The treatment does not change any existing systems or personnel. The programme will be delivered by a team of public servants from the Secretary of Education of Rio de Janeiro (SMERJ) and the Court of Accounts of Rio de Janeiro (TCMRio).
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Galvão Puccioni, Felipe. 2024. "Scaling-up the Science and Management for Education Programme: Evidence from an even larger randomised field experiment." AEA RCT Registry. January 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12830-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This time, we will randomly assign 120 schools (48,000 pupils) from the Rio de Janeiro population of 913 schools (the 80 schools that participated in the previous RCT were excluded) to treatment. Based on the Agile management project approach, the programme delivers the best management practices to schools through one-to-one coaching sessions and on-the-job training with school managers. The treatment does not change any existing systems or personnel. The programme will be delivered by a team of public servants from the Secretary of Education of Rio de Janeiro (SMERJ) and the Court of Accounts of Rio de Janeiro (TCMRio).
Intervention Start Date
2024-01-30
Intervention End Date
2025-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Pupils' learning as measured by pupils' scores in reading and mathematics from the standardised assessments (TRI) applied every two months to all children in grades 1 to 9 in Rio de Janeiro schools.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Rio de Janeiro has 993 grades 1-9 schools. We excluded from this total the 80 schools participating in our previous field RCT. From this experimental sample of 913 schools, we randomly assigned 120 to treatment. The treatment will deliver the Science and Management for Education Programme.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomisation will be done using Stata.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomisation will be the school.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Rio de Janeiro has 993 grades 1-9 schools. We excluded from this total the 80 schools participating in our previous field RCT. From this experimental sample of 913 schools, we randomly assigned 120 to treatment.
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 48,00 pupils will be observed across 913 schools.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
120 schools for treatment and 793 schools for control.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan