EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE NOVOTEC INTEGRADO PROGRAM

Last registered on May 21, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE NOVOTEC INTEGRADO PROGRAM
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013649
Initial registration date
May 19, 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
May 21, 2024, 11:34 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
Caio Castro
Affiliation
São Paulo School of Economics – FGV EESP
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
André Portela Souza
PI Affiliation
São Paulo School of Economics – FGV EESP
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PI Name
Gabriel Weber Costa
PI Affiliation
São Paulo School of Economics – FGV EESP
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PI Name
Lycia Lima
PI Affiliation
São Paulo School of Economics – FGV EESP
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PI Name
Bruno Ferman
PI Affiliation
São Paulo School of Economics – FGV EESP
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PI Name
Lucas Finamor
PI Affiliation
São Paulo School of Economics – FGV EESP
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2021-01-01
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
TVET
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
I25, I28, J24
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This research project centers on the Novotec Integrado Program, designed to enhance technical and vocational education offerings in São Paulo, Brazil. This initiative seamlessly integrates technical education into the traditional high school curriculum, aligning with the regulatory reforms established in 2017.Within the public high school system, students have the autonomy to select a specialized field of technical education. During enrollment periods in 2021 and 2023, instances of oversubscription prompted admissions to be determined through a lottery system, facilitating an experimental impact evaluation framework. Our primary objective is to assess the effects of Novotec Integrado on enrolled students. Specifically, we aim to evaluate its impact on key indicators such as academic performance, school attendance, and high school completion rates. Furthermore, we seek to quantify its influence on labor market outcomes and enrollment in higher education. To achieve these objectives, we will utilize educational administrative data and conduct comprehensive primary data collection efforts.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Castro, Caio et al. 2024. "EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE NOVOTEC INTEGRADO PROGRAM." AEA RCT Registry. May 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13649-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The Novotec Integrado program offers technical and vocational training for high school students in the state educational system. Students choose their area of interest from 12 available options (including e.g., marketing, logistics, human resources, systems development) and attend training during their second and third grades, integrated within the same modality of the general academic curriculum (i.e., students who attend high school e.g. only during mornings also attend technical training during mornings). The vocational branch of the curriculum is delivered by Centro Paula Souza, a well-known institution linked to the state government that offers professional education at the secondary and tertiary levels within the state of São Paulo.

The program is designed in the form of the so-called Novo Ensino Médio in Brazil, which divides the high school curriculum into formative itineraries, one of which is technical and vocational training. At the end of high school, students receive a technical education diploma in the area that they chose, in addition to the regular high school certification
Intervention Start Date
2021-01-01
Intervention End Date
2024-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Education-related variables such as performance, attendance, and approval.
Labor market variables: employment, formal employment, earnings, wages, and field of work (occupation and sector).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Socio-emotional variables, such as happiness, anxiety, and depression.
Aspirations for educational and labor market careers.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In the lottery process for the 2021 cohort, students in the final year of upper primary education designated their preferred school and technical course for the entirety of their high school journey. To ensure fairness, the lottery was stratified by gender, with each gender allocated half of the available seats in each class. Candidates were randomly ordered and assigned to either an initial offer treatment group or a waiting list. Consequently, each stratum comprised a combination of course, class, and gender. Within each gender stratum, priority was given to students residing within a 2km radius of their chosen school.

For the 2023 cohort, students were already in their first year of high school when indicating their school and technical course preferences for the remaining years (second and third grades). In this instance, only students expressing interest in courses offered at their current school were considered for randomization, with stratification based solely on class.

This research aims to track the progress of students from these two cohorts, leveraging the randomization process for oversubscribed classes to estimate the program's impacts on educational and labor outcomes. By comparing the two cohorts—those selecting at the end of primary education versus after the first year of high school—we aim to glean additional insights into the optimal timing for offering technical education pathways.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer, following an algorithm in R with given seed.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Total of 104,164 students. Currently 48,454 from the first lottery and 57,710
Total of 800 strata in 2021 cohort
Total of 399 (expected|) strata in 2023 cohort
Sample size: planned number of observations
104,161 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Expected sample of 18,236 treated on first cohort and 18,814 on the second cohort.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
COMITÊ DE CONFORMIDADE ÉTICA EM PESQUISAS ENVOLVENDO SERES HUMANOS – CEPH/FGV
IRB Approval Date
2024-03-26
IRB Approval Number
P.509.2023
Analysis Plan