|
Field
Trial Title
|
Before
Evaluating the Impact of Educational Instructions and Teacher Supervision on Children's Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Development during the COVID-19 Pandemic
|
After
Engaging Parents and Children in Remote Learning: a Randomized Controlled Trial in China
|
|
Field
Abstract
|
Before
This study investigates the effects of an educational intervention designed to support young children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the lockdown, children were unable to attend school in person, which affected their learning and development. In this study, we provided weekly educational instructions to children in kindergarten through a mobile platform, with some groups also receiving additional teacher supervision. The study focuses on measuring the impact of this intervention on both cognitive skills (such as literacy and numeracy) and non-cognitive skills (such as emotional regulation and social skills). We tracked the children's progress at several points, including during the intervention, and followed up with them over the next few years as they entered primary school. Our goal is to understand how these educational interventions can help children during challenging times and whether the benefits last into their future academic and personal development.
|
After
The COVID-19 pandemic led to prolonged school closures, severely disrupting early childhood learning and development. In response, I implemented an educational intervention via social media during the 2020 school closures, engaging 2,317 households across 100 kindergarten classes in Central China. This intervention emphasized the novel intersection of parental involvement and school-based education. Specifically, teachers provided structured weekly tasks to foster joint parent-child participation, while an extended group received additional teacher supervision. Over 10 weeks, the randomized controlled trial significantly improved children’s academic performance, non-cognitive skills, and reduced behavioral issues, with stronger effects in the extended group. Long-term follow-ups over three years revealed enduring effects, particularly in literacy. These gains were driven by increased parental involvement and shifts in parental beliefs. Notably, the intervention yielded greater benefits for children from lower socio-economic status, highlighting its potential to bridge educational gaps. At a cost of just 5 USD per child, the intervention demonstrates exceptional cost-effectiveness and strong scalability. Overall, these findings suggest that engaging parents during educational disruptions can effectively safeguard human capital and mitigate crisis-induced learning losses for early childhood populations.
|
|
Field
JEL Code(s)
|
Before
|
After
C93, I21, I24
|
|
Field
Last Published
|
Before
February 05, 2025 09:34 AM
|
After
March 02, 2025 08:30 AM
|
|
Field
Primary Outcomes (End Points)
|
Before
Primary Outcomes (End Points)
Cognitive Skills:
Literacy: Measured through assessments of Chinese character recognition, Pinyin understanding, and basic word recognition.
Numeracy: Measured through basic arithmetic skills, including number recognition, addition, and subtraction.
Non-Cognitive Skills:
Big Five Personality Traits: Assessed through teacher evaluations based on children’s behavior during play and interactive activities, focusing on traits such as emotional regulation, self-control, agreeableness, and social interaction.
Academic Performance (Long-term):
Primary School Grades: Specifically, final exam scores in Chinese language and mathematics during follow-up assessments in the second and fourth years after the intervention.
|
After
Cognitive Skills:
Literacy: Measured through assessments of Chinese character recognition, Pinyin understanding, and basic word recognition.
Numeracy: Measured through basic arithmetic skills, including number recognition, addition, and subtraction.
Non-Cognitive Skills:
Big Five Personality Traits: Assessed through teacher evaluations based on children’s behavior during play and interactive activities, focusing on traits such as emotional regulation, self-control, agreeableness, and social interaction.
Academic Performance (Long-term):
Primary School Grades: Specifically, final exam scores in Chinese language and mathematics during follow-up assessments in the three months and three years after the intervention.
|
|
Field
Experimental Design (Public)
|
Before
This study uses a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of educational interventions on children's cognitive and non-cognitive development during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intervention consisted of weekly educational instructions provided through a mobile platform (WeChat), with one subgroup receiving additional teacher supervision to ensure completion of tasks.
The trial involved 60 kindergarten classes from urban and rural schools across C City. These classes were randomly assigned to either a control group (no intervention) or one of two treatment groups: (1) a group receiving only educational instructions, and (2) a group receiving both educational instructions and teacher supervision.
Key outcomes include cognitive skills (literacy and numeracy), non-cognitive skills (measured using the Big Five personality traits), and long-term academic performance (final exam scores in Chinese language and mathematics). Data were collected at multiple time points: during the intervention, immediately after, and at follow-up assessments two and four years later, when the children entered primary school.
The experimental design allows for the comparison of treatment effects on academic and personal development outcomes across different intervention conditions, with an emphasis on both immediate and long-term effects. The study aims to assess the potential for mobile-based educational interventions to mitigate learning disruptions during the pandemic.
|
After
This study uses a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of educational interventions on children's cognitive and non-cognitive development during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intervention consisted of weekly educational instructions provided through a mobile platform (WeChat), with one subgroup receiving additional teacher supervision to ensure completion of tasks.
The trial involved 100 kindergarten classes from urban and rural schools across C City. These classes were randomly assigned to either a control group (no intervention) or one of two treatment groups: (1) a group receiving only educational instructions, and (2) a group receiving both educational instructions and teacher supervision.
Key outcomes include cognitive skills (literacy and numeracy), non-cognitive skills (measured using the Big Five personality traits), and long-term academic performance (final exam scores in Chinese language and mathematics). Data were collected at multiple time points: during the intervention, immediately after, and at follow-up assessments three months and three years later, when the children entered primary school.
The experimental design allows for the comparison of treatment effects on academic and personal development outcomes across different intervention conditions, with an emphasis on both immediate and long-term effects. The study aims to assess the potential for mobile-based educational interventions to mitigate learning disruptions during the pandemic.
|
|
Field
Planned Number of Observations
|
Before
2417 students
|
After
2317 students
|
|
Field
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
|
Before
50 classes control, 50 classes received instruction only, and 50 classes received both instruction and supervision
|
After
50 classes control, 25 classes received instruction only, and 25 classes received both instruction and supervision
|
|
Field
Additional Keyword(s)
|
Before
|
After
Remote Education, COVID-19, Randomized Controlled Trial, China
|