Closing the Knowledge gap? Evaluating Paired Reading in a Danish context

Last registered on May 07, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Closing the Knowledge gap? Evaluating Paired Reading in a Danish context
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001567
Initial registration date
May 06, 2019

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 07, 2019, 10:19 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Denmark
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Michael Rosholm
Affiliation
Aarhus University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-08-01
End date
2016-12-23
Keywords
Education, Welfare
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Disadvantaged children are doing remarkably worse in school compared to other children. In Denmark, this knowledge gap already exits at school start and it remains throughout the school years. The purpose of this randomized control trial is to asses, whether an in-home intervention aimed at disadvantaged children can have positive effects on these children's reading skills and well-being.

In the inervention, Paried reading, the child read with an adult three times a week during the course of 15 weeks. Paired Reading has already been tested in a British and Swedish context, where it has shown promising results.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Rosholm, Michael. 2019. "Closing the Knowledge gap? Evaluating Paired Reading in a Danish context ." AEA RCT Registry. May 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1567-1.0
Former Citation
Rosholm, Michael. 2019. "Closing the Knowledge gap? Evaluating Paired Reading in a Danish context ." AEA RCT Registry. May 07. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1567/history/46059
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention Paired Reading in a Danish context is inspired by the British and Swedish versions of Paired Reading. During the intervention period the child read with an adult 20 minutes three times a week during the course of 15 weeks. Disadvantaged children are defined as children who are either in foster care or who receive in-home public support. Therefore the adult reading with the child can both be a parent, a foster parent, a relative or a reader from the child's school. The adult reader is trained at a one-day course in the reading technique.
Intervention Start Date
2016-09-01
Intervention End Date
2016-12-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The key outcome variable is:
The national tests in Danish in grades 3/5
1) Test scores in literacy and maths. This outcome is based on volunteer national tests.
2) Well-being. Measured by the mandatory national wellbeing survey.
3) Strengths and Difficulties. Measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
SDQ
National well-being tests
Nationl tests in Mathematics
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The intervention is implemented in two rounds: In the autumn of 2016 and 2017. All Danish children in 3. or 5. grade who are in foster care or receive a home-based intervention are invited to sign up for the experiment through the municipality.

The randomization is made at individual level. First the individuals are stratified according to the type of public support (home-based intervention versus foster care) and the class level (3. grade versus 5. grade). Afterwards half of the children are randomized into the intervention group, and the other half is randomized into the control group. The experiment is designed as a wait list control design, so that the children in the control group will receive the intervention after the experiment.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization was done in an office by a computer (in Stata).
Randomization Unit
The randomization was made at individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
325
Sample size: planned number of observations
325
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Intervention group: 160, Control group: 160
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

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