“HIGH TOUCH HIGH TECH” (HTHT) MATHEMATICS IN URUGUAY

Last registered on September 28, 2026

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

“HIGH TOUCH HIGH TECH” (HTHT) MATHEMATICS IN URUGUAY

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0019816

Initial registration date

September 25, 2026

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

September 28, 2026, 9:52 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Uruguay

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Janice Heejin Kim

Affiliation

University of Glasgow

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2022-01-03

End date

2023-03-24

Keywords

Education

Additional Keywords

digital learning platform, teacher professional development, randomized controlled trial, mathematics achievement, Uruguay

JEL code(s)

I21, I28, C93, O33, O54

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

This cluster-randomized controlled trial examined whether teacher professional development support can translate access to a digital learning platform into improved mathematics achievement. We randomly assigned 108 Uruguayan public primary schools to a control group or to an intervention of the High Touch High Tech (HTHT) program, which integrates workshops, instructional materials, and mentoring on integrating the platform into the standard curriculum. Randomization took place at the school level. Of the 108 schools, 28 were assigned to control and 80 to HTHT, which was delivered at two levels of support intensity (51 "Soft" and 29 "Hard" schools). The study sample comprised 155 fifth-grade teachers and 2,709 fifth-grade students. Students in all schools, including control schools, had the same access to Ceibal's digital mathematics platform, so the trial isolates the effect of teacher support, not of access to technology. The intervention ran for one academic semester in 2022, with baseline and endline assessments in April and October. The primary outcome was mathematics achievement on Uruguay's national adaptive assessment (SEA+). Secondary outcomes were platform engagement from administrative log data (learning episodes completed and weeks of sustained classroom-wide use) and students' reported attitudes toward mathematics and digital learning. Analyses estimated intention-to-treat effects adjusting for baseline achievement and randomization strata, with standard errors clustered at the school level. Heterogeneity by platform engagement and implementation fidelity was examined.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Kim, Janice Heejin. 2026. "“HIGH TOUCH HIGH TECH” (HTHT) MATHEMATICS IN URUGUAY ." AEA RCT Registry. September 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19816-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

This completed cluster-randomized controlled trial examined whether teacher professional development support can translate access to a digital learning platform into improved mathematics achievement. We randomly assigned 108 Uruguayan public primary schools to a control group or to an intervention of the High Touch High Tech (HTHT) program, which integrates workshops, instructional materials, and mentoring on integrating the platform into the standard curriculum.

Intervention (Hidden)

The HTHT model combines adaptive learning technology with active pedagogy. Students first work on an adaptive learning platform ("high tech") to acquire and practice curricular content at a level of difficulty matched to their performance, while the platform tracks each learner's progress and gives teachers real-time information on individual needs. The individualized practice offered by the platform alleviates teacher time and attention, which the HTHT model redirects toward collaborative, project-based activities ("high touch") in which students apply, analyze, and extend what they have practiced. The two components are designed to be complementary and mutually reinforcing: the “high-tech” component builds foundational skills, while the “high-touch” component targets higher-order thinking and socio-emotional development. The teacher's role shifts accordingly, from delivering uniform whole-class instruction to providing personalized support and facilitating higher-order skill-building informed by the platform's data.

Intervention Start Date

2022-04-04

Intervention End Date

2022-10-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The primary outcome was mathematics achievement on Uruguay's national standardised adaptive assessment (SEA+).

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Uruguay's national adaptive assessment, administered by the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP) in collaboration with the Technical Inspection of Primary and Secondary Education. SEA+ is administered nationwide from the third year of primary school through the third year of secondary school. The assessment is designed to provide a common reference framework for student learning and to support teacher reflection on the content it assesses. Assessments are delivered online using the devices and connectivity provided through Ceibal, which allows system-wide administration and immediate reporting of results to teachers.
SEA+ is computer-adaptive: item difficulty adjusts to each student's responses, and ability is estimated by item response theory (IRT). Scores are reported on a scale metric that is a linear transformation of the estimated ability parameter, with mean 1,000 and standard deviation 100 in the norming population. We report all estimates on two scales: the IRT scale metric, which preserves the assessment's own units, and a standardized score constructed using the baseline mean and standard deviation of the analytical sample in the current study. Standardizing on the baseline control distribution ensures the denominator is unaffected by any treatment-induced change in score dispersion. SEA+ was administered at baseline in April 2022 and at endline in October 2022.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary outcomes were platform engagement from administrative log data (learning episodes completed and weeks of sustained classroom-wide use) and students' reported attitudes toward mathematics and digital learning.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

. In parallel with SEA+ administration, students completed surveys at the baseline and endline, capturing non-cognitive outcomes including grit (i.e., perseverance of effort and consistency of interest, 8 items, Alan et al., 2019), collaboration skills (8 items, Musa et al., 2012), math study habits, perceptions of learning environment. We also asked students about background information on household composition, parental education, and residence.

Experimental Design

Randomization took place at the school level. Of the 108 schools, 28 were assigned to control and 80 to HTHT, which was delivered at two levels of support intensity (51 "Soft" and 29 "Hard" schools). The study sample comprised 155 fifth-grade teachers and 2,709 fifth-grade students. Students in all schools, including control schools, had the same access to Ceibal's digital mathematics platform, so the trial isolates the effect of teacher support, not of access to technology.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Stratified cluster randomization. Schools were grouped into blocks by crossing school type (regular urban, APRENDER, and full-time schools) with the quintile of the school's sociocultural context index, giving up to 15 strata (3 × 5). Within each stratum, schools were randomly assigned to the treatment or control group by Stata. This ensured that treatment and control groups were balanced on school type and socioeconomic context.

Randomization Unit

School

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

108 schools

Sample size: planned number of observations

2,709 students

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Randomly assigned 108 public primary schools to either control (28 schools) or HTHT (80 schools, delivered at two support intensities: 51 "Soft" and 29 "Hard")

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Power calculations at both the teacher and student levels, using a cluster RCT design with an assumed intra-cluster correlation of 0.20, yielded statistical power above 0.95 for the detection of moderate effect sizes at each unit of analysis.

Supporting Documents and Materials

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

IRB