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ÈXIT Estiu 2016: Evaluating the effect of texting parents to improve educational results
Last registered on October 27, 2017
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information
General Information
Title
ÈXIT Estiu 2016: Evaluating the effect of texting parents to improve educational results
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002238
Initial registration date
October 27, 2017
Last updated
October 27, 2017 2:12 PM EDT
Location(s)
Country
Spain
Region
Catalonia
Primary Investigator
Name
Miquel Alegre
Affiliation
Ivàlua
Contact Primary Investigator
Other Primary Investigator(s)
PI Name
Anna Segura
PI Affiliation
Ivàlua
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Federico Todeschini
PI Affiliation
Ivàlua
Contact Investigator
Additional Trial Information
Status
Completed
Start date
2016-06-01
End date
2016-09-30
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Education, family involvement, nudge
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
School drop outs and grade repetition are important problems in Catalonia, being significally higher than in the rest of the EU. The existing evidence suggests that programs that involve families in students' education are more likely to have positive impacts. On another note, the nudge thoery tells us that positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions can produce important changes in people's behavior.

A nudge was introduced in the Èxit Estiu program, which offers free teaching during summer to pupils that have to retake exams. The nudge consists of sending SMS messages to parents, encoraging them to become more involved in their childrens' education. The Catalan Institute of Public Policy Evaluation (Ivàlua) used a randomized evaluation to test wether this low intense intervention would increase the number of successful subject passes in the retake exams of September 2016. Families were randomized into receiving informative text messages, receiving sensitizing text messages or not receiving any text messages.
External Link(s)
Registration Citation
Citation
Alegre, Miquel, Anna Segura and Federico Todeschini. 2017. "ÈXIT Estiu 2016: Evaluating the effect of texting parents to improve educational results." AEA RCT Registry. October 27. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2238-1.0.
Former Citation
Alegre, Miquel et al. 2017. "ÈXIT Estiu 2016: Evaluating the effect of texting parents to improve educational results." AEA RCT Registry. October 27. http://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2238/history/22766.
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details
Interventions
Intervention(s)
The intervention consist on sending SMS to the parents of the participants of Exit Estiu summer school program. The messages sent were of two types: Sensitizing messages, emphasising the importance of the retake exams in September, and informative messages, providing basic information on the program. Students' families received 6 messages during the summer school.
Intervention Start Date
2016-07-01
Intervention End Date
2016-08-31
Primary Outcomes
Primary Outcomes (end points)
* Graduation rate
* Number of subjects passed
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Secondary Outcomes
Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Experimental Design
Experimental Design
Families were randomized into receiving informative text messages, receiving sensitizing text messages or not receiving any text messages. The effectiveness of the program was assessed by comparing the mean differences between the three randomly assigned groups regarding the number of successfully passed retake exams and the graduation rate, controlling for some demographic variables.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization method was pure randomization, done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Student
Was the treatment clustered?
No
Experiment Characteristics
Sample size: planned number of clusters
1113
Sample size: planned number of observations
1113
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
371 received sensitizing SMS.
371 received informative SMS.
371 students in the control group.
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
Intervention
Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
August 31, 2016, 12:00 AM +00:00
Is data collection complete?
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
August 31, 2016, 12:00 AM +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
1113 students
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1113 students
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
371 students sensitizing SMS. 371 students informative SMS. 371 students control group.
Data Publication
Data Publication
Is public data available?
No
Program Files
Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials
Relevant Paper(s)
REPORTS & OTHER MATERIALS