We present experimental evidence on the added value of performance management training and tools for school principals and supervisors, over and above information on student achievement. We randomly assigned 100 public primary schools in the province of Salta, Argentina to: (a) a control group, in which we administered standardized tests in math and Spanish at baseline and two follow-ups and made the results available to the schools through user-friendly reports; or (b) a treatment group, in which we did the same and also provided principals with training on how to develop a school improvement plan, a web-based dashboard to track progress on that plan, and two workshops to support their work.
External Link(s)
Citation
Ganimian, Alejandro, Peter Holland and Rafael Hoyos. 2017. "Experimental Evidence on Performance Management Training and Tools for Public Schools in Argentina." AEA RCT Registry. October 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2453-1.0.
We administered: (a) student assessments of math and Spanish; and (b) surveys of students; (c) teachers; and (d) principals. We sampled students and teachers to obtain cross-sectional information in grade 3 every year, as well as longitudinal information on the students who started grade 3 in 2014. Treatment and control schools received user-friendly province and school-level results reports. Additionally, treatment schools received training on how to develop a school improvement plan, access to a web-based dashboard to track progress on that plan, and two workshops to support their work.
Intervention Start Date
2014-10-27
Intervention End Date
2017-04-24
Primary Outcomes (end points)
We measure the impact of the interventions over learning outcomes, captured by standardized tests in math and Spanish
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Experimental Design
We randomly assigned 100 schools in the province of Salta, Argentina, to two experimental groups: (a) a control group, in which we administered standardized tests in math and Spanish at baseline and two follow-ups and made the results available to the schools through user-friendly reports; or (b) a treatment group, in which we did the same and also provided school principals and supervisors with training on how to develop a school improvement plan, a web-based dashboard to track progress on that plan, and two workshops to support their work.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization was be done by running a Stata code on a computer in office.
Randomization Unit
We randomly assigned the 100 sampled schools to one of two experimental groups, stratifying our randomization by geographic area: 60 urban and 40 semi-urban schools.