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The impact of an extensive high school counseling program on students' post-school pathways

Last registered on April 11, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The impact of an extensive high school counseling program on students' post-school pathways
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002738
Initial registration date
March 13, 2018

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
March 14, 2018, 5:37 PM EDT

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

Last updated
April 11, 2018, 3:44 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Marita Jacob
Affiliation
University of Cologne
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Marcel Helbig
PI Affiliation
WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Irena Pietrzyk
PI Affiliation
WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Melinda Erdmann
PI Affiliation
WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Stefan Stuth
PI Affiliation
University of Cologne
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2018-01-15
End date
2020-12-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
sociology, educational inequality, social inequality, post-school pathways, counseling, higher education enrollment
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The study aims at evaluating the impact of an extensive counseling program, which is provided to high school students in academically oriented high schools (Gymnasium) and comprehensive high schools (Gesamtschulen) in Germany. During the intervention, specifically trained guidance counselors serve as contact persons for all questions regarding post-school pathways and provide information on post-secondary educational programs. The intervention especially targets low-SES students aiming at reducing social inequality in the transition to higher education. The study will investigate whether the intervention reduces educational inequality by means of analyzing the intervention's effect on higher education enrollment rates. Additionally, the impact on students' overall subjective satisfaction with their educational choices and on non-cognitive skills will be examined. Thus, the study will contribute to the literature on the impact of counseling programs on the reduction of educational inequality.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Erdmann, Melinda et al. 2018. "The impact of an extensive high school counseling program on students' post-school pathways ." AEA RCT Registry. April 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2738-4.1
Former Citation
Erdmann, Melinda et al. 2018. "The impact of an extensive high school counseling program on students' post-school pathways ." AEA RCT Registry. April 11. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2738/history/199631
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention is an extensive counseling program provided to high school students in the school setting. Specifically trained guidance counselors visit the students in their high schools, serve as contact persons for all questions regarding post-school pathways and provide information on post-secondary educational programs in one-to-one sessions on a regular basis. The intervention especially targets low-SES students aiming at reducing social inequality in the transition to higher education.
Intervention Start Date
2018-04-16
Intervention End Date
2020-10-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Higher education enrollment
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
intention to study, majors, satisfaction with post-school educational choice, non-cognitive skills, achievement
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The design combines a multisite RCT and a cluster RCT.
Experimental Design Details
The design combines a multisite RCT and a cluster RCT. Firstly, schools will be randomly assigned to a treatment and a control condition. Secondly, students will be randomly assigned to a treatment and a control condition within treatment schools. The treatment will not be provided to students in control schools.
Randomization Method
The randomization will be conducted in office using a computer program after informed consent of participating schools/subjects and after baseline measurement.
Randomization Unit
Randomization will be conducted at two different levels: Firstly, schools will be randomly assigned to a treatment and a control condition. Secondly, students within treatment schools will be randomly assigned to a treatment and a control condition.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
45 schools in total (8 control schools and 37 treatment schools)
Sample size: planned number of observations
students within treatment schools: 50 students within each of the 37 treatment schools: n = 1850 students within control schools: 25 students within each of the 8 non-treatment school: n = 200 In total: n = 2050 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Sample size within treatment schools: 25 students within each of the 37 treatment schools in control condition: n = 925; 25 students within each of the 37 treatment schools in treatment condition: n = 925
Sample size within control schools: 25 students within each of the 8 control schools: n = 200
In total: n = 925 students in treatment condition; n = 1125 students in control condition
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
WZB Berlin Social Science Center
IRB Approval Date
2017-11-06
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
No
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials

Description
Study Description
Citation
Pietrzyk, Irena/Allmendinger, Jutta/Erdmann, Melinda/Helbig, Marcel/Jacob, Marita/Stuth, Stefan (2019): Future and Career Plans Before High School Graduation (ZuBAb). Background, Research Questions and Research Design, WZB Discussion Paper, P 2019-004, Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung.
URL
https://bibliothek.wzb.eu/pdf/2019/p19-004.pdf
Description
Results on Social Origin
Citation
Erdmann, Melinda/Pietrzyk, Irena/Schneider, Juliana/Helbig, Marcel/Jacob, Marita/ Allmendinger, Jutta (2022): Bildungsungleichheit nach der Hochschulreife – das lässt sich ändern. Eine Untersuchung der Wirksamkeit eines intensiven Beratungsprogramms 1,5 Jahre nach dem Abitur, WZB Discussion Paper, P 2022-002, Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung.
URL
https://bibliothek.wzb.eu/pdf/2022/p22-002.pdf
Description
Results on Gender
Citation
Erdmann, Melinda/Schneider, Juliana/Pietrzyk, Irena/Helbig, Marcel/Jacob, Marita (2023): The impact of guidance counselling on gender segregation: Major choice and persistence in higher education. An experimental study. Frontiers in Sociology.
URL
https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1154138