Peer effect in educational decision-making – a field experiment in Hungary

We have conducted a large-scale randomized field experiment that randomly allocate pupils to desk-mates. Our primary treatment is sitting next to a high-status desk-mate. Our research is restricted in grade 6, 7 and 8 since educational track choice at the secondary level is generally performed in grade 8 and outcome data on anticipated choices (6th and 7th) and made choices (8th grade) have been asked only in these grades.

Our primary treatment is the parental background of pupil i’s desk-mate j, j≠i, in classroom c and grade g in school s, defined as a dummy variable which =1 if either the mother or the father of i’s desk-mate j has completed the high-school final examination (érettségi), and 0 otherwise.

As a secondary treatment, we will use desk-mate’ baseline educational intention measured in 6th grade.

2017-09-01

2018-01-31

Track choice

Track choice (TCH) is assessed by the question #13 in pupil’s endline questionnaire whether pupils are planning to apply (grade 6 & 7) or have applied (grade 8) to the grammar school track. In grade 6 and 7 the question was as follows: “After finishing the primary school, are you planning to apply to the secondary grammar school track?” The answer categories were the following: “Yes”, “No”, “I don’t know”. Category “Yes” will be coded as 1, the two other categories will be coded as 0. In grade 8 the survey question was the following: “Please indicate whether or not you applied to grammar school in February 2018! If you applied to several high schools were any of these grammar schools?” The answer categories were the following: “Yes”, “No”, “I don’t remember”. Category “Yes” will be coded as 1, the two other categories will be coded as 0. The 8 graders educational choices obtained from the endline survey will be verified by their real application behavior provided by HEA. The category 1 will be used if pupil i has applied at least to one secondary grammar school, and 0 will be used otherwise. If endline educational track choices are missing in the survey, or if the survey data and HEA data disagree, the HEA data will be used.

Perceived likelihood of admission to secondary grammar school
Admission to grammar school

Perceived likelihood of admission to grammar school is (PLA) assessed by the question #14 in pupil’s endline background questionnaire “Regardless of whether you did or did not apply to grammar school, do you think you would/will be accepted?” Pupils indicated their answers on an 11-grade scale from 0 (Definitely will not accept me) to 10 (Definitely will accept me).

Only for the 8 graders, we will use actual admission to grammar school (Admit) as a further outcome variable, which equals 1 if pupil i has been admitted to the grammar school track and 0 otherwise. This variable will be obtained from HEA in July 2018.

We execute a field experiment in 149 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms

Outcomes are collected through pupil surveys between February and April 2018. Outcomes data comes from our survey and will be obtained from the Hungarian Educational Authority (HEA). Survey data will first become available to the research team in June 2018 (at the date of this submission, data did not arrive). Data on 8th graders real application decisions and actual admission will be obtained from HEA in July 2018.

Baseline variables are driven by the National Assessment of Basic Competencies (NABC) or are collected via teacher reports. Baseline variables include parental educational level, pupils’ educational intentions (for 7th and 8th graders) and baseline math and reading competency scores (for 7th and 8th graders). These variables will be obtained from the NABC. NABC measures the entire 6th-grade school cohort math and reading comprehension test with a 4×45 minutes long school-based test, which is accompanied by a take-home pupil questionnaire. Linking the data to NABC is feasible with a personalized ID. Merging data to NABC will be performed by the HEA in July 2018 for the current 7th and 8th graders. Linking current 6th graders NABC data will be performed in HEA in March 2019, since these data were collected in May 2018 and will be published in next spring. For the current 6th graders we will use only parental educational level as baseline variable.

Pupils’ social background is defined as the parents’ highest educational level and it is measured once pupils completed the 6th grade. Parental education is asked separately about the mother and about the father. Baseline educational intention (“What is the highest educational level you would like to achieve”, question #14 in the NABC background questionnaire) and NABC competency scores in math and reading comprehension will be available for 7th and 8th graders in our sample and were measured in grade 6.

Within each classroom, we assigned students to free-standing two-person desks via unconstrained random partitioning. Randomization was based on Spring 2017 class rosters, using a computer. To account for entries and exits from the Spring class roster, we stipulated a replacement algorithm and defined the "intended seating chart" as the randomized seating chart after the application of the replacement algorithm.

Individual

No

Approximately 1,700 pupils across 90 classrooms of 36 schools

Approximately 1,700 pupils

This is a networked trial for peer effects. We analyze the outcomes of approximately 1,700 students. Each student is both subject in the analysis and serves as the peer for his or her desk mate.