An Evaluation of Teacher Screening

Last registered on December 07, 2018

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

An Evaluation of Teacher Screening

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0003583

Initial registration date

November 21, 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

November 21, 2018, 1:03 PM EST

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

Last updated

December 07, 2018, 10:26 AM EST

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

Locations

Country

Madagascar

Region

Africa

Primary Investigator

Name

Ketki Sheth

Affiliation

UC Merced

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Peter Anthony Holland

PI Affiliation

World Bank

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Aprajit Mahajan

PI Affiliation

UC Berkleey

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Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2018-11-29

End date

2020-11-20

Keywords

Education

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

O15

Secondary IDs

Abstract

Teachers in developing countries have low levels of knowledge of their course material, have less education and training, spend less time on instruction, and have high levels of absence relative to their developed country counterparts. Can we identify and select better teachers to improve the delivery of education? Using a cluster randomized controlled trial, we propose to evaluate the introduction of a teacher entrance exam designed to increase the content-knowledge of primary school teachers in Madagascar.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Holland, Peter Anthony, Aprajit Mahajan and Ketki Sheth. 2018. "An Evaluation of Teacher Screening." AEA RCT Registry. December 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3583-2.0

Former Citation

Holland, Peter Anthony, Aprajit Mahajan and Ketki Sheth. 2018. "An Evaluation of Teacher Screening." AEA RCT Registry. December 07. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3583/history/38563

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Using a cluster randomized controlled trial, we propose to evaluate the introduction of a teacher entrance exam designed to increase the content-knowledge of primary school teachers in Madagascar. In treatment areas, teacher hiring will be based on a formula that prioritizes the results of an entrance exam. In control areas, teacher hiring will be decentralized and entrance exam results will not be released.

Intervention Start Date

2018-11-30

Intervention End Date

2018-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Teacher characteristics: content-based knowledge, qualifications and demographics, prosocial preferences and attitudes, social connections with school administrators, and career aspirations and outside options.
Student Learning

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

The content-based knowledge of teachers is measured by their total correct responses to a content-based entrance exam. The remaining teacher characteristic measurements are described in an attached document. Student learning will be measured using test scores.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Teacher Effort: teacher attendance, classroom attendance, and time spent teaching

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Measures will be based on a surprise visit to the teacher's classroom.

Experimental Design

We implement a cluster-randomized controlled trial in which randomly assigned sub-districts (ZAPs), stratified by districts (CISCO), will be assigned to treatment. Treatment is defined as being subject to the intervention of using the entrance exam for hiring decisions.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in an office by a computer (STATA).

Randomization Unit

sub-districts (ZAPs)

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

127 sub-districts

Sample size: planned number of observations

We expect 19 teacher openings per sub-district. Assuming 3 applicants per opening, our expected sample size if 7,239 applicants. For learning outcomes, assuming 35 students per teacher hired, our expected sample size is 84,455 students.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

64 sub-districts treatment,
63 sub-districts control

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

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