Information and collective action in Angolan schools: inside the black box of community-driven development

Last registered on January 04, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Information and collective action in Angolan schools: inside the black box of community-driven development
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003930
Initial registration date
February 21, 2019

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
February 24, 2019, 7:47 PM EST

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

Last updated
January 04, 2022, 11:57 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
Angola
Region
Kwanza Sul

Primary Investigator

Name
Stefan Leeffers
Affiliation
University College London
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Vincenzo Di Maro
PI Affiliation
The World Bank
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PI Name
Danila Serra
PI Affiliation
Southern Methodist University
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PI Name
Pedro Vicente
PI Affiliation
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2014-10-01
End date
2019-03-29
Keywords
Education, Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Community-driven development interventions blend multiple components difficult to identify separately. The literature reports mixed impacts of these interventions. We designed and conducted a field experiment in 126 schools of the Angolan province of Kwanza Sul, aiming to distinguish the impact of the information and the collective action components of a scorecard system. Specifically, we explore a design with three treatments: (i) decentralized information to parents on the performance of schools, (ii) organization of meetings with parents without pre-set information on performance, and (iii) centralized information on performance through meetings with parents. Our measurement of outcomes includes: parent, school, teacher, and school principal surveys, as well as lab games and test scores. In the games, apart from standard lab games (trust, public-good), we develop a novel dictator game where teachers individually decide about sharing their endowments with multiple parents.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Di Maro, Vincenzo et al. 2022. "Information and collective action in Angolan schools: inside the black box of community-driven development." AEA RCT Registry. January 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3930-2.4000000000000004
Former Citation
Di Maro, Vincenzo et al. 2022. "Information and collective action in Angolan schools: inside the black box of community-driven development." AEA RCT Registry. January 04. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3930/history/108131
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2016-10-01
Intervention End Date
2017-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our measurement of outcomes includes: parent, school, teacher, and school principal surveys, standardized student tests, as well as lab games and test scores. In the games, apart from standard lab games (trust, public-good), we develop a novel dictator game where teachers individually decide about sharing their endowments with multiple parents.
Important outcome variables from the parent survey are self-reported involvement at the school in terms of time and money invested and the relationship with the teacher, satisfaction with the school, teachers, management and behavior of other parents, as well as collective action indicators.
Teacher-related outcome variables from both the teacher and director surveys are self-reported performance outcomes (i.e., attendance), satisfaction with school, other teachers, management and behavior of parents, collective action indicators, as well as questions regarding the parental involvement of the parents of the 40 selected students answered by the relevant teacher. Other outcome variables related specifically to the director survey and include information about tasks and responsibilities, as well as the quality and quantity of relations with other institutions that support the school.
For the school level surveys, important outcome variables are those related to investments in the school facilities and resources (by parents), administrative data on student, teacher and school board performance (i.e., number of students that passed grade 6, attendance of teachers and school directors etc.), as well as parent involvement (i.e., existence of a parent committee).


Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We designed and conducted a field experiment in 126 schools of the Angolan province of Kwanza Sul, aiming to distinguish the impact of the information and the collective action components of a scorecard system. Specifically, we explore a design with three treatments: (i) decentralized information to parents on the performance of schools, (ii) organization of meetings with parents without pre-set information on performance, and (iii) centralized information on performance through meetings with parents.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The 126 schools were randomly allocated by a computer across the four treatment groups using blocks. The schools were organized in blocks employing village and a set of school characteristics, which included the number of classrooms, number students, number of teachers, and whether there are elections for a parent committee.
Randomization Unit
School
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
126 Schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
30,000 students, 2,000 parents, 2,000 teachers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
32 schools control, 32 schools information treatment, 31 schools meetings treatment, 31 schools information and meetings treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Scientific Council of Nova School of Business and Economics
IRB Approval Date
2019-02-19
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-analysis plan - Angola

MD5: 943f615a0a5f06810cceb17e3504b783

SHA1: d238f8528622368e99ad2f8efdb1c624474ac085

Uploaded At: March 17, 2019

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials