How does performance information affect employee action?

Last registered on August 02, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
How does performance information affect employee action?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004311
Initial registration date
June 13, 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
June 29, 2019, 4:21 PM EDT

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

Last updated
August 02, 2019, 3:04 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Denmark
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Maria Falk Mikkelsen
Affiliation
VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Mogens Pedersen
PI Affiliation
VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-06-17
End date
2020-01-05
Keywords
Education, Governance, Welfare
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study investigates how performance information is interpreted and used by employees (school teachers). Using a survey experiment, we hypothesize and test if (a) teachers’ trust in the validity of performance information and (b) their willingness to alter teaching and provide feedback to parents and students depend on whether available performance information shows progress above mean test results. The survey experiment involves seven treatments capturing student “progress,” “regress,” and “no development” for a student above, below, and at the mean. The survey experiment is embedded in a national evaluation of the use of standardized tests within the public school system in Denmark, which will be sent out to more than 4000 teachers.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Mikkelsen, Maria Falk and Mogens Pedersen. 2019. "How does performance information affect employee action?." AEA RCT Registry. August 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4311-2.0
Former Citation
Mikkelsen, Maria Falk and Mogens Pedersen. 2019. "How does performance information affect employee action?." AEA RCT Registry. August 02. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4311/history/51030
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The survey experiment has seven treatments within three group:

Group A (student progress):
1. Student progress from below the mean to the mean
2. Student progress from the mean to above the mean.

Group B (no student progress):
3. Student below the mean
4. Student at the mean
5. Above mean

Group C (student regress):
6. Student regress from above the mean to the mean
7. Student regress from mean to below mean.
Intervention Start Date
2019-06-17
Intervention End Date
2020-01-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Employee intended action and employee trust in performance information
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The effect of the seven treatments will be captured by a survey experiment in a national evaluation survey of standardized testing in Danish public schools.
Experimental Design Details
The teachers will be asked the following question:
One of your students has taken the national test for the second time. The results show that the pupil scored: [text1]. At the previous tests, the student achieved a score of [text2]
To what extent (very low extent, low extent, moderate extent, high extent, very high extent):
• would you provide feedback on the student’s development to parents?
• would you provide feedback on the student's development to the student?
• would you use the student's development to alter your teaching to strengthen the student's development?
• do you trust the test results?

[text1] and [text2] can take on three values: 25 (below the mean), 50 (the mean), 75 (above the mean).

The seven treatment corresponds to seven combinations of [text1] and [text2] within three groups:

Group A (student progress):
1. Student progress from below the mean to the mean
2. Student progress from the mean to above the mean.

Group B (no student progress):
3. Student below the mean
4. Student at the mean
5. Above mean

Group C (student regress):
6. Student regress from above the mean to the mean
7. Student regress from mean to below mean.
Randomization Method
Randomization done by computer.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is done at the individual (teacher) level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
4764 teachers will be invited to participate. Similar studies have had a response rate around 60-65 % thus around 3000 responses can be expected.
Sample size: planned number of observations
4764 teachers will be invited to participate. Similar studies have had a response rate around 60-65 % thus around 3000 responses can be expected.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The study has 7 treatment arms:
1) Progress (below the mean to the mean): 794
2) Progress (the mean to above the mean): 794
3) No progress (below the mean): 529
4) No progress (the mean): 529
5) No progress (above the mean): 529
6) Regress (above the mean to the mean): 794
7) Regress (the mean to below the mean): 794
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
For comparing progress to regress/no progress (standardized outcome: mean=0, std=1): 7,25
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

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