Improving Equity in Education through Youth Mentoring: An Evaluation of a Randomized Intervention in Colombia

Last registered on October 04, 2022

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Improving Equity in Education through Youth Mentoring: An Evaluation of a Randomized Intervention in Colombia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004709
Initial registration date
September 26, 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
September 27, 2019, 1:20 PM EDT

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

Last updated
October 04, 2022, 8:35 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Bremen

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Texas Policy Lab at Rice University
PI Affiliation
Universidad del Rosario
PI Affiliation
University of Konstanz
PI Affiliation
Universidad de los Andes
PI Affiliation
University of Konstanz
PI Affiliation
University of Nottingham
PI Affiliation
University of Bremen

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-05-27
End date
2025-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The Colombian school system is divided into private and public schools, with the latter showing a significantly worse performance in terms of high-school exit exams and university enrolment. Moreover, the school system has been criticized for an unequal distribution of resources, disadvantaging public schools. These imbalances have far-reaching consequences for educational equity, as students in public schools tend to come from a lower socioeconomic background. In addition to differences in school quality, these children are also less likely to have parents who completed higher education. Their social networks thus often lack role models that could inspire and help them escape poverty through educational success, good choices with respect to tertiary education or help with getting a foot in the door of the formal sector, for example through a job or internship referral. To help overcome these obstacles to social mobility and educational equity, we have developed and piloted a mentoring program for disadvantaged youths in Bogota in 2018, called Más allá de 11 (beyond 11th grade). This intervention changes the participating high-school student's social network by adding a young adult with a different socio-economic background: a university student who takes over the role as a mentor. The aim is thereby not to provide educational tutoring but to establish a relationship of trust and offer support in broadening their perspectives and aspirations, setting goals for their life beyond high school, and defining necessary steps to achieve those goals. For this purpose, mentors and mentees meet regularly on a one-to-one basis for 8-10 months during a crucial phase of the mentee's life: the year before the centralized achievement test that all Colombian high-school students take at the end of grade 11, the Saber 11 test. The goal of the registered study is to thoroughly evaluate the program's effects on the Saber 11 test scores and other outcomes.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Amador, Diego et al. 2022. "Improving Equity in Education through Youth Mentoring: An Evaluation of a Randomized Intervention in Colombia." AEA RCT Registry. October 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4709-2.2
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Más allá de 11 aims at building bridges between high-school students from disadvantaged backgrounds and university students, thereby introducing a potential role model from a different socio-economic background into the high-school students’ social network. As high-school students enrolled in the program are in their final year, this is the ideal moment to support them in developing and pursuing their educational and vocational goals. The crucial characteristic of the intervention is that it is based on one-to-one mentoring. The lack of individual support within the educational system disproportionally disadvantages children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Introducing a mentor aims to tackle this imbalance by building an individual relationship of trust and offering the individual support to deal with the important imminent choices when finishing high school.
Intervention Start Date
2021-10-19
Intervention End Date
2024-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Saber 11 test scores
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We use an oversubscription approach for the potential mentees. Half of the students who show interest in participating in the program are randomized into the treatment and the other half into the control groups. Randomization is stratified by school and gender. The main analyses will be comparisons of these two groups.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
We conduct the randomization as a (non public) lottery.
Randomization Unit
individual students
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
>=12
Sample size: planned number of observations
>500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
>250 individuals each in the control and treatment group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
<=1/4 sd of the student achievement test scores
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB of Universidad de los Andes
IRB Approval Date
2021-06-23
IRB Approval Number
1398
IRB Name
IRB of Universidad de los Andes
IRB Approval Date
2021-04-30
IRB Approval Number
1341
IRB Name
IRB of Universidad de los Andes
IRB Approval Date
2022-09-06
IRB Approval Number
1597
Analysis Plan

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