Leveraging 'Positive Deviance' to improve learning in Developing countries. A randomized controlled trial in rural Uganda - Busoga region.

Last registered on January 09, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Leveraging 'Positive Deviance' to improve learning in Developing countries. A randomized controlled trial in rural Uganda - Busoga region.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005238
Initial registration date
January 06, 2020

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
January 09, 2020, 3:53 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Uganda
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Julius Atuhurra
Affiliation
International Christian University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Dainn Wie
PI Affiliation
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
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PI Name
Ryuichi Tanaka
PI Affiliation
The University of Tokyo
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PI Name
Mikiko Nishimura
PI Affiliation
International Christian University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-10-21
End date
2024-03-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Positive Deviance
JEL code(s)
I21, I24, I25
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Positive Deviance (PD) is an asset-based approach to solving intractable social problems. In poor communities in many developing countries there exist households, schools, teachers and children who are achieving better learning than the majority of their peers. In this study, we replicate the practices of these positive deviants in neighboring school communities in a region that has consistently underachieved nationally.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Atuhurra, Julius et al. 2020. "Leveraging 'Positive Deviance' to improve learning in Developing countries. A randomized controlled trial in rural Uganda - Busoga region. ." AEA RCT Registry. January 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5238-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-02-17
Intervention End Date
2022-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Children's learning outcomes - standardized test score achievements in literacy and numeracy.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Each child's attained competence level will be scored. The total score (by subject) will be standardized by calculating the Z-score.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
instructional quality, learner engagement, learner readiness/motivation, teacher/learner attendance, time on task, parental/community teacher & head teacher quality, parental social networks.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
School-based reflection-driven peer-led teacher support; guardian-teacher child support and sharing actionable information with parents and communities.
Experimental Design Details
Teacher support treatment schools will hold regularly scheduled peer-led teacher development sessions. During these sessions, teachers will share insights on how they can improve on their instructional content/practices in areas they have identified as critical. Peers belonging to the same teacher triad will hold in-class support observations of each other's practice to reinforce the shared insights. A second variant to this school-based support provision will be introduced in the second phase of the study - the guardian-teacher child support intervention.
Actionable information treatment schools will hold more frequent interaction sessions between the school, teachers, parents and the community generally. At these meetings, schools and teachers will listen keenly to parents/residents in order to gain a clear understanding of the home/community environment and how it affects children’s learning. Specific actions that parents/residents can take to deal with these realities will be discussed, agreed and followed up on at subsequent interactions.
Control schools will not receive any of the above described interventions.
Randomization Method
done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
school communities
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
150 school communities
Sample size: planned number of observations
5, 000 children.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
50 school communities control, 50 school communities teacher support, 50 school communities information sharing.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.17 SD
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST)
IRB Approval Date
2019-12-27
IRB Approval Number
SS5153
IRB Name
Mildmay Uganda Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2019-11-06
IRB Approval Number
0510-2019
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