Impact Evaluation of Parental Empowerment Program

Last registered on January 13, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Impact Evaluation of Parental Empowerment Program
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006424
Initial registration date
September 08, 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
September 09, 2020, 11:26 AM EDT

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

Last updated
January 13, 2024, 9:36 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
Mexico
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Harry Patrinos
Affiliation
World Bank
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2007-10-01
End date
2010-06-30
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
parents, schools, experiments, Mexico, indigenous, trust
JEL code(s)
I20, I25, O15
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study was designed to examine the influence of increased funding for the parental participation program on learning outcomes, parent and teacher involvement, as well as dropout and failure rates. The parental participation program, also known as Apoyo a la Gestión Escolar (AGEs), or Support to School Management, is part of a larger Compensatory Education Project that is being implemented in the most marginalized municipalities of Mexico by the Government. There are two group-based parental involvement interventions on parent and teacher behaviors, and educational outcomes. Two trials were conducted across 430 public schools in states of Mexico with a large indigenous population. The first experiment provided financial resources to parent associations. The second experiment provided information to parent associations about how parents can become more involved in their children’s school. The data was collected by government contractors and administrative data come from the Government implementing agency.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Patrinos, Harry. 2024. " Impact Evaluation of Parental Empowerment Program ." AEA RCT Registry. January 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6424-1.4
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2007-10-01
Intervention End Date
2010-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Parental participation. Teacher effort. Grade repetition. School dropout. School failure rates. Learning outcomes.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In the first trial, the school management component was altered to provide additional resources to 125 participating schools. The financial support consists of quarterly transfers to Parent Associations' school accounts, averaging $600 per year depending on a school size. Treatment schools received double the usual amount. In the second trial, training was provided to one group of schools about how parents can become more involved in their child's education.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
School
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
430 schools.
Sample size: planned number of observations
17544 pupils.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Trial 1: 125 control, 125 treatment schools.
Trial 2: 100 control, 80 treatment schools.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
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
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
January 01, 2010, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
430 schools
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
430 schools
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
125 treatment and control in experiment 1; 100 and treatment and 80 control in experiment 2
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
Yes
Public Data URL
https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/1038

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Parental involvement programs aim to increase school-and-parent communication and support
children’s overall learning environment. This paper examines the effects of low-cost, group-based
parental involvement interventions in Mexico using data from two randomized controlled trials.
The first experiment provided financial resources to parent associations. The second experiment
provided information to parents about how to support their children’s learning. Overall, the
interventions induced different types of parental engagement in schools. The information
intervention changed parenting behavior at home – with large effects among indigenous parents
who have historically been discriminated and socially excluded – and improved student behavior
in school. The grants did not impact parent or student behaviors. Notably, we do not find impacts
of either intervention on educational achievement. To understand these null effects, we explore
how social ties between parents and teachers evolved over the course of the two interventions.
Parental involvement interventions led to significant changes in perceived trustworthiness
between teachers and parents. The results suggest that parental involvement interventions can
backfire if institutional rules are unclear about the expectations of parents and teachers as parents
increase their involvement in schools.
Citation
Barrera-Osorio, F., Gertler, P., Nakajima, N. and Patrinos, H., 2020. Promoting parental involvement in schools: Evidence from two randomized experiments (No. w28040). National Bureau of Economic Research.
URL
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28040

Reports & Other Materials