Community-wide collaboration to improve basic reading and math: Empirical evidence from Madagascar

Last registered on December 20, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Community-wide collaboration to improve basic reading and math: Empirical evidence from Madagascar
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006914
Initial registration date
December 24, 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 04, 2021, 9:17 AM EST

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

Last updated
December 20, 2023, 10:24 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Madagascar
Region
Africa

Primary Investigator

Name
Takao Maruyama
Affiliation
Japan International Cooperation Agency
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Kengo Igei
PI Affiliation
Keio University

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2018-10-01
End date
2021-12-01
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Educational development; Basic reading and math; Primary education; Community engagement; Sub-Saharan Africa
JEL code(s)
D71, I28, O15
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In Madagascar, more than 80 percent of students are not mastering minimum proficiency of language and mathematics, according to PASEC (2017). This study investigates the impact of a package of intervention on (i) collaboration among parents, teachers and community members to improve student learning, and (ii) student learning in basic reading and math, through randomized controlled trial. The package of interventions aims at improving the functionality of school management committees (SMCs) to lead and facilitate community-wide collaboration at school-level. Then, through the process of information-sharing and discussion at the community general assembly, parents, teachers and community members commit themselves to organizing remedial activities on basic reading and math.

The package of interventions is called "Paquet Minimum Axé sur la Qualité” (minimum package for quality learning) that is originally developed in the Ecole pour tous project in Niger with a technical cooperation by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The package is adapted to the context of Madagascar, and combined with a method "Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)" developed by Indian NGO "Pratham."

The package includes different elements of interventions: (1) institutional intervention (training on democratic establishment of SMC); (2) information-sharing intervention (training on school action plan development addressing learning); and (3) pedagogical intervention (training on remedial activities of basic reading and math, and provision of math workbooks). The content of training (3) above is "Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)" developed by Indian NGO "Pratham, and facilitation skills of organizing remedial activity using math workbook developed by JICA.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Igei, Kengo and Takao Maruyama. 2023. "Community-wide collaboration to improve basic reading and math: Empirical evidence from Madagascar ." AEA RCT Registry. December 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6914-2.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Partner

Name
The ministry of education in Madagascar
Type
government
URL
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
With technical cooperation by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the ministry of education in Madagascar provides a set of interventions composed of (1) training (one day) for school principals on democratic establishment of school management committees (SMCs); (2) training (two days) for presidents, secretaries and accountants of SMCs on school action plan development and resource management; (3) training (five days) for representatives of teachers and community facilitators on organization of remedial activities of basic reading and math; and (4) provision of math workbooks for students (one workbook for all the 3rd to 5th grade students); for the treatment group. The ministry also provided a training (one day) for local educational office on monitoring school activities.

The package of interventions is called "Paquet Minimum Axé sur la Qualité” (minimum package for quality learning) that is originally developed in the Ecole pour tous project in Niger with a technical cooperation by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The package is adapted to the context of Madagascar, and combined with a method "Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)" developed by Indian NGO "Pratham." The content of training (3) above is "Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)" developed by Indian NGO "Pratham, and facilitation skills of organizing remedial activity using math workbook that is developed by JICA.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2018-11-15
Intervention End Date
2019-02-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Basic reading (Malagasy) and math (number and basic four operations) of 3rd to 5th grade students
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Basic reading (Malagasy) is assessed with ASER tool (the tool is originally developed by Indian NGO Pratham). Mathematics (number and basic four operations) is assessed by paper test that includes item posed by text.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Functionality of SMC (e.g., types, number, and resources mobilized for school action plan, etc.); volume and targets of remedial activities on basic reading and math
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In total 140 schools are randomly sampled from the target region, and half of them are assigned to the treatment group and the other to the control group. The schools where surveyors had a difficulty in conducting field survey because of security concern or physical access were excluded.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization was done in office by PC. The method is stratified cluster (one-level) randomization. Stratification variables are rural/urban, department, and number of total students in a school (larger or less than the median of total number of students in the target region).
Randomization Unit
Randomization unit is school.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
140 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
Around 8,000 students from 3rd to 5th grades, 140 school management committees
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
70 schools for the treatment group and 70 schools for the control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Minimum Detectable Effect Size for main outcome (student learning) is 0.3 standard deviations.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Hitotsubashi University Research Ethics Examination Committee
IRB Approval Date
2018-08-06
IRB Approval Number
2018C005
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
May 01, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
October 01, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
140
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
7033 students
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
70 schools for the treatment group
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
Yes
Public Data URL
https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/RCJ1YC

Program Files

Program Files
Yes
Program Files URL
https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/RCJ1YC
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
The learning crisis in sub-Saharan Africa is alarming. More than 80 percent of primary school‒age children are not mastering the basics of reading and math. A package of interventions to deliver remedial support for students through collaboration among parents, teachers, and community members was developed in Madagascar. The package was mainly composed of school management and pedagogical components, and each component comprises several interventions. This study investigated the effectiveness of the package using a randomized controlled trial. The package realized extra-curricular remedial activities for three to four months and improved learning outcomes in basic reading, and numbers and the four basic operations. The volume of students who could read a paragraph or story written in the local language increased by approximately 21 percentage points. Students also improved learning outcomes in numbers and the four basic operations by 0.40 standard deviations. Furthermore, the package decreased the repetition rate and increased the passing rate of the primary certification exam. The results demonstrate the power of community-wide support for children in education.
Citation
Maruyama,Takao and Kengo Igei. Forthcoming. "Community-wide Support for Primary Students to Improve Foundational Literacy and Numeracy: Empirical Evidence from Madagascar." Economic Development and Cultural Change. doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/726178
URL
https://doi.org/10.1086/726178

Reports & Other Materials