Using a Returns to Education Campaign to Bring Youth Back to School: A Pilot Replication in Times of COVID-19

Last registered on April 15, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Using a Returns to Education Campaign to Bring Youth Back to School: A Pilot Replication in Times of COVID-19
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007555
Initial registration date
April 14, 2021

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
April 15, 2021, 6:19 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Chile
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Christopher Neilson
Affiliation
Princeton University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Francisco Gallego
PI Affiliation
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-04-15
End date
2021-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education
Additional Keywords
Information, returns to education, school drop-out
JEL code(s)
C93, D81, D82, D83, I26
Secondary IDs
Abstract
One of the most difficult challenges facing education policy is reintegrating children who have dropped out of school. As children spend more time outside of school, addressing this public issue becomes more difficult. Previous studies have demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of information campaigns about the benefits of education in reducing school dropout rates, but little research has been done on the effectiveness of the same approach in bringing children back to school. In this study, we collaborated with Chile's Ministry of Education to create a digital curriculum that explains the benefits of finishing school and the wage disparities between people with different levels of education. We grant guardians of children who are not in school access to the online platform at random to see how it affects re-enrollment decisions.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Gallego, Francisco and Christopher Neilson. 2021. "Using a Returns to Education Campaign to Bring Youth Back to School: A Pilot Replication in Times of COVID-19." AEA RCT Registry. April 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7555-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Partner

Name
Ministry of Education of Chile
Type
government
URL
https://www.mineduc.cl/
Name
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab LAC
Type
ngo
URL
https://www.povertyactionlab.org/latin-america-caribbean
Name
Consiliumbots
Type
ngo
URL
https://www.consiliumbots.com/
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The Ministry of Education will implement an informative campaign for guardians of children out of school. A group of guardians will receive a link to a web page with information about the school enrollment process and the seats available at each school. The second group will receive a link to a digital informative curriculum, inside an online platform, that will contain information about the benefits of completing higher education and wage disparities between people with different levels of education. Using the platform requires watching videos, analyzing infographics, and completing tasks. This platform will also contain the link to the web page with information about the school enrollment process and the seats available at each school.
Intervention Start Date
2021-04-19
Intervention End Date
2021-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
School enrollment rate
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Percentage of students enrolled at school

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Guardians will be randomly divided into two groups of the same size. The first group will receive access to the web page with information about the school enrollment process and the seats available at each school, the second group will receive access to the digital curriculum. Randomization will be done at the individual level and stratified by sex, socioeconomic status categories, last school grade, geographic categories, and the source of the sample.

Experimental Design Details
Guardians will be randomly divided into two groups of the same size. The first group will receive access to the web page with information about the school enrollment process and the seats available at each school, the second group will receive access to the digital curriculum. Randomization will be done at the individual level and stratified by sex, socioeconomic status categories, last school grade, geographic categories, and the source of the sample (one part comes from the children that were enrolled in the previous year but did not enroll in the current academic year, the second part comes from those who got a seat assigned at the centralized school application system and did not enroll in the current academic year).
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Guardian
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
7053
Sample size: planned number of observations
7053
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Basic intervention group: 3527
Online platform group: 3526
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
MDE: 0.0334 pp SD: 0.5 Baseline mean: 0.1
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Comité Ético Científico de Ciencias Sociales, Artes y Humanidades de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
IRB Approval Date
2021-04-14
IRB Approval Number
210115003
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