Experimental Evaluation of Pilot Program for Universal Music Education in Colombia

Last registered on January 25, 2022

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Experimental Evaluation of Pilot Program for Universal Music Education in Colombia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008840
Initial registration date
January 24, 2022

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 25, 2022, 10:05 AM EST

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

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-03-01
End date
2023-06-30
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Policy makers around the world have revised and aligned their education systems to better prepare students with the necessary skills required in the 21st century. These skills go beyond traditional subjects such as reading and mathematics and include creativity, communication, collaboration, entrepreneurship, grit and resilience, among others. Music education has gained attention for fostering skills and attitudes different from musical areas of cognition, aligned with 21st century skills. Several studies have identified the positive impact of music education on empathy, neuroplasticity, intelligence, development of spatial–temporal abilities and socio-emotional skills. The study “Experimental Evaluation of Pilot Program for Universal Music Education in Colombia”, has the purpose of conducting an experimental assessment of a pilot music program in Colombia (Producción y Emprendimiento Musical) on how music principals (fundamentals), music production (use of technologies and free software to create music) and the business of music (the role of entrepreneurship in the music and creative industries) could lead to enhance and improve 21st century skills in young participants. A second arm of the program will have a soft-skills training curriculum called DecidoSer Campeón, in addition to the music program and we will evaluate how the music training is enhanced by life skills education. IRB application is was submitted in January 2022 and is pending approval.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
García-Hernandez , Ana and Emma Naslund-Hadley. 2022. "Experimental Evaluation of Pilot Program for Universal Music Education in Colombia." AEA RCT Registry. January 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8840-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Partner

Type
private_company
Type
government
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention is twofold: our first implementing partner, DNA Music, is in charge of designing and implementing the program Producción y Emprendimiento Musical, that aims to identify and understand technical and creative processes involved in music production from a business perspective, with the ultimate goal of delivering young beneficiaries theoretical tools and basic practices aimed at entrepreneurship within the music industry. This curriculum will be delivered to 1,200 young participants between the ages of 14 and 28. In addition, the DecidoSer Campeón methodology will be implemented along with Producción y Emprendimiento Musical to other 1,2000 youths. This methodology is an innovative tool designed by ACDI/VOCA Colombia and certified by Deloitte in 2020, which generates improvements in life planning and soft skills aligned with the 21st century skills.
Intervention Start Date
2022-04-01
Intervention End Date
2022-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
➔ Knowledge and skills of music production
➔ Knowledge and skills for entrepreneurship
➔ Academic performance
➔ Soft Skills
➔ 21st century skills
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
For each specific outcome, we would like to measure and evaluate the following items:
➔ Knowledge and skills of music production: music theory knowledge; recording and production techniques knowledge. These items are specific of DNA’s curriculum.
➔ Knowledge and skills for entrepreneurship: financial knowledge; management, marketing and leadership skills; events development and execution. Certain soft skills such as resilience, self-confidence, teamwork and communication skills, and perseverance levels.
➔ Academic performance: IQ, performance in academic settings and performance in tests.
➔ Soft Skills: Perseverance levels; self-awareness; self-esteem; self-knowledge; leadership skills; empathy; self-confidence; resilience; self-care; building positive affecting bonds.
➔ 21st century skills: creativity, decision making, life-planning, innovation, teamwork and leadership skills, ability to set goals, problem solving abilities, digital literacy, and communication skills.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
➔ Relieve of monetary poverty
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
➔ Relieve of monetary poverty: we would like to measure employment rates and income.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study will have an online recruitment phase, where candidates will be filtered out and selected according to a pre established eligibility criteria . With this in mind, we will conduct a randomized trial at the individual level. Approximately 4,000 eligible youths will be randomly assigned into three groups: Producción y Emprendimiento Musical beneficiaries (1,200 individuals), Producción y Emprendimiento Musical + DecidoSer Campeón beneficiaries (1,200 individuals) and the control group (1,600 individuals). We will collect data from them in two moments: recruitment-baseline (only basic questions for characterization) and endline.

Recruitment and Baseline
In this stage, we will carry out an online recruitment form, where we will ask the candidates about key information to evaluate if they are eligible for the study and to perform randomization stratifying by key variables. After receiving consent to participate in the program and in the study, we will collect the initial information of the participants. We will inquire about socio demographic data, education, interest in music, digital abilities, access to electronic devices and time availability. This survey will take approximately 15 minutes.

After the recruitment-baseline data collection, IPA will conduct the randomization to assign participants to treatment or control groups. Both participants in the two treatment groups and in the control one will be contacted by IPA again for the endline. Along with implementing partners, IPA will monitor intensity of treatment.

Endline
For the endline, we plan to do either a phone or in-person survey to all participants. For this phase, IPA will hire, train, supervise and monitor a team of enumerators to conduct data collection to study participants. We will assess content knowledge and skills in topics covered through the music production and life skills curricula; 21st century skills, perceptions and stereotypes; and life plans.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done using the randtreat Stata command after the baseline phase.
Randomization Unit
Treatment was randomized at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
n/a
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,000 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
T1: 1,200 participants receiving music training
T2: 1,200 participants receiving music training + life skills
C: 1,600 participants
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
The smallest mínimum detectable effect in the primary outcomes is 0.2 standard deviations.
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number

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