Behavioural Factors influencing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes

Last registered on September 15, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Behavioural Factors influencing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009035
Initial registration date
February 28, 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
February 28, 2022, 4:55 PM EST

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

Last updated
September 15, 2023, 9:27 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
India
Region
Uttar Pradesh

Primary Investigator

Name
Sneha Shashidhara
Affiliation
CSBC
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Diksha Radhakrishnan
PI Affiliation
CSBC
PI Name
Gunjita Gupta
PI Affiliation
CSBC
PI Name
Neel Karnik
PI Affiliation
CSBC
PI Name
Shreya Hasurkar
PI Affiliation
CSBC
PI Name
Pavan Mamidi
PI Affiliation
CSBC
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-03-03
End date
2022-05-15
Keywords
Behavior, Education
Additional Keywords
Foundation Literacy and Numeracy
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Foundation Literacy and numeracy (FLN) is critical for a child's education. NEP recommends a set of basic literacy and numeracy skills to be acquired by Grade 3. These requirements are not met in many districts in India for various reasons. Here, in a field experiment, we plan to remotely test an intervention targeted at parents by providing them simple activities to do with their children that improve math and Hindi skills. Activities are presented either through a WhatsApp group of parents; or by providing them with a workbook with similar activities.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Shashidhara, Sneha et al. 2023. "Behavioural Factors influencing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes." AEA RCT Registry. September 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9035-2.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
There are two treatment groups - Workbook group and WhatsApp groups
The participants of the workbook group engage with the Workbook and its various facets - the tasks, call to get task descriptions, messages and stickers for motivation and acknowledging achievement, and calendars and tick boxes and commitment devices to create a habit of this engagement. They are encouraged to maintain a ledger of the FLN tasks completed and how well the child could do each task. They will also be asked to monitor their child's school-related activities and report every week. Half the participants will also get IVRS calls, and this group has an additional component of getting a daily reminder to do the activities.
The subjects in the WhatsApp group will interact on WhatsApp by sending photographs and videos of their children doing the tasks. They can ask task-related questions. They will be given motivational messages, encouraging reminders, feedback through report cards to help sustain the momentum and continue to engage with these tasks. They will also be asked to monitor their child's school-related activities and report every week.
Intervention (Hidden)
There are two treatment groups - Workbook group and WhatsApp groups
The participants of the workbook group engage with the Workbook and its various facets - the tasks, call to get task descriptions, messages and stickers for motivation and acknowledging achievement, and calendars and tick boxes and commitment devices to create a habit of this engagement. They are encouraged to maintain a ledger of the FLN tasks completed and how well the child could do each task. They will also be asked to monitor their child's school-related activities and report every week. Half the participants will also get IVRS calls, and this group has an additional component of getting a daily reminder to do the activities.
The subjects in the WhatsApp group will interact on WhatsApp by sending photographs and videos of their children doing the tasks. They can ask task-related questions. They will be given motivational messages, encouraging reminders, feedback through report cards to help sustain the momentum and continue to engage with these tasks. They will also be asked to monitor their child's school-related activities and report every week.
Intervention Start Date
2022-03-07
Intervention End Date
2022-05-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Primary Outcome Measure FLN/Education engagement: Parent’s involvement in their child’s education
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Knowledge and Salience FLN, Specific Confidence/ Sense of Agency
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our design is a randomised control experiment. Parents of students from Grade 1 to 3 in government schools from the districts of Bahraich and Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh are eligible. Schools in each Block will be randomly assigned to control or treatment schools. Parents will be assigned to the Workbook or the WhatsApp group within each school based on their access to WhatsApp. The recruitment criteria and the treatment arms are explained in the following sections.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Schools
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
39 Schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
1170 parents
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
30
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
With a sample of 300 per group, and a 0.8 power, 13 schools per arm, we will be able to detect an effect size of ~0.5, accounting for an ICC as high as 0.15. With a lower ICC of around 0.03, we can detect an effect size of ~0.3. If we were not clustering control and treatment schools, we would be able to detect an effect of ~0.23.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ashoka Institutional Review Board (IRB)
IRB Approval Date
2022-02-25
IRB Approval Number
34_22_Mamidi
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

CSF_FLN_PAP.pdf

MD5: abfd97a9e0ac8a49dc0ced4ac1fa9d1a

SHA1: f364d22cbf8867cf87f7f532387fc689947aae49

Uploaded At: March 01, 2022

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
April 30, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
April 30, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
13 schools / clusters per arm
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1017 parents (39 schools)
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
26 schools (467 Workbook, 201 WhatsApp), 13 schools (349 Control)
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials

Description
Project Report
Citation
Shashidhara, Sneha et al. 2023. "Behavioural Factors influencing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes." AEA RCT Registry. September 15. 2023. "Registration Entry Title: Project Report." AEA RCT Registry. September 15 https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9035-2.0
File
Report_ParentBehaviourChangeStudy.pdf

MD5:

SHA1:

Uploaded At: September 15, 2023