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Field
Abstract
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Before
Strong pedagogy is a key component of rich classroom environments. As such, it is also a determinant of the resulting learning outcomes of students. This is particularly important in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where teacher content-knowledge, preparation, and educational background are typically weak. Therefore, focusing on strengthening pedagogical practices in these contexts is a promising avenue to improve education, as this type of interventions can have large returns to learning due to a sense of being a “low-hanging fruit”, while being near fiscally-neutral. However, improving pedagogy at-scale in LMIC has been relatively under-studied, partly because of the difficulty of successfully implementing these reforms in many classrooms at once.
In this study, we will explore whether two pedagogical changes rooted in the “science of learning”, namely “spaced retrieval” and “interleaving” can actually deliver higher learning outcomes at-scale in 312 Liberian public schools, via two separate randomized trials. Given the centralized and scripted nature of lesson delivery in Bridge Liberia, the implementing agency of these trials, we have the opportunity to seamlessly incorporate these changes into the lessons, and ensure that as long as lessons are delivered, take-up of the pedagogical changes follows suit.
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After
Strong pedagogy is a key component of rich classroom environments. As such, it is also a determinant of the resulting learning outcomes of students. This is particularly important in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where teacher content-knowledge, preparation, and educational background are typically weak. Therefore, focusing on strengthening pedagogical practices in these contexts is a promising avenue to improve education, as this type of interventions can have large returns to learning due to a sense of being a “low-hanging fruit”, while being near fiscally-neutral. However, improving pedagogy at-scale in LMIC has been relatively under-studied, partly because of the difficulty of successfully implementing these reforms in many classrooms at once.
In this study, we will explore whether two pedagogical changes rooted in the “science of learning”, namely “spaced retrieval” and “interleaving” can actually deliver higher learning outcomes at-scale in 312 Liberian public schools, via two separate randomized trials. Given the centralized and scripted nature of lesson delivery in Bridge Liberia, the implementing agency of these trials, we have the opportunity to seamlessly incorporate these changes into the lessons, and ensure that as long as lessons are delivered, take-up of the pedagogical changes follows suit.
This work builds off previous internal RCTs testing the effectiveness of similar pedagogical changes to our lessons. However, these trials were conducted in a different country, and the data collected for those will not be used for analysis in the current study in any way. These other studies are unpublished as of the time of pre-registration of the current RCT.
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