Stemming Learning Loss During the Pandemic: A Rapid Randomized Trial of a Low-Tech Intervention in Botswana

Resource type
Journal Article
Authors/contributors
Title
Stemming Learning Loss During the Pandemic: A Rapid Randomized Trial of a Low-Tech Intervention in Botswana
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has closed schools for over 1.6 billion children, with potentially long-term consequences. This paper provides some of the first experimental evidence on strategies to minimize the fallout of the pandemic on education outcomes. We evaluate two low-technology interventions to substitute schooling during this period: SMS text messages and direct phone calls. We conduct a rapid trial in Botswana to inform real-time policy responses collecting data at four- to six-week intervals. We present results from the first wave. We find early evidence that both interventions result in cost-effective learning gains of 0.16 to 0.29 standard deviations. This translates to a reduction in innumeracy of up to 52 percent. We find increased parental engagement in their child’s education and more accurate parent perceptions of their child’s learning. In a second wave of the trial, we provide targeted instruction, customizing text messages to the child's learning level using data from the first wave. The low-tech interventions tested have immediate policy relevance and could have long-run implications for the role of technology and parents as substitutes or complements to the traditional education system.
Publication
SSRN Electronic Journal
Date
2020
Journal Abbr
SSRN Journal
Language
en
ISSN
1556-5068
Short Title
Stemming Learning Loss During the Pandemic
Accessed
12/08/2020, 15:36
Library Catalogue
DOI.org (Crossref)
Extra
shortDOI: 10/ghd7tq
Citation
Angrist, N., Bergman, P., Brewster, C., & Matsheng, M. (2020). Stemming Learning Loss During the Pandemic: A Rapid Randomized Trial of a Low-Tech Intervention in Botswana. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3663098