Baseline Report for the Mixed-Methods Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of Impact Network's eSchool 360 Model in Rural Zambia. Making Research Relevant

Autor/inn/en	de Hoop, Thomas; Brudevold-Newman, Andrew; Davis, Dustin
Institution	American Institutes for Research (AIR)
Titel	Baseline Report for the Mixed-Methods Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of Impact Network's eSchool 360 Model in Rural Zambia. Making Research Relevant
Quelle	(2018), (64 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Randomized Controlled Trials; Networks; Electronic Learning; Educational Technology; Rural Schools; Foreign Countries; Outcome Measures; Cost Effectiveness; Formative Evaluation; Data Collection; Models; Zambia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Unterrichtsmedien; Rural area; Rural areas; School; Schools; Ländlicher Raum; Schule; Schulen; Ausland; Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse; Kosten-Nutzen-Denken; Data capture; Datensammlung; Analogiemodell; Sambia
Abstract	Low- and middle-income countries have made significant progress getting children into school, but student learning and achievement are often dreadfully low (Berry, Barnett, & Hinton, 2015; Pritchett, 2013). Approximately 250 million children across the world are not acquiring basic reading and math skills, even though about half have spent at least 4 years in school (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation, 2014). Zambia faces many common educational challenges. Literacy rates among young Zambian adults ages 15--24 are 58.5% for females and 70.3% for males, despite an average of 7.7 years and 7.9 years of education, respectively (Zambia Demographic and Health Surveys, 2013--14; UNICEF, 2015). Community schools in Zambia are in need of a cost-effective solution for delivering quality education in order to improve learning outcomes. The Impact Network program represents a promising approach to improving educational outcomes by incorporating three potentially high-impact components that could create important synergies: e-learning, ongoing teacher training and professional development, and community ownership. The American Institutes for Research (AIR) has designed and is implementing a mixed-methods cluster-randomized controlled trial (cluster-RCT) to determine the impact of Impact Network's eSchool 360 model. The study comprises three main evaluation components: an impact evaluation of the eSchool 360 model, an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of the eSchool 360 model, and a process evaluation of the expansion of the eSchool 360 model. To determine the impact of the program, we are using a cluster-RCT in which 64 eligible schools have been randomly assigned either to receive Impact Network's eSchool 360 program (30 treatment schools) or not to receive the program (34 control schools). This report presents the baseline results of the cluster-RCT used to determine the impact of Impact Network's eSchool 360 model. It examines the differences between the treatment and control households along the causal chain of the theory of change. In addition, it analyzes the potential for floor effects on the assessment instruments that will be used to measure the impact of the Impact Network program on student outcomes 1 year and 3 years after the introduction of the Impact Network eSchool 360 model. The baseline findings in this report suggest that the cluster-RCT was successful in creating equivalence in observable characteristics between treatment and control households. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	American Institutes for Research. 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007. Tel: 202-403-5000; Fax: 202-403-5001; e-mail: inquiry@air.org; Web site: http://www.air.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01