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 longterm 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 fourto 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 show these results broadly hold with a series of robustness tests that account for differential attrition. 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.

Intergenerational transmission of lockdown consequences: prognosis of the longer-run persistence of COVID-19 in Latin America

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Education during the COVID-19: crisis Opportunities and constraints of using EdTech in low-income countries

“…The one-way transmission of information by radio or television can potentially be supplemented by communication using mobile phones. Evidence from a study conducted during the current crisis demonstrates that simple support to parents and learners -through SMS or telephone calls -can have a significant positive impact (Angrist et al, 2020). Broadcasts have been used in combination with SMS to communicate between educators and students (EDC, 2014), as well as peer networks of students (Mundy et al, 2014).…”

Education and Health for Inclusiveness

“…• Target teaching to the level of the student, to keep learners from falling behind to the point where they cannot catch up (J-PAL 2018). Effective tactics include improved classroom assessment, to identify learning gaps; having community teachers provide remedial lessons (Banerjee et al 2007(Banerjee et al , 2010; reorganizing classes by ability (Banerjee et al 2016, Duflo et al 2011; teaching students in their first language-globally, 40 percent of children are still taught in a language they do not fully speak or understand (Lyytinen et al 2019); and using technology to adapt lessons to individual needs, including computer software (Muralidharan et al 2019) or text messages (Angrist et al 2020b). These efforts need clear system-level guidance and materials; focused, practical training for principals and teachers; and substantial resources.…”