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Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India

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Author Info
Banerjee, Abhijit
Cole, Shawn
Duflo, Esther
Linden, Leigh

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Abstract

Many efforts to improve school quality by adding school resources have proven to be ineffective. This paper presents the results of two experiments conducted in Mumbai and Vadodara, India, designed to evaluate ways to improve the quality of education in urban slums. A remedial education program hired young women from the community to teach basic literacy and numeracy skills to children lagging behind in government schools. We find the program to be very effective: it increased average test scores of all children in treatment schools by 0.14 standard deviations in the first year, and 0.28 in the second year, relative to comparison schools. A computer-assisted learning program provided each child in the fourth grade with two hours of shared computer time per week, in which students played educational games that reinforced mathematics skills. The program was also very effective, increasing math scores by 0.35 standard deviations the first year, and 0.47 the second year. These results were not limited to the period in which students received assistance, but persisted for at least one year after leaving the program. Two instrumental variable strategies suggest that while remedial education benefited the children who attended the remedial classes, their classmates, who did not attend the remedial courses but did experience smaller classes, did not post gains, confirming that resources alone may not be sufficient to improve outcomes.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 5446.

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Date of creation: Jan 2006
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5446

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Related research
Keywords: computer aided education; India; program evaluation; remedial education;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
  7. Glewwe, Paul & Kremer, Michael & Moulin, Sylvie & Zitzewitz, Eric, 2004. "Retrospective vs. prospective analyses of school inputs: the case of flip charts in Kenya," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 251-268, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2008. "Estimating Teacher Impacts on Student Achievement: An Experimental Evaluation," NBER Working Papers 14607, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Johan N.M. Lagerlöf & Andrew J. Seltzer, 2007. "The Effects of Remedial Mathematics on the Learning of Economics: A Natural Experiment," Royal Holloway, University of London: Discussion Papers in Economics 07/03, Department of Economics, Royal Holloway University of London, revised Aug 2007. [Downloadable!]
  3. Claudio Ferraz & Frederico Finan & Diana Belo Moreira, 2009. "Corrupting Learning: Evidence from Missing Federal Education Funds in Brazil," Textos para discussão 562, Department of Economics PUC-Rio (Brazil). [Downloadable!]
  4. Attanasio, Orazio & Kugler, Adriana & Meghir, Costas, 2009. "Subsidizing Vocational Training for Disadvantaged Youth in Developing Countries: Evidence from a Randomized Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 4251, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Bruhn, Miriam & McKenzie, David, 2008. "In pursuit of balance : randomization in practice in development field experiments," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4752, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  6. Irene Brambilla & Guido Porto & Alessandro Tarozzi, 2008. "Adjusting to Trade Policy: Evidence from U.S. Antidumping Duties on Vietnamese Catfish," NBER Working Papers 14495, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2008. "The Experimental Approach to Development Economics," NBER Working Papers 14467, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Singh, Nirvikar, 2008. "Decentralization and Public Delivery of Health Care Services in India," MPRA Paper 7869, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  9. King , Elizabeth M. & Behrman, Jere R., 2008. "Timing and duration of exposure in evaluations of social programs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4686, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Barrera-Osorio, Felipe & Linden, Leigh L., 2009. "The use and misuse of computers in education : evidence from a randomized experiment in Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4836, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  11. Irma Clots-Figueras, 2007. "Are female leaders good for education? : Evidence from India," Economics Working Papers we077342, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economía. [Downloadable!]
  12. Guido Schwerdt & Amelie C. Wuppermann, 2009. "Is Traditional Teaching really all that Bad? A Within-Student Between-Subject Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  13. Brambilla, Irene & Porto, Guido & Tarozzi, Alessandro, 2009. "Adjusting to trade-policy changes in export markets : evidence from U.S. antidumping duties on Vietnamese catfish," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4990, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  14. Lisa Barrow & Lisa Markham & Cecilia Elena Rouse, 2007. "Technology’s edge: the educational benefits of computer-aided instruction," Working Paper Series WP-07-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. White, Howard, 2007. "Evaluating Aid Impact," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Singh, Nirvikar, 2007. "Fiscal Federalism and Decentralization in India," MPRA Paper 1447, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  17. W. Bentley MacLeod & Miguel Urquiola, 2009. "Anti-Lemons: School Reputation and Educational Quality," NBER Working Papers 15112, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Duflo, Esther & Hanna, Rema & Ryan, Stephen, 2008. "Monitoring Works: Getting Teachers to Come to School," CEPR Discussion Papers 6682, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  19. Andrabi, Tahir & Das, Jishnu & Khwaja, Asim Ijaz & Zajonc, Tristan, 2009. "Do value-added estimates add value ? accounting for learning dynamics," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5066, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  20. Paul Glewwe & Michael Kremer & Sylvie Moulin, 2007. "Many Children Left Behind? Textbooks and Test Scores in Kenya," NBER Working Papers 13300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  21. Banerjee, Abhijit & Duflo, Esther, 2008. "The Experimental Approach to Development Economics," CEPR Discussion Papers 7037, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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