Evaluación de impacto mediante aleatorización ("field experiments") de tres programas educativos

Abstract

Using a randomized trial, we evaluate the impact of an innovative and free privatelymanaged middle school in a poor neighborhood of a developing country. The research compares adolescents randomly selected to enter the treatment school with those that were not drawn in the lottery. Not only have we found better educational outcomes in the treatment group relative to control subjects, but also we find positive impacts on expectations. Several features of the treatment school –autonomy to hire teachers, commitment of the staff, discipline, extended time at school, close contact with the family and the community, interaction with students of other social contexts, educational and recreational workshops after school- contrast with the features of a highly inflexible public education system embedded in a deep crisis. Our results shed light on new approaches to education that may contribute to improve opportunities for disadvantaged adolescents. This cost-effective treatment sounds appealing for a developing country with scant resources.