An SMS-based nudge intervention in Cote d'Ivoire did not reduce child labor or raise learning overall, but raised learning and domestic work among children starting with low learning levels¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Overall, the nudges did not reduce child labor and did not raise learning outcomes, regardless of target (parents, teachers, or both). → Brummelman 2024 q2 i? Among children who started with low learning levels, the parent-focused intervention raised learning outcomes and also raised domestic work, but not cocoa farming. → Brummelman 2024 (2)

Evidence¶

Brummelman 2024¶

Brummelman, E., van Atteveldt, N., Wolf, S. & Sierksma, J. (2024). Using social and behavioral science to address achievement inequality. npj Science of Learning, 9, 44. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00259-1

q2 · i? · review · r2

The editorial reports, citing Wolf and Lichand, a preregistered randomized controlled trial of SMS and audio nudges to parents and/or teachers in Cote d'Ivoire. The overall result was null: the intervention "did not reduce child labor and did not raise learning outcomes". No effect sizes are printed.

"Overall, the intervention did not reduce child labor and did not raise learning outcomes, regardless of whether the intervention targeted parents, teachers, or both."

Brummelman 2024 (2)¶

Brummelman, E., van Atteveldt, N., Wolf, S. & Sierksma, J. (2024). Using social and behavioral science to address achievement inequality. npj Science of Learning, 9, 44. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-024-00259-1

q2 · i? · causal · r2

The editorial reports the same trial's subgroup finding: for children starting with low learning levels, the parent-focused arm "raised learning outcomes" and raised child labor, specifically domestic work such as cleaning, not cocoa farming. No effect sizes are printed.

"Among chil- dren who had started off with low learning levels, however, the parent-focused intervention raised learning outcomes and, seemingly paradoxically, also raised child labor."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Existing GEAR UP supports may have eclipsed the benefits of behavioral-nudge text messaging — related
• Students closed a higher relative number of knowledge gaps when a red notification badge nudged them than when it was turned off — related
• PROMISE treatment group youth had lower educational attainment than control group youth — related
• Parents-only SMS/audio nudges produced statistically non-significant learning gains of d = 0.081 in rural Cote d'Ivoire — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Parents-only nudges marginally significantly increased child-reported child labor (d = 0.113), contrary to intervention goals — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Parents-only nudge effects on learning were larger and positive for children with below-median baseline skills — related
• Targeting students directly (versus caregivers) produced significantly larger nudge effects on test scores (0.31 vs. 0.08 s.d.) — related
• Text-message nudges achieving impacts of the same order as remote remedial instruction indicates motivation itself carries much of remote-learning effectiveness — related