CREDIT 17/08: Training to teach science: experimental evidence from Argentina

Abstract

This paper uses a RCT implemented in state schools in Argentina to estimate the learning impact and cost-effectiveness of different teacher training methods: structured curricula and coaching. Our findings suggest that there is a substantial gain in terms of learning for students with teachers being trained using structured curricula and coaching (between 55% and 64% of a standard deviation more than those students in the control group). Coaching teachers does not appear as a cost-effective intervention since the unit cost per 0.1 standard deviation is more than twice the cost of using a structured curriculum only. However, additional coaching is particularly relevant for relatively inexperienced teachers. A structured curriculum and coaching also affect perceptions: teachers enjoyed more teaching Science, they taught more hours of Science and students learned more and developed more skills.

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Authors

Facundo Albornoz, María Victoria Anauati, Melina Furman, Mariana Luzuriaga, María Eugenia Podestá, Inés Taylor

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