cover image: When Goal-Setting Forges Ahead but Stops Short

20.500.12592/xwtj3x

When Goal-Setting Forges Ahead but Stops Short

21 Sep 2020

This paper reports the results of an at-scale randomized controlled trial among 18,000 secondary students in Zanzibar (Tanzania) to examine the effects of personal best goal-setting on student outcomes. The paper also tests the impact of combining goal setting with non-financial rewards conditional on students meeting the goals they set. The results suggest that goal-setting has a significant, positive impact on students' time use, study effort, and self-discipline. However, there are no significant impacts on test scores. This is partially because nearly two-thirds of the students do not set realistic goals. The paper finds that the effects on time use, study effort, and discipline are weaker when goal setting is combined with nonfinancial rewards. This suggests that tying goal setting to extrinsic incentives could weaken its impact. The results show stronger impacts for female students and from students from weaker socioeconomic backgrounds. These results demonstrate that goal setting can have positive impacts on student outcomes, especially for the relatively disadvantaged. However, for maximizing the impacts, goal setting may need to be combined with guidance on setting realistic goals, and extrinsic rewards tied to goals may need to be avoided.
gender public finance labor market public university academic performance tanzania development policy educational psychology educational research english language foreign policy psychiatry social psychology mother tongue school life educational evaluation standard deviation gender and development school enrollment crowding out financial sector development monetary incentive social behavior test score household wealth open access production function further education student learning education for all socio-economic status loss aversion behavioral development multiple testing likert scale experimental study primary level college education intrinsic motivation standard error classroom environment reference point prospect theory economics of education research support college student educational sciences teachers management effective schools and teachers educational institutions & facilities financial sector policy poor household student population female student positive impact social activities social component treatment group outcome measure in school marginal improvement baseline data behavioral change africa east collected data reducing debt declaration of interests school level classroom instruction family work economic study economic studies recent studies subsequent years secondary school student primary schooling active participation demographic characteristic university student disadvantaged backgrounds disadvantaged student good performance empirical evidence secondary student small island student enter education outcome level of performance base assessment time of use public secondary school language of instruction educational outcome lower secondary level dropout rate average age study estimate undergraduate student field experiment basic human right exit examination hypothesis testing performance in mathematics behavioral intervention commitment device natural experiment asset index student score educational intervention study group student leave education structure achievement outcome statistical association social comparison financial reward economic experiment improving student outcome policy standpoint bureaucratic constraints public recognition initial observation math teacher social recognition entrance exam behavioral outcome extrinsic incentive academic career student response academic outcome aggregate index

Authors

Islam,Asad,Kwon,Sungoh,Masood,Eema,Prakash,Nishith,Sabarwal,Shwetlena,Saraswat,Deepak

Disclosure Status
Disclosed
Doc Name
When Goal-Setting Forges Ahead but Stops Short
Document Date
2020-09-21
Originating Unit
Education SAR (HSAED)
Published in
United States of America
Series Name
Policy Research working paper;no. WPS 9406
Total Volume(s)
1
Unit Owning
Off of Sr VP Dev Econ/Chief Econ (DECVP)
Version Type
Final
Volume No
1

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