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Longer-Term Impacts of Mentoring, Educational Services, and Incentives to Learn: Evidence from a Randomized Trial

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  • Rodríguez-Planas, Núria

    (Queens College, CUNY)

Abstract

This paper is the first to use a randomized trial in the US to analyze the short- and long-term educational and employment impacts of an after-school program, the Quantum Opportunity Program, that offered disadvantaged high-school youth: mentoring, educational services, and financial rewards with the objective to improve high-school graduation and post-secondary schooling enrollment. Average impacts reveal that the hefty beneficial educational outcomes quickly faded away. Heterogeneity matters. While encouraging results are found for the younger youth; detrimental long-lived outcomes for males suggest that extrinsic rewards may be crowding out intrinsic motivation. Evidence by sites' funding source, which led to implementation differences, supports this hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2010. "Longer-Term Impacts of Mentoring, Educational Services, and Incentives to Learn: Evidence from a Randomized Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 4754, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4754
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    Cited by:

    1. Joshua Angrist & Philip Oreopoulos & Tyler Williams, 2014. "When Opportunity Knocks, Who Answers?: New Evidence on College Achievement Awards," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 572-610.
    2. Bentaouet Kattan,Raja & Székely,Miguel, 2015. "Analyzing the dynamics of school dropout in upper secondary education in Latin America : a cohort approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7223, The World Bank.
    3. Robert Metcalfe & Simon Burgess and Steven Proud, 2011. "Student effort and educational attainment: Using the England football team to identify the education production function," Economics Series Working Papers 586, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    4. Núria Rodríquez-Planas, 2010. "Mentoring, Educational Services, and Economic Incentives Longer-term Evidence on Risky Behaviors from a Randomized Trial," Working Papers 462, Barcelona School of Economics.
    5. Gabriella Conti & James J. Heckman, 2012. "The Economics of Child Well-Being," NBER Working Papers 18466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; educational and employment outcomes; medium- and long-term effects; short-; after-school programs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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