Treatment Effect Decay
RCTJournal Article
Educational interventions often generate substantial initial learning gains during active implementation, but these gains frequently decay once specialized support and supplementary inputs cease.
Picture this
Post-intervention learning decay occurs because temporary educational boosts fade when continuous reinforcement stops, much like physical stamina drops back toward baseline when structured training sessions are discontinued.
What the evidence says
Initial short-term learning gains decayed to approximately 0.10 standard deviations for targeted low-scoring students in remedial education and 0.09 standard deviations in math for computer-assisted learning one year post-program.
- Who was studied
- N = 9,925 primary school students tracked one year after intervention termination in Vadodara, India.
- How
- Longitudinal follow-up Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) measuring test score persistence one year after program completion.
What to do
Design multi-year educational programs that maintain level-targeted support across consecutive grades rather than relying on one-year temporary interventions.
From the source
"One year after the programs were over, initial gains remained significant for targeted children, but they faded to about 0.10 standard deviation."
Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India