Measured main educational outcomes
SECONDARY
(1) Dropout Rates: In order to assess how and to what extent the program impacted the participants’ educational attainments, we assessed administrative data drawn from Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to determine when and whether any students had withdrawn from their studies at any point in time. This process yielded a dichotomous variable, which took on the value “1” if a student had dropped out, and “0” if he/she had not. This administrative data was provided by the Ministry of Education under strict rules of privacy. We were able to collect information about all students enrolled in the eight schools that participated in the study, which substantially enlarged the usable sample.(2) PSU Test: The PSU is similar to the SAT in the U.S.; it is optional for students who have completed secondary education but is required for those applying to university. When combined with the cumulative average of secondary education grades, the PSU represents the primary selection criterion for Chilean universities. In this regard, the PSU has a relative weight of around 70% in the final university application score. The PSU score is normalized to an average 500 points and a standard deviation of 100 points, with a fixed status ranging from 150 to 850 points. Apart from assessing whether or not the program would make students more or less likely to complete their compulsory secondary studies, we also wanted to gauge whether or not it would impact their desire to pursue further, post-secondary studies after completing high school. The willingness to consider post-secondary education is an indicator of better aspirations for their future. We therefore consider as a binary outcome of interest whether or not a student registered for the PSU. The data for this assessment, which were provided by the Department of Measurements (DEMRE) at the University of Chile, indicated which students had registered for the PSU.