> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://research.ambitiousimpact.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://research.ambitiousimpact.com/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes.md).

# Using Mass Communication to Improve Learning Outcomes

## Summary

### Description

A nonprofit organization that leverages mobile messaging to engage parents in their child’s education to generate a more supportive learning environment for children. The messaging intervention aims to be a low-cost way to improve both attendance and learning outcomes.

### Counterfactual impact

**Cost-effectiveness analysis:** We modeled an SMS-based intervention targeting grades five and six in South Africa and estimated the number of students it would need to reach to meet AIM’s cost-effectiveness bar of $30 (USD) per income doubling[^1]. In our conservative model (assuming a 10% income increase from a one standard deviation (SD) improvement in test scores), the intervention would need to reach approximately 58,000 students per year at scale. In an optimistic model (assuming a 40% income increase from a one standard deviation improvement in test scores), it would need to reach approximately 8,700 students per year at scale. For context, this represents roughly 2.0% (conservative) or 0.3% (optimistic) of South Africa’s 10–12-year-old students (see [here](/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/6-cost-effectiveness-analysis.md)).

**Scale this charity could reach:** Because this intervention primarily relies on SMS or mobile messaging, which are inexpensive per individual reached, we believe its potential scale is comparable to other nonprofits we have incubated, such as [Family Empowerment Media](https://www.familyempowermentmedia.org/) (FEM).

### Potential for success

**Robustness of evidence:** This intervention design has been evaluated many times with generally positive findings—however, it is less studied as a mobile intervention. It is endorsed by the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel’s 2023 Cost-effective Approaches to Improve Global Learning Report ([GEEAP, 2023](https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/231d98251cf326922518be0cbe306fdc-0200022023/related/GEEAP-Report-Smart-Buys-2023-final.pdf)). More recently, researchers from the Centre for Global Development published a meta-analysis on the effects of providing information on the returns to education to parents and students, finding positive and significant average impacts on school participation and student learning ([Evans & Acosta, 2024](https://www.cgdev.org/publication/changing-perceptions-educational-returns-low-and-middle-income-countries-meta-analysis); see [here](/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/3-quality-of-evidence.md)).

**Theory of Change (ToC):** The ToC behind this intervention is that providing persuasive and informative messaging on education can lead to increased caregiver and student engagement, resulting in higher attendance and improved learning outcomes. The specific content and mechanism of a new nonprofit’s intervention will depend on contextual factors (see [here](/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/2-theories-of-change.md)).

### Neglectedness

**Neglectedness:** We identified one organization that works in this area as a for-profit focused on tertiary education in Brazil (see [here](/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/5-geographic-assessment.md)). Our understanding of the field leads us to believe that this intervention is popular but lacks implementers delivering at scale, mostly remaining as an evaluative pilot or delivered sporadically through government programs.

**Geographic assessment:** Our geographic assessment suggests that several countries would be strong candidates for an intervention. We are confident that a new nonprofit could identify countries where its work would be additional (see [here](/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/5-geographic-assessment.md)).

### Relevance

**Fit for the CEIP:** Our best guess is that this idea fits the typical CEIP participant profile since it does not require specialized expertise, has historically been attractive to participants, and is well-supported by the international education and development community. However, the founding team must be comfortable with an intervention that depends on large-scale implementation for cost-effectiveness and has weak [feedback loops](/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/7-implementation.md).

### Other

**Expert views:** We spoke with Guilherme Lichand, who founded a nonprofit that initially used SMS delivery before pivoting to work in tertiary education, and Guthrie Gray-Lobe, who was involved in one of the studies we rely on for this report. Both experts were generally positive about SMS interventions as part of a wider package of support to education. Other experts we briefly consulted were also generally supportive but expressed reservations about radio delivery (see [here](/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/4-expert-views.md)).

**Implementation factors:** Overall, we see this intervention as similar to others being tested or delivered by past cohorts, including [FEM](https://www.familyempowermentmedia.org/), [No Violence at Home](https://www.novah.ngo/), [Learning Alliance](https://www.learningalliance.net/), [Notify Health](https://www.notifyhealth.org/), and [Suvita](https://www.suvita.org/). We did not identify any major concerns, such as risks of harm or lack of funding. However, our main concern is the challenge of measuring impact. Given that the expected effect on student test scores is likely to be small, any impact evaluation would require a large sample size to detect significant effects. Monitoring intermediate outcomes, such as attendance and drop-out rates, may be more feasible (see [here](/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/using-mass-communication-to-improve-learning-outcomes/7-implementation.md)).

## Crucial considerations

### What should the ToC for this intervention be?

*2025 Update: Our ToC section has been narrowed down to parental engagement, which we think is the most promising avenue in terms of evidence and cost-effectiveness. A new implementation team will need to make considered decisions about the messaging content and level of partnership with schools.*

We believe that SMS delivery is both cost-effective—allowing information to be delivered cheaply and at scale—and backed by some evidence of its effectiveness. This makes it the most promising option for founders to explore. We think salience plays a key role in the effectiveness of these messages but suspect there is a significant improvement when messages are personalized. SMS messaging would allow a nonprofit to share general information on the benefits of education and ways to support children’s learning without requiring detailed data beyond phone numbers. However, the intervention could still be targeted—for example, by sending messages to students in specific schools or year groups at higher risk of dropping out or facing learning challenges (see discussions of “foot-in-the-door" strategies in our [expert](https://docs.google.com/document/d/12H_gvuiLqCxf4lxWgZBH0Kryc-FOXkj4XV_Z94YJGLQ/edit?tab=t.0) interview).

### Is the evidence supporting this intervention robust?

*2025 Update: Since publication we have identified more evidence that has generally positive results for the rationale of the intervention. While we still have concerns around social and behavioral change evidence, publication bias and think this intevention still requires careful testing and monitoring and evaluation, we no longer view this as particularly different to other ideas in our incubation portfoilo.*

Although this intervention is well-studied and supported by key stakeholders, there is significant variation in messaging content and delivery methods, making it difficult to determine the most effective ToC.

Overall, we find the evidence convincing that different types of information, delivered through different media, can influence behavior to improve educational outcomes. However, in line with our previous research on social and behavioral change interventions and mass media efforts, we recognize that these approaches carry some uncertainty and risk. The success of communication-based interventions depends largely on thoughtful design and careful adaptation to ensure relevance and usefulness. Desk research alone can only provide limited insight into an intervention’s potential effectiveness in isolation. If we decide to incubate this idea, the founding team should be keenly aware of these uncertainties and the requirement for careful ongoing testing.

### At the time of writing, we had limited expert consultations—does this warrant pausing our recommendation?

*2025 Update: Since publication, we have continued to engage experts on this topic and added one formal interview to the report. We no longer believe this is a concern for the idea.*

We were unfortunately unable to have extensive conversations with experts for this report—we conducted one interview and exchanged some emails with two experts. For most of our ideas, expert consultations are a key step in validating our assumptions and concerns.

Given the strong support for this intervention within the education and development sector, we are not particularly concerned about lack of expert endorsements through our direct conversations. We think conversations with experts would add intervention design nuances to our recommendation, but suspect that the overall recommendation decision will likely not rely on expert inputs as much as it would if it was an untested or unsupported idea.

[^1]: *Income doubling* refers to the intervention’s estimated ability to increase a student's lifetime earnings by an amount equivalent to twice what they would have earned in a single year without the intervention (based on projected career earnings and adjusted for present value). To meet AIM’s cost-effectiveness requirements, for every $30 spent, the intervention should generate additional lifetime earnings equal to at least one extra year of doubled income.


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