Effects of an e-reader intervention on literacy, numeracy and non-verbal reasoning among adolescent girls in Zambia: evidence from a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

This paper presents results from a three-arm randomized controlled trial in Zambia with a sample of nearly 1200 adolescent girls enrolled in Grade 7. Selected primary schools (N=36) were randomly assigned within each of three districts to one of three arms: 1) e-readers, which girls could take home, provided within a safe space group platform plus community engagement activities; 2) safe space groups plus community engagement activities; and 3) control. The intent-to-treat estimates indicate that girls in the e-reader arm scored significantly better on two basic literacy assessments as well as non-verbal reasoning compared with girls in the control arm.