Government contractor corruption

In Colombia in 2016, a national scandal erupted when it emerged that government contractors were deceiving parents and the government by providing inadequate quantities of food to school children.

A winner stays on trial design could be helpful in engaging parents in monitoring what their children are given.

We sent text messages to parents with information on their child’s food entitlements. We then tested the impact of variations in the content on parental engagement on a weekly basis.

Over five weeks, we iteratively tested different message designs with five rapid randomised controlled trials. Based on statistically significant response rates, we ended up with five principles for engaging parents in monitoring