@EdWorkingPaper{ai25-1366,
title = "How general is educational intervention fadeout? A meta-analysis of educational RCTs with follow-up",
author = "Tyler W. Watts, Emma R. Hart, Drew H. Bailey",
institution = "Annenberg Institute at Brown University",
number = "1366",
year = "2025",
month = "December",
URL = "http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1366",
abstract = {Researchers and policymakers pursue educational interventions with the goal of altering children’s long-term trajectories. However, many effects fade quickly after interventions end. Researchers have sought to address the fadeout problem by identifying characteristics of interventions that lead to persistent effects, though reliable answers have been elusive. We present evidence from 87 randomized controlled trials of educational interventions targeted at a diverse array of skills across developmental stages. We examined whether salient intervention features consistently explain medium-term persistence rates, testing widely held theories about skill building. We observed evidence of fadeout for most interventions. Although persistence rates varied, salient features of interventions explained only a small portion of this variation. },
}