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Field
Trial Status
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Before
in_development
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After
on_going
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Field
Abstract
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Before
The goal of preschool education is to support children’s cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional development, providing a safe and nurturing environment for young children to learn and interact with their peers. However, estimates indicate that 250 million children (43%) younger than 5 years in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential due, in part, due to inadequate and inequitable access to preschools. In Ecuador, 60% of the children aged 3 to 4 years old remained unenrolled in 2020-21. Recognising the lack of access to public preschools and additionally the lack of motivation among parents to send their child to preschools, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education (MoE) launched a programme to provide regular home visits to ‘vulnerable’ families in 2018. In our study we collaborate with the MoE to improve the quality of this programme through professional development, technology-aided monitoring, and support for both teachers and parents. The evaluation will test if these programme improvements lead to an increase in child development outcomes using a cluster randomised control trial.
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After
The goal of preschool education is to support children’s cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional development, providing a safe and nurturing environment for young children to learn and interact with their peers. However, estimates indicate that 250 million children (43%) younger than 5 years in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential due, in part, due to inadequate and inequitable access to preschools. In Ecuador, 60% of the children aged 3 to 4 years old remained unenrolled in 2020-21; numbers further declined after the covid-19 pandemic, with only 27% of 3- and 4-year-old children being provided with early childhood education services among rural and vulnerable populations. Recognising the lack of access to public preschools and additionally the lack of motivation among parents to send their child to preschools, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education (MoE) launched a programme to provide regular home visits to ‘vulnerable’ families in 2018. In our study we collaborate with the MoE to improve the quality of this programme through professional development, technology-aided monitoring, and support for both teachers and parents. The evaluation will test if these programme improvements lead to an increase in child development outcomes using a cluster randomised control trial.
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Field
Trial End Date
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Before
April 15, 2024
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After
November 30, 2025
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Field
JEL Code(s)
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Before
C93, D90, I28, J13
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After
C93, D90, I28, J13, J24, M53
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Field
Last Published
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Before
August 10, 2023 01:42 PM
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After
January 16, 2025 12:28 PM
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Field
Intervention Start Date
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Before
September 13, 2023
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After
January 19, 2025
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Field
Intervention End Date
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Before
March 01, 2024
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After
June 30, 2025
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Field
Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
Randomisation will occur in the 47 districts of the Costa regime. 47 districts have been purposively sampled (out of 58 districts). A total of 5 districted were excluded from the evaluation due to security concerns. The 47 study districts will be stratified by their size in terms of number of teachers per district, and on the number of 'new' teachers per district with no previous experience within the programme. After stratification, equal number of districts will be assigned to 2 arms (Treatment=improved programme and Control=standard programme).
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After
Randomization will occur in the 48 districts of the Sierra regime. 48 districts have been purposively sampled (out of 61 districts). A total of 10 districts were excluded from the evaluation as they were newly created districts by 2022; 1 district in Sierra regime was found to be non-operational using the enrolment register for September 2022; 2 districts were found to have overlap between Sierra and Costa. The 48 study districts will be stratified by their size in terms of number of teachers per district. After stratification, equal number of districts will be assigned to 2 arms (Treatment=improved programme and Control=standard programme).
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Field
Planned Number of Clusters
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Before
47 Districts
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After
48 Districts
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Field
Planned Number of Observations
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Before
47 Districts
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After
48 Districts
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Field
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Before
Treatment=24 districts, Control=23 districts
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After
Treatment=24 districts, Control=24 districts
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Field
Power calculation: Minimum Detectable Effect Size for Main Outcomes
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Before
0.23-0.29 SD units
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After
0.23-0.28 SD units
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Field
Keyword(s)
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Before
Behavior, Education
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After
Behavior, Education, Health
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Field
Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
Our intervention aims at providing training and continuous professional development to SAFPI teachers in the Reggio Emilia Approach. We will provide tablets along with monthly internet packages to the teachers to enable digital submission of monitoring forms. We will also develop a Monitoring and Information System (MIS) for the Ministry of Education that can be used to collect periodic service delivery metrics, set up a feedback system to teachers, and provide weekly motivational nudges and reminders. Additionally, teachers will send weekly voice messages on best parental practices to their assigned group of parentsPre-literacy and Pre-Numeracy using IDELA, Language development using TVIP, Executive functioning using IDELA, and ECDI.
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After
Our intervention aims at providing training and continuous professional development to SAFPI teachers in the Reggio Emilia Approach. We will provide tablets along with monthly internet packages to the teachers to enable digital submission of monitoring forms. We will also develop a Monitoring and Information System (MIS) for the Ministry of Education that can be used to collect periodic service delivery metrics, set up a feedback system to teachers, and provide weekly motivational nudges and reminders. Additionally, teachers will send weekly voice messages on best parental practices to their assigned group of parents.
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Field
Secondary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
Other child development impacts: Motor skills using IDELA, Socio-emotional development using IDELA and parent-reported SDQ, Social preferences, Mental health; Intervention take-up: participation in training sessions by teachers, tracking usage of the digital MIS by teachers and supervisors; Pathways to impact: teachers' knowledge, and professional and personal well-being, caregivers' self-efficacy, interaction with the child, and home learning environment.
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After
Other child development impacts: Motor skills using IDELA, Socio-emotional development using IDELA and parent-reported SDQ, Social preferences, Mental health/psychological state (self-portrait); Intervention take-up: participation in training sessions by teachers, tracking usage of the digital MIS by teachers and supervisors; Pathways to impact: teachers' knowledge, and professional and personal well-being, caregivers' self-efficacy, interaction with the child, and home learning environment.
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Field
Pi as first author
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Before
No
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After
Yes
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