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Field
Trial Title
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Before
A Randomized Evaluation of the Effects of a Preschool
Intervention on Child Learning and Women's Economic
Empowerment in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya
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After
A Randomized Evaluation of the Effects of a Preschool Intervention on Child Learning and Women's Economic Empowerment in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya
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Field
Last Published
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Before
December 07, 2023 04:04 PM
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After
January 25, 2024 10:49 AM
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
Experimental Design
The experimental design involves a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to assess the impact of the Tharaka Nithi County Preschool Program on child development and women's labor supply. The intervention targets 3–4-year-olds, utilizing the existing infrastructure of PP1 (pre-primary 1) in selected public schools. The study duration is planned for two years, starting in the school calendar year beginning January 2023.
We will select 120 schools in Tharaka Nithi county in Kenya based on: a) their ability to accommodate 5 extra children in their preschool class (PP1 - currently for four year-olds only); b) that do not have a playgroup for children younger than 4; c) do not admit regularly 3-year-olds.
We will define two catchment areas for each school: The catchment area for the three-year-olds will be defined as the minimum radius that includes 15 families with three-year-olds. The catchment area for the four-year-olds will be defined as the minimum radius that includes 10 families with four-year-olds. From within each catchment area we will select randomly 5 four-year-olds willing to participate and 10 three-year-olds willing to participate. The extra children in the catchment areas will serve as substitutes in case of refusals.
Of the 120 we will randomly select 60 schools to provide an improved and enhanced version of the curriculum and provide training for its appropriate implementation with new materials, developmentally appropriate toys and books. The treatment schools will also receive an additional pre-school (PP1) teacher with the same training as that of the existing teacher. Second, we will admit 5 randomly selected 3-year-olds from the catchment area to attend each of the 60 enhanced preschools. We will also select 5 four-year-olds who will attend the enhanced pre-schools for sampling purposes to be compared with the four-year-olds who attend control schools. The remaining 60 schools will serve as controls. The selected children in their catchment area (4-year-olds and 3-year-olds) will be measured to serve as control observations. All children will be selected in the sample before the randomization is announced.
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After
Experimental Design
The experimental design involves a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to assess the impact of the Tharaka Nithi County Preschool Program on child development and women's labor supply. The intervention targets 3–4-year-olds, utilizing the existing infrastructure of PP1 (pre-primary 1) in selected public schools. The study duration is planned for two years, starting in the school calendar year beginning January 2023.
We will select 117 schools in Tharaka Nithi county in Kenya based on: a) their ability to accommodate 5 extra children in their preschool class (PP1 - currently for four year-olds only); b) that do not have a playgroup for children younger than 4; c) do not admit regularly 3-year-olds.
Determining the 3-year olds that will participate in the study: Following a census we consider all 3-year-olds defined as children who will be between 2y8mo-3y6mo in January 2024. We then allocate 10 children and 5 reserve children to the closest possible school of the 117 study schools such that each school is associated with 10 children and five reserve children to fill in the place of those who turn down participation in the study.
We then randomly select 60 schools into treatment. For each treatment school we randomly select 5 children from the group associated with the school (as above) to attend to attend the school. The other five will be controls. Children associated with control schools are also controls. Once parents have consented, these children are assessed, and household data is collected.
4-year-olds attend preschool (PP1) anyway: This is the current age of first attendance. Thus, once school has started in January 2024 we obtain the register of all 4-year-old children in all 117 study schools. We then randomly pick 5 4-year-olds from the list to be the children we observe for the study. Once parents have consented, these children are assessed, and household data is collected.
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Randomization Method
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Before
Randomization will take place by computer following a census of eligible households (those with children 2y8mo-4y5Mo at baseline who have expressed willingness to participate) within a radius of 3km from 149 pre-selected schools. The census will be used to determine the final 120 schools to participate in the study and their respective catchment areas (see above).
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After
Randomization will take place by computer following a census of eligible households (those with children 2y8mo-4y5Mo at baseline who have expressed willingness to participate) within a radius of 3km from 149 pre-selected schools. The census will be used to determine the final 117 schools to participate in the study and their respective catchment areas (see above).
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Field
Planned Number of Clusters
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Before
120 Schools
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After
117 Schools
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Field
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Before
60 treatment schools each with: five randomly selected 4-year-olds (treated), 5 three-year-olds randomly selected to attend (treated) and 5 control three-year-olds living in the catchment area but not selected to attend in the randomization. The three year olds in the treated areas are individually randomized.
60 treatment schools each with: five four-year-olds (not treated) from the catchment area and five non-treated three-year-olds.
All children participating in the random selection belong to families who expressed the willingness for their children to attend pre-school.
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After
60 treatment schools each with: five randomly selected 4-year-olds (treated), 5 three-year-olds randomly selected to attend (treated) and 5 control three-year-olds living in the catchment area but not selected to attend in the randomization. The three year olds in the treated areas are individually randomized.
57 treatment schools each with: five four-year-olds (not treated) from the catchment area and five non-treated three-year-olds.
All children participating in the random selection belong to families who expressed the willingness for their children to attend pre-school.
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