Testing and scaling-up supply- and demand-side interventions to improve Kindergarten educational quality in Ghana

This study investigates supply- and demand-side approaches to improving the quality of Kindergarten education in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Specifically, we investigate how a teacher in-service training program with monitoring and feedback follow-up affects teacher practices, classroom quality, and child learning. In addition, we investigate if the impacts are enhanced when implemented alongside a parental awareness program about early childhood development and learning. This research project consists of a randomized controlled trial where 240 schools (from both private and public sector) will be assigned to the (1) in-service teacher-training program only; (2) in-service teacher-training program plus parental awareness program; or (3) control condition. The experiment will be carried out during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 academic years, and students and teachers will be tracked for two years. The study will compare implementation challenges in public and private schools, and examine several important sources of potential heterogeneity of impact, including public vs. private sector schools and various child characteristics. The project will improve understanding of how to improve the teaching skills and capacities for Kindergarten teachers in Ghana and in other contexts that have a largely untrained teacher workforce, in a scalable and sustainable fashion.