Consolidated Final Report Evaluation of the Program for children and parents: “STRONG FROM THE START – DAM LEN PHAKA” Prepared by Results for Development Institute with data collected by Deep Dive and analysis provided by the University of Belgrade Consolidated Final Report - Submitted 30 April 2019 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................................ 2 I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Background ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Overview of Intervention ...................................................................................................................... 6 Purpose of the Evaluation ..................................................................................................................... 7 II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 7 Key Questions and Study Design ........................................................................................................... 7 Sample Selection ........................................................................................................................... 8 Evaluation Timeline ..................................................................................................................... 11 Tools and Measures ............................................................................................................................ 12 Child Assessment Tool ................................................................................................................. 12 Adaptations to IDELA for this Evaluation .................................................................................... 12 Parent Survey Tool ...................................................................................................................... 13 Data Collection Training ...................................................................................................................... 13 Endline Data Collection ....................................................................................................................... 13 Quantitative Analysis Plan .................................................................................................................. 13 Cleaning the data ........................................................................................................................ 14 Constructing the datasets ........................................................................................................... 14 Conducting the analysis .............................................................................................................. 14 Analysis at Baseline, Midline, and Endline .................................................................................. 14 Endline Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis Plan ....................................................................... 15 Key Research Questions .............................................................................................................. 15 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 15 Endline Costing Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 16 Ethics and Evaluation Limitations ....................................................................................................... 16 III. OVERVIEW OF BASELINE FINDINGS .................................................................................................... 17 Summary of Key Baseline Findings...................................................................................................... 17 Children in Program and Comparison Groups are Sufficiently Similar on Key Measures ........... 17 Parents in Program and Comparison Groups are Sufficiently Similar on Key Measures ............ 17 IV. OVERVIEW OF MIDLINE FINDINGS ...................................................................................................... 18 Summary of Key Midline Findings ....................................................................................................... 18 1 Children in Program Gained in Socio-emotional Development, Literacy, Numeracy, and Persistence .................................................................................................................................. 18 Parents in Program Reported Increased Knowledge and Some Behaviors around Positive Parenting ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Attendance data suggests program attendance may cause increased child school readiness .. 20 V. ENDLINE FINDINGS: Characteristics and Development of Children ................................................... 20 Key Findings from Child Assessment ................................................................................................... 21 Child Characteristics and Program Participation ................................................................................ 22 Overall Child Profile ..................................................................................................................... 22 Attendance in Workshops ........................................................................................................... 22 Findings from Direct Child Assessment ............................................................................................... 22 Total School Readiness ................................................................................................................ 22 Social-emotional Development ................................................................................................... 24 Numeracy, Literacy, and Persistence .......................................................................................... 26 Reflections from Parents on the Program’s Impact on Children ................................................ 28 VI. ENDLINE FINDINGS: Characteristics and Changing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Parents29 Key Findings from Parent Survey ........................................................................................................ 29 Attendance in Workshops ........................................................................................................... 30 Participation in Early Childhood Care and Development ............................................................ 30 Disability Awareness ................................................................................................................... 31 Home Environment ..................................................................................................................... 31 Health Practices ........................................................................................................................... 31 Parenting Practices ...................................................................................................................... 31 Parent Attitudes .......................................................................................................................... 34 Participation in Projects Related to Early Childhood Development............................................ 36 Reflections from Parents on the Program’s Impact on themselves ............................................ 36 VII. ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM COSTS .......................................................................................................... 37 Data Collection and Analysis Plan ............................................................................................... 37 Assumptions ................................................................................................................................ 38 Detailed Budgets ......................................................................................................................... 38 Unit Costs .................................................................................................................................... 39 VIII. DISCUSSION OF LESSONS LEARNED ............................................................................................ 40 Impact of the Program on Child School Readiness ............................................................................. 40 Overview of Findings ................................................................................................................... 40 2 Making Sense of the Data ........................................................................................................... 40 Impact of the Program on Parent Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior ............................................ 40 Overview of Findings ................................................................................................................... 40 Making Sense of the Data ........................................................................................................... 41 Limitations of Research ......................................................................................................................