Bangladesh Early Years Preschool Program Impact Evaluation Baseline Report for the World Bank Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund APRIL 2018 MAKING RESEARCH RELEVANT American Institutes for Research: Elizabeth Spier | Srinivasan Vasudevan | Kevin Kamto Data International: Azizur Rahman | Najmul Hossain Save the Children: Zannatun Nahar | Hosneara Khondker AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH | AIR.ORG Bangladesh Early Years Preschool Program Evaluation Baseline Report for the World Bank Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund APRIL 2018 American Institutes for Research: Elizabeth Spier | Srinivasan Vasudevan | Kevin Kamto Data International: Azizur Rahman | Najmul Hossain Save the Children: Zannatun Nahar | Hosneara Khondker 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW Washington, DC 20007-3835 202.403.5000 www.air.org Copyright © 2018 American Institutes for Research. All rights reserved. Contents Page Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 The Early Years Preschool Program ............................................................................................ 1 Evaluation Objectives and Intended Audience ........................................................................... 1 Evaluation Methodology ............................................................................................................. 2 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 2 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 4 1.1 Evaluation Context ................................................................................................................ 4 1.2 Purpose, Uses and Objectives of the Evaluation .................................................................. 5 1.3 Evaluation Scope and Approach ........................................................................................... 5 1.4 The Early Years Preschool Program ...................................................................................... 5 1.5 Evaluation Questions ............................................................................................................ 8 2. Baseline Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 9 2.1 Objectives of the Baseline Data Collection ........................................................................... 9 2.2 Sampling and Randomization of Communities .................................................................... 9 2.3 Sampling of Children ........................................................................................................... 10 2.4 Power Analysis .................................................................................................................... 11 2.5 Instruments ......................................................................................................................... 12 2.6 Enumerator Training and Instrument Piloting .................................................................... 17 2.7 Data Collection Process ...................................................................................................... 17 3. Baseline Results ........................................................................................................................ 19 3.1 Home Context: Child Wellbeing and Household Resources ............................................... 19 3.2 Home Context: Household Educational Environment ........................................................ 24 3.3 School Context: Conditions for Learning ............................................................................ 28 3.4 Community Context: Community Resources...................................................................... 29 3.5 Children’s Baseline School Readiness ................................................................................. 30 3.6 Baseline Equivalence........................................................................................................... 31 4. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 34 4.1 Study Sample ...................................................................................................................... 34 4.2 Study Limitations and Mitigation Measures ....................................................................... 34 4.3 Next Steps ........................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix A. Group Assignment .................................................................................................... 36 Appendix B. Recruitment and Baseline Participation by School .................................................. 37 Appendix C. Recruitment Script .................................................................................................... 42 Appendix D. Assessment Tools ..................................................................................................... 45 Exhibits Page Exhibit 2. Study Sample. ................................................................................................................ 11 Exhibit 3. Power Calculations. ....................................................................................................... 12 Exhibit 4. Domains and Topics Covered in the Community Characteristics Questionnaire. ........ 13 Exhibit 5. Domains and Topics Covered in the School Observation. ............................................ 14 Exhibit 6. Domains and Topics Covered in the Family Questionnaire. ......................................... 15 Exhibit 7. Domains and Topics Covered in the School Readiness Assessment. ........................... 16 Exhibit 8. Children's Overall Physical Health. ............................................................................... 20 Exhibit 9. Children’s Recent Illnesses. ........................................................................................... 20 Exhibit 10. Household Distance to Health Center. ....................................................................... 21 Exhibit 11. Rates of Deworming and Growth Monitoring. ........................................................... 21 Exhibit 12. Rates of Household Nutritional Insecurity. ................................................................. 22 Exhibit 13. Household Construction. ............................................................................................ 23 Exhibit 14. Household Toilet Facilities. ......................................................................................... 23 Exhibit 15. Parental Education Levels. .......................................................................................... 24 Exhibit 16. Types of Reading Material Present in Study Households. .......................................... 25 Exhibit 17. Types of Play Materials Available in Households. ...................................................... 26 Exhibit 18. Study Child Participation in Activities with Household Member, Past Week. ........... 27 Exhibit 19. Socio-Emotional Interaction Past Week. .................................................................... 27 Exhibit 20. Types of Play Materials Present in Treatment Group Schools. .................................. 28 Exhibit 21. Teaching and Learning Materials Present in Treatment Group Schools. ................... 29 Exhibit 22. Baseline Equivalence. .................................................................................................. 31 Exhibit 23. Balance in IDELA Scores Between Treatment and Control Groups. ........................... 33 Abbreviations and Acronyms AIR American Institutes for Research EYPP Early Years Preschool Program IDELA International Development and Early Learning Assessment SIEF Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund WB World Bank Acknowledgments We would like to thank the families, children, and educators who so generously gave their time to participate in this study. Thank you to the World Bank for sponsoring this study. And thank you to the Save the Children field office staff in Meherpur for their support in carrying out data collection. Bangladesh Early Years Preschool Program Evaluation: Baseline Report Executive Summary Coinciding with its economic growth over the past few decades, Bangladesh has rapidly improved many social indicators, including access to and the quality of primary and pre-primary education. The National Pre-primary Operational Framework includes a plan for two years of pre-primary education, starting with one year of pre-primary education in all primary schools and gradually growing into a two-year program. With its Early Years Preschool Program (EYPP), Save the Children has been providing the additional year of preschool to four-year-old children, who then progress to the one-year government pre-primary class at age five and to first grade at age six. The Early Years Preschool Program Save the Children supervises and monitors the implementation of EYPP. The EYPP is typically implemented for two hours per day, in government primary schools. The program uses the existing pre-primary classroom and teacher, but with a different curriculum and materials, and at different