Combining Preschool Teacher Training with Parenting Education: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

87 Pages Posted: 7 Oct 2016

See all articles by Berk Ozler

Berk Ozler

World Bank - Development Economics Research Group (DECRG)

Lia C. H. Fernald

University of California, Berkeley - School of Public Health

Patricia Karol Kariger

University of California, Berkeley - School of Public Health

Christin Mcconnell

World Bank

Michelle J. Neuman

University of Pennsylvania - Graduate School of Education

Eduardo Fraga

Yale University - Department of Economics

Date Written: September 12, 2016

Abstract

This paper evaluates a government program in Malawi, which aimed to improve quality at community-based childcare centers and complemented these efforts with a group-based parenting support program. Children in the integrated intervention arm (teacher training and parenting) had significantly higher scores in measures of language and socio-emotional development than children in centers receiving teacher training alone at the 18-month follow-up. However, the study finds no effects on child assessments at the 36-month follow-up. Significant improvements at the centers relating to classroom organization and teacher behavior in the teacher-training only arm did not translate into improvements in child outcomes at either follow-up. The findings suggest that, in resource-poor settings with informal preschools, programs that integrate parenting support within preschools may be more effective than programs that simply improve classroom quality.

Keywords: Educational Sciences

Suggested Citation

Ozler, Berk and Fernald, Lia C. H. and Kariger, Patricia Karol and Mcconnell, Christin and Neuman, Michelle J. and Fraga, Eduardo, Combining Preschool Teacher Training with Parenting Education: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial (September 12, 2016). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7817, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2849117

Berk Ozler (Contact Author)

World Bank - Development Economics Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/bozler

Lia C. H. Fernald

University of California, Berkeley - School of Public Health

50 University Hall #7360
Berkeley, CA 94720-7360
United States

Patricia Karol Kariger

University of California, Berkeley - School of Public Health

50 University Hall #7360
Berkeley, CA 94720-7360
United States

Christin Mcconnell

World Bank

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Michelle J. Neuman

University of Pennsylvania - Graduate School of Education

Pittsburgh, PA 15260
United States

Eduardo Fraga

Yale University - Department of Economics

28 Hillhouse Ave
New Haven, CT 06520-8268
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
111
Abstract Views
975
Rank
473,064
PlumX Metrics