Early Childhood Development
We have designed and implemented Early Childhood Interventions in Colombia and India, which we evaluate using randomized controlled trials (RCTs). To date we have run four RCTs with very promising results on cognitive and language development.
Colombia
The results from the Colombian intervention are published in the BMJ and can be found here. The effects of the intervention on parental input was published here by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. Information about follow-up work can be found here.
A subsequent center-based intervention, combined with home visits, implemented with the government-run FAMI centers (Familia, Mujer e Infancia) is now complete and the results will be published soon.
Our evidence from Bogota on the socioeconomic gradient of childhood development is here.
India
In India we have implemented two major interventions:
(1) A home visiting stimulation intervention in the urban slums of Cuttack (Odisha) is now complete and will be published soon. A brief summary by J-PAL describes in more detail.
(2) A multi-arm RCT including home visits, playgroups and nutrition intervention in Bolangir, Soro and Salepur (rural Odisha). The Baseline Report is available here.
Our goal in these projects is to determine how best interventions during early childhood can break intergenerational cycles of poverty. In this short video blogpost for the Jacobs Foundation, I describe the motivation and direction of research as we move forward.
At the right, photos demonstrate some of the interventions being tested: having playgroups for children, using materials and toys to prompt early learning, and setting up home visits in Odisha. Using the Young Lives Survey, we have also examined the links between cognitive development and health throughout childhood in India.