Protecting Early Childhood Development in Malawi Impact Evaluation Survey 2013
Malawi, 2013
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MWI_2013_PECDIE-ML_v01_M
Protecting Early Childhood Development in Malawi Impact Evaluation Survey 2013
Midline
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Malawi | MWI |
The Government of Malawi recognizes that investment in early childhood development (ECD) is a cost-effective strategy to meet its development objectives in areas of health, nutrition, education, and social protection. In Malawi, ECD is delivered through an extensive network of community initiated and owned centers for the most vulnerable children under the age of six, known as Community-based Childcare Centers (CCBCs). The recent global food, fuel, and financial crises hit Malawi hard. Constrained government budgets and activities for ECD have jeopardized the service delivery of the existing ECD centers which cover about a third of all 3-6 year old children. From 2010 to 2012, the Protecting Early Childhood Development Project (PECD) aimed to mitigate the negative effects of the recent global crises on young children and to start building foundations against future crises. A rigorous impact evaluation of the PECD project in Malawi has been designed to test interactions between existing approaches to improve quality in the preschool sector to maximize effects for primary school readiness. The impact evaluation will test the effectiveness of different approaches to improve quality of ECD Centers, parenting knowledge and practices, and child development and school readiness. The evaluation follows a cluster-randomized control trial design in which 199 CBCCs in four of Malawi’s 28 districts were randomized after baseline into one of three treatment arms or to a control arm.
This Impact Evaluation (IE) has three primary research objectives, which are both academically important and pertinent for policy makers in low-income countries: (1) To evaluate the effect of intensive training and mentoring of teachers andcaregivers at CBCCs in rural sub-Saharan Africa on young children’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development; (2) To determine how can cash incentives be used to retain teachers and caregivers and make them more effective; (3) To assess whether parenting education can be an effective substitute or complement to the efforts to improve preschool quality with respect to child development outcomes.
The baseline survey was conducted between September 30, 2011 and February 17, 2012. The midline data was collected between May 13, 2013 and October 17, 2013. The endline survey is proposed for 2014. Data collection at midline involved the administration of the mother/guardian and CBCC questionnaires, enumerator observations at the CBCC, and measurement of child development.
Sample survey data [ssd]
- Community-based childcare centers (CBCC) and their committee chairs/caregivers
- 4-5-year-old children attending the CBCC
- Mothers/guardians of the 4-5 year old children attending the CBCC
Scope
The scope of the midline survey includes:
- Community-based Childcare Centers (CBCCs):
- CBCC observations
- General information on CBCC
- Registration, attendance at CBCC
- Characteristics of children attending CBCC
- Staff information (work load, selection process, training)
- Caregiver roster
- Water, sanitation, toilet facilities
- Health and food
- Curriculum and daily activities
- Child assessments:
- Fine motor/visuoperception
- Language/hearing
- Child observations
- Mother or guardian
- Household and dwelling characteristics
- Durable goods
- Economic shocks
- Health practices
- CBCC information (reasons for choosing CBCC, cost, perception of CBCC)
- Child immunizations and health
- Nutrition and development
- Household stimulation/support for learning
- Child's behavior
- Mother or guardian's health.
Coverage
Data was collected in Balaka, Thyolo, Nkhatabay, and Dedza districts.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Michelle Neuman | World Bank |
| Berk Ozler | World Bank |
| Lia Fernald | Univeristy of California Berkeley |
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Christin McConnell | World Bank |
| Patricia Kariger | University of California Berkeley |
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund, World Bank | Financing of midline and endline surveys |
Sampling
This study is a cluster-randomized controlled trial with one control arm and three treatment arms. Four study districts (Balaka, Thyolo, Dedza, Nhkata Bay) that provide adequate representation of the regions in Malawi were chosen by the MGCSW for inclusion in the study. Sample size calculations for a multi-site, cluster-randomized trial estimated that 240 CBCCs and 12 children from each of the CBCCs would be necessary to detect small to moderate impacts (0.2 to 0.25 standard deviations) on child development measures (the PPVT, specifically) with 95% confidence and 80% power. A full listing of all CBCCs eligible to receive the intervention from the MGCSW produced only 199 CBCCs in the four districts, however; therefore, all 199 CBCCs were included in the study.
Randomization was conducted in each district separately to ensure that equal numbers of CBCCs were allocated to each of the study arms within each district. To ensure a balance of important baseline characteristics, which are strongly prognostic of cognitive development outcomes of interest, a "block randomization" procedure was used. Information about the variables used for blocking (child anthropometrics and scores on developmental tests) was collected during the baseline survey.
The baseline sample included 2,120 children, ages 3-4 years, attending the CBCCs from the village. These children were randomly selected (blocked by age and sex) from the group of children attending the CBCCs on the day the baseline data collection teams visited the school. All CBCCs, children, and mother/guardians who participated in the baseline survey were included in the midline sample.
The PECD project focuses on four interventions:
- Play and learning materials: kit of basic play and learning materials and supplies
- Caregiver training and mentoring: enhanced 5 week residential training program for caregivers including fieldwork and mentoring
- Caregiver incentives: small monthly cash incentive to encourage retention and performance
- Parenting education: 12 group sessions for parents with 3- and 4-year olds focused on practical activities
Control and treatment groups are to receive the following interventions:
- Control Group: Play and Learning Materials Only
- Treatment Group 1: Caregiver Training + Play and Learning Materials
- Treatment Group 2: Caregiver Training + Incentives + Play and Learning Materials
- Treatment Group 3: Caregiver Training + Parenting Education + Play and Learning Materials
Data collection
| Start | End | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2013-05-13 | 2013-10-17 | Midline |
| Name |
|---|
| Wadonda Consult |
Data collection was overseen by an Impact Evaluation Field Coordinator from the World Bank who conducted spot-checks in the field as well as data entry.
Midline data collection took place over a period of one day at each CBCC. Upon arriving at a center, two enumerators study team introduced the study and administered the CBCC questionnaire to the CBCC director, conducted CBCC observations, and completed the CBCC caregiver roster/interview. The remainder of the data collection team contacted the mothers/guardians of the baseline-selected children to explain the research study to the mothers/guardians and request their participation and permission for their child’s participation. Then, the enumerators conducted the mother/guardian interviews using the mother/guardian questionnaire and administered the child developmental assessment tests. All center-level data collection, and a large portion of the child and mother/guardian-level midline data collection was conducted between May and early July 2013. Data collection was put on hold for the remainder of July and August as centers (and schools) are closed in Malawi. In September 2013, data collection resumed to track mother/guardians and children who had relocated outside of the study districts since the baseline study in 2011-2012. All midline data was completed by mid-October 2013.
Depositor information
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Education - GP | World Bank |
Data Access
The use of the datasets must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the identification of the Primary Investigator (including country name)
- the full title of the survey and its acronym (when available), and the year(s) of implementation
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download (for datasets disseminated online).
Example:
Michelle Neuman, World Bank, Berk Ozler, World Bank, Lia Fernald, Univeristy of California Berkeley. Protecting Early Childhood Development in Malawi Impact Evaluation Survey 2013, Midline. Ref. MWI_2013_PECDIE-ML_v01_M. Dataset downloaded from [URL] on [date].
Disclaimer and copyrights
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Christin McConnell | World Bank | cmcconnell@worldbank.org |
Metadata production
DDI_MWI_2013_PECDIE-ML_v01_M_WB
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Development Data Group | World Bank | Study documentation |
| Education - GP | World Bank | Study documentation |
2014-06-27
Metadata version
- v02 (January 2015)
Datasets were added to DDI v02 compared to v01 that was published without data in June 2014;
Metadata fields were updated to reflect the World Bank new organizational structure.
- v01 (June 2014)