The Effect of Center-Based Early Education on Disadvantaged Children's Developmental Trajectories: Experimental Evidence from Colombia

Raquel Bernal (), Michele Giannola and Milagros Nores
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Raquel Bernal: Universidad de los Andes

No 2022-027, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: Early childhood development is a global priority, yet questions remain about how best to support disadvantaged children in low- and middle-income countries. We study the impacts of high-quality, center-based early childhood education on low-income children in Colombia through a randomized controlled trial, tracking participants longitudinally over five years. The program has sustained, positive effects on children’s health--including a 22% reduction in stunting--and positive effects on their cognitive development, partly driven by improvements in children's health and nutrition. These effects operate through the educational and nutritional components of the program, rather than through parental behavioral responses to the intervention. The cognitive gains do not persist in the last year of the study, as children from the control group progress earlier to primary school and catch-up, highlighting the importance of considering counterfactual care alternatives to understand the effects of preschool programs in low- and middle-income settings.

Keywords: early childhood development; early education; poverty; impact evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H43 I10 I20 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ppm and nep-ure
Note: ECI
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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Bernal ... ased-early-ed_r2.pdf Third version, September 2024 (application/pdf)
http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Bernal ... ased-early-ed_r1.pdf Second version, July 2023 (application/pdf)
http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Bernal ... y-based-early-ed.pdf First version, August 2022 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The effect of center-based early education on disadvantaged children’s developmental trajectories: experimental evidence from Colombia (2024)
Working Paper: The Effect of Center-Based Early Education on Disadvantaged Children’s Developmental Trajectories: Experimental Evidence from Colombia (2024)
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