The Early Childhood Intervention and Parental Involvement in Bangladesh, 2016-2021

In this project, we introduce and test alternative models of early childhood interventions- traditional kindergarten versus home visit- that could be effectively adapted for implementation at scale. The project uses a large scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in rural communities to evaluate the efficacy of three early childhood interventions: a preschool program, this program combined with a parent academy, and combined with home visit. The first intervention established a pre-school program. The second intervention included weekly home visit by teachers/caregivers to demonstrate parent-child interactions and learning environment at home. The third intervention combined pre-school program with home visit. The research involves 7000 children from 223 villages in southwestern Bangladesh. Our evidence shows that the establishing traditional kindergarten is the most cost-effective way to improve children’s early learning outcomes in remote rural area in Bangladesh.