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Breaking the cycle of deprivation : an experimental evaluation of an early childhood intervention
Author(s)
Date Issued
2012-04
Date Available
2012-09-03T14:05:59Z
Abstract
Deprivation early in life has multiple long term consequences for both the individual and society. An increasing body of evidence
finds that targeted, early interventions aimed at at-risk children and their families can reduce socioeconomic inequalities in children’s skills and capabilities. This paper describes a randomised control trial (RCT) evaluation of a five-year preventative programme which aims to improve the school readiness skills of socioeconomically disadvantaged children. The Preparing for Life (PFL) programme is one of the first studies in Ireland to use random assignment to experimentally modify the environment of high risk families and track its impact over time. This paper describes the design and motivation for the study, the randomisation procedure adopted and the baseline data collected. Using Monte Carlo permutation testing, it finds that the randomisation procedure was successful as there are no systematic differences between the treatment and control groups at baseline. This indicates that future analysis of treatment effects over the course of the five year evaluation can be causally attributed to the programme and used to determine the impact of Preparing for Life on children’s school readiness skills.
Sponsorship
Not applicable
Type of Material
Working Paper
Publisher
University College Dublin. School of Economics
Series
UCD Centre for Economic Research Working Paper Series
WP12/17
Classification
C93
J13
J24
Subject – LCSH
Early childhood education
Readiness for school
Monte Carlo method
Web versions
Language
English
Status of Item
Not peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
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