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An impact evaluation of sesame workshop’s Watch Play Learn videos on Venezuelan and Colombian children’s math and socio-emotional skills

Thu, March 14, 1:30 to 3:00pm, Hyatt Regency Miami, Floor: Terrace Level, Gardenia C

Proposal

Background: Colombia is the largest host country of Venezuelan refugees and migrants and second largest host of internally displaced people in the world (Rossiasco and de Narváez, 2023). Nearly 2.5 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela reside in Colombia (UNHCR, 2023). Young children affected by the Venezuelan refugee and migration crisis lack access to early learning and educational services (IRC, 2020; R4V, 2022). Recent studies indicate use of mass media as a promising strategy to provide early learning to promote young children’s socio-emotional learning (SEL) skills (Moran et al., under review). Sesame Workshop has created the Watch, Play, Learn (WPL) videos, which use a multiple skill-domain curriculum to deliver culturally- and linguistically-relevant learning opportunities for young children affected by crisis and conflict. This study evaluates the effects of an intervention delivering WPL videos via WhatsApp on emergent math and SEL skills of children impacted by the Venezuelan refugee and migration crisis. This project was a partnership between Innovation for Poverty Action Colombia, NYU Global TIES for Children, and Sesame Workshop under the Play to Learn Project funded by The Lego Foundation.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2022 – 2023 (N=1,017 children and caregivers at baseline; N=874 at endline), enrolling Venezuelan migrants and refugees and Colombian nationals living in Barranquilla and Soledad, Colombia. Caregiver-child dyads were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. The treatment group received 10-minute WPL videos targeting SEL and math skills delivered via WhatsApp twice weekly over 19 weeks, for a total of 38 videos. The control group received Sesame Workshop videos without math or SEL content. Dosage, cadence, and platform of video delivery were identical for the two groups.

Research Question: What is the effect of exposure to WPL videos (focused on emergent math and SEL) delivered over WhatsApp on the emergent math and SEL skills of four-year-old children of Venezuelan and Colombian origin residing in Colombia?

Measures: Outcomes: We collected data on child emergent math competencies and SEL competencies for treatment and control groups, consisting of child direct assessments using locally-adapted measures and caregiver-reports (Ages & Stages Questionnaire (Squires & Bricker, 2009), Brief Problem Monitor scale (Achenbach et al., 2011) at baseline and endline.
Covariates: Data were collected on child and caregiver demographics, access to digital devices, and household socio-economic status.

Analytic Approach: A direct comparison of the average development of children exposed to the two conditions for 19 weeks will answer the primary research question. Treatment-on-the-treated analyses will also be estimated according to defined engagement thresholds based on take-up of intervention videos. Exploratory analyses will examine whether the intervention’s effects varied based on child or caregiver characteristics.

This presentation will share results from impact analyses on intervention outcomes and highlight differences in effects across subgroups, including by nationality. We will share learnings around the process of developing and analyzing the SEL and math child direct assessments. We will conclude by discussing implications for future initiatives to promote early learning via mass media and mobile phone delivery.

Authors