The Impact of an Accelerated School Readiness Program on Young Learners in Ethiopia

• In Event: Building Resilience and Fostering Hope: Early Childhood Education in Ethiopia's Polycrisis

Proposal

Background
High-quality early learning opportunities, including evidence based curricula and playful learning opportunities, are essential for children's success in primary school and beyond. All young children-- including those living in conflict and natural disasters--have a right to education. But how do we know if the program is working and how can we measure the outcomes for young children, when in a crisis context?

This paper will share the process and outcomes of the Childhood Development Activity Accelerated School Readiness (ASR) program, an intensive eight-week play-based, holistic development and learning program for 6-year-olds without pre-primary education exposure. In the Summers of 2024 and 2025, around 12,000 children 6 years or older, in crisis-affected Ethiopian regions of Oromia, Somali, Amhara, Tigray, and Afar participated in the ASR play-based learning program.

Methodology
After detailing the program, the speaker will present the IDELA tool, the pre/post methodology used to measure development outcomes for young children, and the measurement adaptations made over year one and year two. The study employed a panel design to follow enrolment, completion, transition into primary school and the learning trajectories of 643 children randomly sampled from 87 ASR learning centers (58 in drought-affected and 29 in conflict-affected areas). Power calculations indicated that this sample would allow detecting an increase of 5 percent points to IDELA scores before and after the ASR program; this is, at least, a change of .25 standard deviations, with a power of 80% and a significance level of p=0.05.In conclusion, the paper will share reflections regarding the drivers of the outcomes as well as recommendations for future studies of development of young children in crisis contexts.
Results
Adjusting for the development that occurs due to eight weeks of natural development, the gains in early learning skills associated with ASR attendance were estimated to be 28 percentage points.
Conclusion
The results of the Accelerated School Readiness for children 6+ as measured by IDELA indicate the program has high efficacy in a short dosage of 8 weeks. The panelist will offer reflections on what this means for future programming and areas of inquiry recommended for future inquiry.

Authors

• Josephine Ferla

• Filipa de Castro, Save the Children

• Cynthia Koons, Save the Children US