Impact evaluation results for large scale program implementation: The Tusome National Literacy Programme & Tayari Early Childhood Development and Education

Session Submission Type: Group Panel

Description of Session

Objectives
This panel will focus on first year results from two education impact evaluation studies that are currently being conducted in Kenya, namely the Tayari Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) and Tusome Early Literacy Program. The Tayari program aims to develop cost-effective, scalable model of ECDE that ensures 3-6 years old children in Kenya are mentally, physically, socially and emotionally ready to start, and succeed, in primary school. Tusome, on the other hand, aims to improve literacy outcomes in English and Kiswahili among Grades 1 and 2 primary school pupils in every public primary school in Kenya. The main objective of this panel is to describe the impacts of Tayari and Tusome on school readiness and literacy outcomes in early grades, respectively.


Structure of the panel
This panel will involve three presentations. The first presentation will describe the impact of one of the three Tayari treatments on school readiness among a longitudinal sample of children attending pre-primary schools in four counties in Kenya. The second presentation will describe the impact of three Tayari treatments on school readiness among children in Kenya. The final presentation will describe the first year results from the national Tusome literacy program.


Main perspectives
Tayari: ECDE plays an important role of preparing children to succeed in primary school. ECDE has been linked with desirable later outcomes. In Kenya, ECDE currently face significant challenges, including inconsistent programs across existing pre-primary schools. In addition, the existing ECDE programs have not proven to advance school readiness of among children. As an effort to improve the quality of ECDE programs, the Tayari model is being piloted by the Kenyan Ministry of Education in partnership with RTI International and being evaluated by APHRC. Tayari is currently being piloted in four counties but after the model is fully developed, it will be implemented in more counties across Kenya.

Tusome: The Kenyan Ministry of Education is implementing the Tusome Early Grade Reading Activity in every public primary school in the country. Tusome’s design utilizes what is known as the “triple cocktail” of educational interventions, including revised teacher training methods, redesigned student textbooks at a 1:1 ratio among other interventions. The design of Tusome built on the research from the PRIMR intervention that showed the conditions under which literacy outcomes can be improved in Kenya. While the PRIMR intervention was evaluated and showed significant impacts, it remains to be seen whether the national scale implementation in Tusome had similar or different effects as the pilot.


Importance to CIES
In the regional context, this panel will provide research information on the impact of ECDE and early grade literacy interventions on the quality of education. The opportunity to share results from ongoing ECDE and early grade literacy interventions in Kenya presents an opportunity for education community to look at what is being done in Kenya at large scale and what is working. It is also anticipated that the evidence presented in this panel will inform future programs in the country and in the region.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Africa

Chair

• Moses Ngware, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

Individual Presentations

• Capitalizing on longitudinal data in the ECD sector: Pathways for improved school readiness in the Tayari ECD intervention longitudinal study - Evangeline Nderu, RTI International; Isaac Thuita, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; Benjamin Piper, RTI International

• The impact of three Tayari treatment packages on improving school readiness among children in Kenya - Njora Hungi, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC); Moses Ngware, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

• Struggling or Soaring at Scale? Estimating the first year impact of the Tusome National Literacy Program in Kenya - Richard Belio Kipsang, Ministry of Education, Kenya; Esther Kinyanjui, Ministry of Education, Kenya; Benjamin Piper, RTI International; Salome Ong’ele, Tusome Early Grade Reading Activity