A Study Assessing the Impact of the Best of Ahlan Simsim Episodes on Children’s Social Emotional Development

• In Event: Evaluating educational mass media for children affected by conflict and displacement: Lessons learned from Jordan and Colombia

Proposal

Studying the impact of children’s educational media on development is a much-needed effort amidst the growing number of multimedia programs directed at children (Cole & Lee, 2016; Huston & Wright, 1998; Calvert, 2004; Linebarger, Brey, Fenstermacher & Barr, 2017). Evaluations have investigated impacts of mass media programming on developmental outcomes (i.e., Sanders et al., 2000; Anderson et al., 2017).

A new Sesame Workshop production, Ahlan Simism, is an educational show targeting Arabic-speaking young children, specifically both host communities and migrant or displaced children across the Levant. For the impact evaluation, a selection of 26 episodes was curated, drawing from the first four seasons. The focus of the program is social-emotional learning (SEL); this includes recognizing strong emotions and learning a variety of appropriate coping mechanisms for them. Content was developed by Sesame Workshop in consultation with local experts and the Jordanian children’s media NGO Jordan Pioneers.

Methods
A classroom-based cluster randomized control trial was conducted in 2022 (N=4,369 children at baseline; 4,272 at endline) in the regions of Irbid, Balqa and Karak in Jordan, to evaluate the impact of the Ahlan Simsim show on its intended SEL outcomes. A total of 216 preschools were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions, with the treatment group receiving daily exposure to an episode of Ahlan Simsim over twelve weeks in addition to the Jordan Ministry of Education KG2 curriculum, and the control group receiving only the Ministry curriculum.

Research Questions: (1) What is the effect of a mass media intervention addressing SEL skills on the average development of a population of children in KG2 preschools in Jordan? ; (2) Does the effect of the intervention differ for children based on gender or nationality?

Measures
Predictor: Exposure to Ahlan Simsim program
Outcomes: We collected data on child SEL competencies for treatment and control groups, consisting of caregiver-report (Ages & Stages Questionnaire (Squires & Bricker, 2009) and Brief Problem Monitor scale (Achenbach et al., 2011) at baseline and endline, as well as a child direct assessment at endline.
Covariates: Caregiver surveys also collected data on caregiver and child demographics, child media exposure, and family socioeconomic status. During the intervention, data was collected from teachers at three timepoints on child attendance, teacher practices and classroom climate, and teacher report of child behavior.

Analytic approach
RQ1: A direct comparison of the average development of children exposed to the two conditions for a period of 12 weeks, using multi-level estimation models that account for the clustering of children within classrooms and schools.
RQ2: Interaction terms will be added to the RQ1 analytic models to explore potential differences in these effects associated with individual, classroom, and setting level-characteristics. This approach will shed light about for whom, when and under what circumstances these effects are manifested.

In this presentation we will discuss findings from impact analyses on intervention outcomes as well as subgroup differences in intervention effectiveness across gender, nationality, as well as school-based differences. Lastly, we will discuss how these findings are related to future mass media efforts.

Authors

• Casey Moran, New York University

• Dennis Hilgendorf, Global TIES for Children, New York University

• Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Global TIES for Children, New York University

• Kate Schwartz, Global TIES for Children, New York University