Evaluating a community-based early childhood education and development program in Indonesia: Study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial with supplementary matched control group(Article)(Open Access)
- aAmsterdam Institute for International Development, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam 1081 HV, Netherlands
- bFaculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1012 WX, Netherlands
- cTelethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth 6907, Australia
- dSchool of Population Health, Discipline of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, SA, Australia
- eMathematica Policy Research, 600 Alexander Park, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States
- fDepartment of Sociology, Gadjah Mada University, Jalan Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
- gDepartment of Economics, Gadjah Mada University, Jalan Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
- hNational Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction, Office of Vice President, Jl. Kebon Sirih Raya No.35, Jakarta Pusat 10110, Indonesia
- iEducation Unit, Human Development Department, World Bank, Jl. Jenderal Sudirman, Jakarta 12190, Indonesia
Abstract
Background: This paper presents the study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a supplementary matched control group. The aim of the trial is to evaluate a community-based early education and development program launched by the Government of Indonesia. The program was developed in collaboration with the World Bank with a total budget of US$127.7 million, and targets an estimated 738,000 children aged 0 to 6 years living in approximately 6,000 poor communities. The aim of the program is to increase access to early childhood services with the secondary aim of improving school readiness.Methods/Design: The study is being conducted across nine districts. The baseline survey contained 310 villages, of which 100 were originally allocated to the intervention arm, 20 originally allocated to a 9-month delay staggered start, 100 originally allocated to an 18-month delay staggered start and 90 allocated to a matched control group (no intervention). The study consists of two cohorts, one comprising children aged 12 to 23 months and the other comprising children aged 48 to 59 months at baseline. The data collection instruments include child observations and task/game-based assessments as well as a questionnaire suite, village head questionnaire, service level questionnaires, household questionnaire, and child caretaker questionnaire. The baseline survey was conducted from March to April 2009, midline was conducted from April to August 2010 and endline conducted early 2013. The resultant participation rates at both the district and village levels were 90%. At the child level, the participation rate was 99.92%. The retention rate at the child level at midline was 99.67%.Discussion: This protocol paper provides a detailed record of the trial design including a discussion regarding difficulties faced with compliance to the randomization, compliance to the dispersion schedule of community block grants, and procurement delays for baseline and midline data collections. Considering the execution of the program and the resultant threats to the study, we discuss our analytical plan and intentions for endline data collection.Trials registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN76061874. © 2013 Pradhan et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Indexed keywords
| EMTREE medical terms: | articlechild developmentcohort analysiscommunity programcontent validityearly childhood interventionhealth care surveyhumanIndonesiaobservational methodoutcome assessmentpilot studyquality controlquestionnairerandomized controlled trial (topic)sample sizetask performance |
|---|---|
| MeSH: | Age FactorsChildChild DevelopmentChild Health ServicesChild WelfareChild, PreschoolCommunity Health ServicesDeveloping CountriesGovernment ProgramsHumansIndonesiaInfantNeuropsychological TestsProgram EvaluationQuestionnairesResearch DesignSocioeconomic FactorsTime Factors |
Funding details
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1
This project, implemented from 2006 to 2012, is financed through a credit from International Development Assistance by the World Bank and a grant from the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Such a loan is particularly applicable to the ECED sector in Indonesia given that it is at the ‘start-up stage of developing a system and that it requires major technical inputs’ [28]. The project costs a total of US$127.7 million (International Development Association funding from the World Bank equaling US$67.5 million, the Netherlands grant equaling US$25.3 million and the Government of Indonesia US $34.9 million).
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2
With support from project leadership, each dusun was to allocate grant funds to a menu of ECED service options. Services for older children (aged 3 to 6 years) were expected to be center-based, while services for families with young children (birth to 3 years) could include a combination of group-based services (for example, parent education, especially in regard to health and nutrition; early learning and stimulation) and individual services (for example, home visiting). Requirements related to the use of the funds were that villages must: i) use the funds to enhance or expand existing services; ii) plan ways to increase the number of poor children and families served, and to improve the quality of community programs; and iii) provide services in compliance with a set of essential standards including health and safety provisions. Within those requirements, villages had choices in the specific scheduling, distinctive features, implementation approaches and physical settings in which services were delivered. No land acquisition or resettlement was to be undertaken as communities were expected to utilize and enhance existing spaces/facilities, or coordinate with other local level projects to fund new facility construction. Further information about the program is detailed in the Project Appraisal Document [28].
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3
MP, SB, AM and ES are supported by an AusAID Australian Development Research Award (ADRA) grant.
- ISSN: 17456215
- Source Type: Journal
- Original language: English
- DOI: 10.1186/1745-6215-14-259
- PubMed ID: 23953975
- Document Type: Article
Brinkman, S.A.; Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Australia;
© Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
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