Abstract

This paper examines the child development outcomes of two cohorts of children who were exposed to the same intervention at different points in time. One cohort was eligible to access playgroups during the first year of a five-year project cycle, beginning at age four. The other cohort became eligible to access these services during the third year of a five-year project cycle, beginning at age three. The younger cohort was more likely to be exposed to playgroups for longer and at more age-appropriate times relative to the older cohort. The paper finds that enrollment rates and enrollment duration in preprimary education increased for both cohorts, but the enrollment effects were larger for the younger cohort. In terms of child development outcomes, there were short-term effects at age five that did not last until age eight, for both cohorts. Moreover, the younger cohort had substantially higher test scores during the early grades of primary school, relative to the older cohort. We document the extent to which program impacts can vary as a result of differences in project implementation.

摘要

本文研究了两个在不同时间点接受相同干预的儿童队列的儿童发育结果。在五年项目周期的第一年（从四岁开始），一个队列有资格访问游戏组。另一个队列有资格在五年项目周期的第三年（从三岁开始）获得这些服务。与年龄较大的人群相比，年龄较小的人群更有可能在更长的时间和与年龄相适应的时间接触游戏组。该论文发现，这两个队列的学前教育入学率和入学时间均增加，但较年轻的队列的入学效果更大。就儿童发育结果而言，这两个队列均在5岁时产生了短期影响，直到8岁时才持续。此外，相对于年龄较大的队列，年龄较小的队列在小学早期阶段的考试分数要高得多。我们记录了由于项目实施差异而导致的计划影响程度的变化。