Kenya Preschool Study

NCT07506603 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2000036561
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 2,017
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This research project aims to design and evaluate an innovative model for childcare provision in rural Kenya that emphasizes child development and economic participation for women in a cost-effective manner. Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, the project will examine the impact of allowing children in Tharaka Nithi County (TNC) in Kenya to attend pre-school from the age of 3 versus the current early childhood development programming in Kenya which is for children aged 4 and above. The potential to offer early childhood development care for 3-year-olds is a key investment to be considered with high potential for expansion across Kenya and beyond. The intervention will introduce an enhanced curriculum for pre-primary 1 (PP1) and will be adapted for the Kenyan context and include coaching of teachers and caregivers. Using a rigorous research design, and by collecting data from both children and parents, the project will capture data on child development, employment, income, intra-household dynamics and broader women empowerment indicators. The project seeks to impact policies aimed at advancing both child development as well as women's economic empowerment in Kenya.

Conditions

Early Education; Early Childhood Development

Keywords

Preschool access; Preschool Intervention; Women's Empowerment; Education

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Mean Score International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA)

  IDELA is commonly used for program evaluation. Total score range from 0-100% with higher scores indicating better performance.

  1 year and 2 years

• Mean Score Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI)- Full Scale IQ (FSIQ)

  WPPSI assesses cognitive development using engaging, game-like tasks to measure Verbal Comprehension, Visual Spatial, Fluid Reasoning, Working Memory, and Processing Speed. Total score range 40 to 160. Higher scores indicate higher IQ.

  1 year and 2 years

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Mean Score WPPSI-IV Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI)

  1 year and 2 years

• Mean Score Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA)

  Baseline, 1 year and 2 years

• Mean Score Quality of the Classroom Environment using an adapted version of the Measuring Early Learning Environments (MELE)

  1 year and 2 years

• Mean Scores International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) Subscales

  1 year and 2 years

• Teacher Satisfaction

  1 year and 2 years

Study Arms (2)

Pre-Primary 1 (PP1) - 3 year old

EXPERIMENTAL

Children in Tharaka Nithi County in Kenya will attend preschool from the age of 3 years old. The intervention will introduce an enhanced curriculum that was adapted for the Kenyan context and included coaching of preschool teachers as child caretakers.

Behavioral: PP1

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Current early childhood development programming in Kenya which is for children aged 4 years old and above.

Interventions

PP1 BEHAVIORAL

The intervention targets 3-4-year-olds and is using the existing infrastructure of PP1. PP1 is the first part of the pre-primary program, which currently admits only 4-year-old children for one year. Under the proposed intervention, children will attend PP1 starting when they are 3 years old. This curriculum will be enhanced and extended for the broader age range.

Pre-Primary 1 (PP1) - 3 year old

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 3 Years - 5 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• School level:
• schools must offer PP1 classes
• schools must have sufficient available capacity and some level of infrastructure provision to support an additional 5-8 children (3-year-olds), and
• should not have more than five 3-year-olds already in attendance of the PP1 class in the year prior to the intervention, nor a playgroup offered by the school
• Household/child level:
• have children who will turn approximately 3 years old by the start of the academic year
• have demonstrated a willingness to send their children to the local school for the relevant fee.
• households within a 3 km radius of all eligible schools.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yale University: lead
• Jameel (Abdul Latif) Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL): collaborator
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology: collaborator
• Gates (Bill and Melinda) Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

School system

Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

Location

Study Officials

• Konstantinos (Costas) Meghir, PhD

  Yale University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Helen Baker-Henningham, PhD

  Bangor University and University of West Indies

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Simon Onywere, PhD

  Kenyatta University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Dorothy Naivasha, PhD

  Tharaka Nithi County

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Parents and their children aged 2 - 5 years (approximately) at baseline who live in Tharaka Nithi County in Kenya (a predominantly poor population).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 26, 2026
• First Posted: April 1, 2026
• Study Start: December 4, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 21, 2025
• Study Completion: December 21, 2025
• Last Updated: April 1, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

KE (1)