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Improving childcare quality at scale: the effects of “From Zero to Forever”

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  • Raquel Bernal
  • Sara María Ramírez

Abstract

The focus in developing countries has shifted from increasing access to early childhood education to improving its quality. However, large scale studies of childcare quality improvement are scarce. In this paper we study the immediate and medium-term effects of a large-scale expansion of integrated early education services on child development, by analyzing the expansion of the Colombian national early childhood strategy known as “From Zero to Forever” between 2011 and 2013. The results indicate that the increased access to enhanced early education had a large immediate effect on language that still persists five years into the intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Raquel Bernal & Sara María Ramírez, 2018. "Improving childcare quality at scale: the effects of “From Zero to Forever”," Documentos CEDE 16600, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:016600
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    File URL: https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstream/handle/1992/41039/dcede2018-40.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Herbst, Chris M. & Tekin, Erdal, 2010. "Child care subsidies and child development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 618-638, August.
    2. Raquel Bernal & Michael P. Keane, 2011. "Child Care Choices and Children's Cognitive Achievement: The Case of Single Mothers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(3), pages 459-512.
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    12. Bernal, Raquel, 2015. "The impact of a vocational education program for childcare providers on children's well-being," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 165-183.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nores, Milagros & Bernal, Raquel & Barnett, W. Steven, 2019. "Center-based care for infants and toddlers: The aeioTU randomized trial," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 30-43.
    2. Raquel Bernal & Michele Giannola & Milagros Nores, 2022. "The Effect of Center-Based Early Education on Disadvantaged Children's Developmental Trajectories: Experimental Evidence from Colombia," Working Papers 2022-027, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    early childhood development; early education; poverty; impact evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate

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