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The impact of a Caribbean home-visiting child development program on cognitive skills

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  • Janssens, Wendy
  • Rosemberg, Cristina

Abstract

This paper provides a short-term impact evaluation of a home-visiting Early Child Development (ECD) program in the Caribbean aimed at vulnerable children from birth to three years. The analysis is based on a quasi-experimental research design including approximately four hundred children in treatment and comparable control communities. The differences-in-differences methodology estimates intention-to-treat effects. One year after implementation, we find no significant effects on the cognitive development of the average child, but pronounced differences by birth cohort. The program has significantly improved Fine Motor Skills and Visual Reception scores, related to early reading and writing abilities, of the youngest children aged below 18 months at program start. There is no program impact on the older cohort, whose cognitive development appears to be more strongly correlated with center-based ECD services. Language development has not improved for either cohort. The findings suggest that an early window of opportunities may exist for home-based programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Janssens, Wendy & Rosemberg, Cristina, 2014. "The impact of a Caribbean home-visiting child development program on cognitive skills," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 22-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:39:y:2014:i:c:p:22-37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.12.003
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Early childhood development; Cognitive skills; Home-based intervention; Impact evaluation; The Caribbean;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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