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Breaking the Cycle of Deprivation: An Experimental Evaluation of an Early Childhood Intervention

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  • Orla Doyle

    (University College Dublin)

Abstract

Deprivation early in life has multiple long term consequences for both the individual and society. An increasing body of evidence finds that targeted, early interventions aimed at at-risk children and their families can reduce socioeconomic inequalities in children’s skills and capabilities. This paper describes a randomised control trial (RCT) evaluation of a five-year preventative programme which aims to improve the school readiness skills of socioeconomically disadvantaged children. The Preparing for Life (PFL) programme is one of the first studies in Ireland to use random assignment to experimentally modify the environment of high risk families and track its impact over time. This paper describes the design and motivation for the study, the randomisation procedure adopted and the baseline data collected. Using Monte Carlo permutation testing, it finds that the randomisation procedure was successful as there are no systematic differences between the treatment and control groups at baseline. This indicates that future analysis of treatment effects over the course of the five year evaluation can be causally attributed to the programme and used to determine the impact of Preparing for Life on children’s school readiness skills.

Suggested Citation

  • Orla Doyle, 2012. "Breaking the Cycle of Deprivation: An Experimental Evaluation of an Early Childhood Intervention," Working Papers 201217, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201217
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    File URL: http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/WP12_17.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Orla Doyle & Louise McEntee & Kelly A. McNamara, 2010. "Skills, Capabilities and Inequalities at School Entry in a Disadvantaged Community," Working Papers 201014, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    2. Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Human Capital Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 821, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Orla Doyle & Carly Cheevers & Sarah Finnegan & Louise McEntee & Kelly McNamara, 2009. "Report on Children's Profile at School Entry 2008-2009: Evaluation of the 'Preparing For Life' Early Childhood Intervention Programme," Working Papers 200924, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    4. Joseph P. Romano & Michael Wolf, 2005. "Exact and Approximate Stepdown Methods for Multiple Hypothesis Testing," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 100, pages 94-108, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Orla Doyle & Nick Fitzpatrick & Judy Lovett & Caroline Rawdon, 2015. "Early intervention and child health: Evidence from a Dublin-based randomized controlled trial," Working Papers 201505, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    2. Orla Doyle & Liam Delaney & Christine O'Farrelly & Nick Fitzpatrick & Michael Daly, 2015. "Can Early Intervention Improve Maternal Well-being? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," Working Papers 2015-015, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    3. Orla Doyle & Colm Harmon & James J. Heckman & Caitriona Logue & Seong Moon, 2013. "Measuring Investment in Human Capital Formation: An Experimental Analysis of Early Life Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 19316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Mark E. McGovern, 2016. "Progress and the Lack of Progress in Addressing Infant Health and Infant Health Inequalities in Ireland during the 20th Century," Economics Working Papers 16-05, Queen's Management School, Queen's University Belfast.
    5. Doyle, Orla & Fitzpatrick, Nick & Lovett, Judy & Rawdon, Caroline, 2015. "Early intervention and child physical health: Evidence from a Dublin-based randomized controlled trial," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 224-245.
    6. Orla Doyle, 2017. "The First 2,000 Days and Child Skills: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment of Home Visiting," Working Papers 2017-054, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Early childhood intervention; RCT; school readiness; permutation testing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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