Strengthening Learning and Child Development in Brazilian Preschools

Kids playing during school
Photo credit: Fundação Bracell

Although the vast majority of four to five-year-old children in Brazil already attend preschool (91.5 percent in 2022), there are still important challenges regarding the quality of the education offered.  

J-PAL Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Fundação Bracell are joining forces to address some of these challenges in Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul, and São Paulo through the project “Strengthening Learning and Child Development in Brazilian Preschools.” The project seeks to identify promising preschool programs, evaluate their effectiveness, and support the scale-up of those that actually improve the outcomes of children. 

We are interested in programs that are sustainable in time and can eventually be expanded. Therefore, we will bring together organizations that have developed promising programs, state and municipal governments that are interested in having those programs in their schools, and academics that can evaluate the programs and help to improve them.

The project has three phases:

three boxes presenting the project's different phases
  • Phase 1: Diagnostic. To have a good diagnostic of the status of early childhood education in Brazil we will establish relationships with state and municipal secretariats of education, review socio-demographic and educational indicators in Brazil, map the existing literature, review successful experiences around the world, and identify organizations implementing preschool programs in Brazil.
  • Phase 2: Evaluation of pilots. We will open a call for proposals to nonprofit organizations and universities implementing programs on preschool education, to apply to receive funding to implement and evaluate their solution in collaboration with municipalities, states. and J-PAL researchers. This will be complemented with trainings to fine-tune the programs and prepare the municipalities and implementing organizations for the evaluation.
  • Phase 3: Support for scale-up. We will support the programs that are proven effective to get to the next level. This includes evaluating them in new contexts (if needed) and providing technical support for their scale-up in partnership with states. 

How can organizations implementing programs participate in the project?

To set the ground for the evaluations, we will have an introductory training on impact evaluations, evidence use, and theory of change. Organizations and universities implementing programs on preschool education can apply for the training, explaining the program which they would like to evaluate; if we have more applicants than slots, we will extend an invitation to the most promising. 

During the training, we will identify the organizations with projects suitable for a randomized evaluation and introduce them to researchers in the J-PAL network. Afterward, the researchers and organizations can apply jointly for evaluation funds.

flowchart displaying how to apply to participate in the project
For researchers

Request for Proposals (RFP)

The project funds the implementation of randomized impact evaluations in Brazil focused on projects that evaluate the impact of preschool programs on learnings and child development in Brazil.

For more details about the RFP, such as research agenda themes and eligibility, please click the "Learn more" button.

FAQ

Who can participate in the training?

The training will be open to organizations implementing preschool programs in Brazil that could be eventually implemented within municipalities Sao Paulo, Bahia and/or Mato Grosso do Sul. During the training we will identify the programs that could be evaluated through a randomized evaluation and connect them with researchers from J-PAL’s academic network.

When will the training take place?

We plan to have the training in the second semester of 2024.

Who can participate in the call for proposals for evaluation funding?

The call for proposals will be open to organizations that are implementing preschool programs in Brazil that:

  1. Could be eventually implemented within municipalities of Sao Paulo, Bahia and/or Mato Grosso do Sul.
  2. Are working with a researcher of J-PAL’s network to design a randomized evaluation of the program.

Can only organizations that participate in the training apply for implementation and evaluation funding?

No, all organizations that fulfill the requirements stated in the previous answer can apply, even if they did not participate in the training. However, the trainings are a great opportunity to learn and to get in touch with researchers from the  J-PAL network.

When will the call for proposals for implementation and evaluation funding take place?

We plan to have the call in the second semester of 2024.

Partner

Fundação Bracell

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