Where are the four year olds? Preschool participation and learning outcomes

This paper presents results from the first two years of the multi-strand India Early Childhood Education Impact (IECEI) study, a five year longitudinal study that tracks a cohort of 13,000 four-year olds in three major states... [ view full abstract ]

This paper presents results from the first two years of the multi-strand India Early Childhood Education Impact (IECEI) study, a five year longitudinal study that tracks a cohort of 13,000 four-year olds in three major states of India. The study proposes to fill some major gaps in our existing knowledge about how young children in India navigate through the early years between preschool and school. In this paper we examine the nature of children’s participation in preschool, explore the relationship between participation in these programs and children’s school readiness levels as well as the effect of ECE on learning in the early grades of primary school.
Analysis of data suggests that the concept of ‘participation’ among four year olds has a number of dimensions and can be unpacked in several different ways. Accordingly, we begin with a discussion on the kinds of measurements attempted and the way in which participation categories developed. We then examine some key dimensions of participation among four year olds, such as the kinds of institutions that they attend, as well as the nature and stability of this participation. Based on the above, we describe the major trajectories followed by children between the age of 3.5 and 5.5, and attempt to generate an estimate of “dosage” or children’s exposure to ECE over the course of two years. Finally, we examine the effects of these different trajectories on children’s school readiness and subsequent early grade learning outcomes.