Promoting inclusive early childhood development and education in Kenya: impact and participatory process evaluation

• To assess the impact of the inclusive early childhood development and education (ECDE) provision on learning, educational and developmental outcomes of pre-school children accessing ECDE services in selected schools and surrounding communities in Kenya
• To evaluate the process of the delivery of the inclusive ECDE services as perceived by different stakeholders involved in the project
• To generate evidence into the use of ECDE services by children with disabilities in Kenya, gathering evidence of the key barriers and facilitators
• To understand the needs and perceptions of children, their families, teachers, organisations of people with disabilities (OPDs) and others, and their recommendations for what could work in ECDE services

There is evidence to suggest that access to early childhood development and education (ECDE) has increased for non-disabled children in recent years in Kenya, but little is known about the provision for marginalised children, including those with disabilities or living in extreme poverty.

There is a growing urgency to understand how children with disabilities do or do not currently access the provision of ECDE, and to improve curriculum and teaching methods to support the inclusion of children with disabilities in inclusive ECDE provision alongside other children.

This study is embedded within an intervention project designed to improve the provision of ECDE for children with disabilities in selected schools and surrounding communities in Homa Bay and Kakuma refugee camp. The proposed research will initially evaluate the needs and perceptions of key stakeholders, and will subsequently examine the effectiveness of the proposed intervention. More specifically, it will assess the impact of the inclusive ECDE provision on learning, educational and developmental outcomes of children with and without disabilities.

The study will also collect evidence on the process of the delivery of the interventions, how they worked, who benefited from them and who did not, and provide learning for the intervention scale-up.

What are the implications for policy and practice?

This study has adopted a non-randomised cluster control field trial design to assess the impact of inclusive ECDE provision on learning, educational and developmental outcomes of pre-school children.

The study will use the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) tool developed by Save the Children to measure development and learning outcomes among children in ECDE classes. This tool has been rigorously tested and validated for use in a range of socio-cultural contexts globally. Impact assessment data will be triangulated with educational assessment data collected routinely from teachers records of learners’ progress, and a qualitative process evaluation to understand the intervention delivery process, and stakeholders’ perceptions and experiences of the project.

Throughout the course of the implementation project, project staff will use the study findings to inform the development of the inclusive ECDE strategies, while ongoing feedback loops will be used to troubleshoot recurring issues which arise during implementation. The project will document successes and lessons learned on inclusive ECDE (in partnership with relevant government authorities) to inform evidence and action plans for expansion.

Results of the study will be communicated to the Kenya Ministry of Education, development partners, the schools and other stakeholders through meetings, reports, policy briefs, and peer-reviewed publications.

The study is taking place as part of the Disability Inclusive Development (DID) programme, which is funded by UK aid.

• Read the baseline summary – 2022 (pdf)
• Read the baseline report – 2022 (pdf)
• Read the report on disability-inclusive IDELA assessments – 2023 (pdf)