Impact Data - Sisimpur
Most impact occurred among children exposed to print materials only.
Sisimpur is an adaptation co-production of Sesame Street, the educational television series broadcast in the United States (US), localised by Bangladeshi producers to meet the needs of children in Bangladesh. (Please see Related Summaries below for further details). Sisimpur is based on a Statement of Educational Objectives developed in consultation with Bangladeshi educational experts from a range of fields, including early child development, literacy, mathematics, science, and culture. Each segment of the series presents educational messages that are drawn from these objectives. Sisimpur aims to not only help prepare children for school by exposing them to basic skills but also to provide them with knowledge in the realms of socio-emotional development, life skills, and cultural understanding.
Research goals of the 5-month intervention, which was conducted in 12 registered non-government primary schools (RNGPS) in Monhordi and Raipura Upazilas in Narsingdi district, included: (i) assessing the degree to which the Sisimpur pilot preschool programme is successful in effecting changes in knowledge and skills, and school readiness among children; and (ii) examining the effectiveness of curriculum and materials among the intended audience (preschool-aged children in Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MOPME) schools and their teachers). Components of the intervention included classroom materials (audio-visual and print) on pre-literacy, pre-math, health, environment, and art, as well as a 3-day teacher training.
Research and Computing Services Private Limited (RCS) carried out assessments of children's knowledge before and after the 5-month intervention. RCS also used a qualitative approach: observations of 12 classroom sessions in the intervention schools, 12 exit interviews with teachers who received training in using Sisimpur materials in the classroom, and 12 in-depth interviews with teachers implementing the project in the classroom.
The study was conducted among 3 participant groups: children (boys and girls aged 3 to 7 years), caregivers/parents, and MOPME school teachers who received training on Sisimpur were assigned to 3 groups: a group that received Sisimpur print materials (Exp 1), a group that received print materials and DVDs (Exp 2), and a control group that did not receive Sisimpur materials. Children were assessed on their skills prior to and after the intervention. Teachers participating in the intervention received training in implementing the curriculum and using the materials and activities in their classrooms; they participated in exit and in-depth interviews to gather feedback on the usefulness of the materials and training workshops. Field data were collected from May 2012 to December 2012. Exit interviews with teachers occurred in May 2012. Caregivers (mothers) were interviewed in early June 2012. Baseline interviews with children were conducted in June 2012. In-depth interviews and classroom observations were carried out in November 2012. Endline data were collected in December 2012, 5 months after launching teachers training workshops in each area.
Overall, analyses found that the Sisimpur intervention had a positive impact on: (i) school readiness (SRI), (ii) numeracy, (iii) knowledge of shapes, and (iv) knowledge of the environment. These effects were over and above the effects of child age, child gender, caregiver education, family income, and children's prior knowledge. Evidence of impact was not found for literacy, health, hygiene, and nutrition outcomes.
For SRI, numeracy, and environment knowledge, children in Exp 1 (print only) scored higher than those in the control schools at post-test, whereas children in Exp 2 (print + DVD) performed similarly to those in the control group. For instance, at post-test on learning outcomes:
- With regard to SRI (range of 0-40), control group scored 31.6, compared to 33.9 amongst the intervention group that received print only (Exp 1) and 31.7 amongst the intervention group that received print + DVD (Exp 2).
- With regard to numeracy, the numbers (range of 0-22) were 18.6 for control, 20.1 for Exp 1, and 19.0 for Exp 2.
- With regard to shapes (range of 0-3), the scores were 2.3 for the control and 2.8 for both the Exp 1 and Exp 2 groups.
- Schools in the intervention received all Sisimpur materials.
- Charts/posters were visible in the classrooms.
- Teachers reported using the materials daily.
- Teachers felt it was easy to integrate Sisimpur materials in their classroom curriculum.
- Classroom observations revealed that only a few materials were used and not all materials were available in class.
- Use of materials depended on the availability of time and their complexity (e.g., children did not understand the rules for some games).
Teachers reported finding the materials to be enjoyable for both teachers and children, effective for teaching, easy to understand and use; they felt confident about using the materials in the classroom. They thought the project was helpful for early childhood education and introduced child-friendly materials in the classroom. Furthermore, they believed that the materials made a difference to adopting new approaches to teaching and children showed greater interest in learning. They would like the materials to be more durable and larger, and for some materials to include words as well as letters.
PowerPoint presentation: "An Impact Assessment of an Educational Pilot Project with Sisimpur and the Bangladesh Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MOPME)", August 2013, sent via email from June Lee to The Communication Initiative on December 17 2013. © 2013 "Sesame Street" ® and associated characters, trademarks, and design elements are owned and licensed by Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved.
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