The "Pathways to Preschool" project, the result of a partnership between J-PAL Latin America and the Caribbean, Fundação Bracell, Itaú Social, academia, and the public sector, aims to strengthen learning and child development in preschools of Brazil.
With the overall goal of generating evidence for high-quality public early childhood education, we aim to:
The project is the result of a partnership between organizations that joined efforts to generate evidence for planning the path to scale of initiatives that can strengthen child development and learning in preschool.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that public policies are based on scientific evidence. J-PAL co-founders Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo were awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for their approach to alleviating poverty.
The Bracell Foundation is a non-governmental organization that seeks to leverage the transformative power of education from early childhood to develop people's full potential and improve their lives. To this end, it supports and develops initiatives focused on Early Childhood Education, the age group in which the foundations for full human development are established.
Itaú Social is dedicated to improving learning and school trajectories in preschool and the final years of elementary school, reducing inequalities based on race/color, gender, disability and socioeconomic status.
The project occurs in collaboration with state and municipal Departments of Education in São Paulo, Bahia, and Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as representative entities, public sector organizations, early childhood education professionals, and academics.
With a duration of four and a half years, the project is divided into three phases:
Start of building partnerships with state and municipal Departments of Education, contributing to the work in collaboration between states and municipalities, literature review, and selection of promising preschool programs.
Implementation and impact evaluation of preschool programs aligned with the National Common Core Curriculum (BNCC) and the National Curriculum Guidelines for Early Childhood Education.
Support for technology transfer and adaptation for scale up of programs with proven positive impact.
Aims to intentionally strengthen the development of children's social-emotional skills (such as identifying, expressing, and managing emotions; interpersonal skills; growth mindset; and responsible decision-making) through a set of short activities based on teacher practices and easily adaptable to various preschool settings. The impact evaluation, coordinated by J-PAL network researcher Alejandro Ganimian, will be conducted in 200 preschools to analyze the program's effects on children's social-emotional development.
Equipe: Alejandro Ganimian, Ana Colagrossi, Stephanie Jones
Learn more: https://easel.gse.harvard.edu/news-and-resources/kernels
Aims to promote the development of social-emotional skills and mathematical concepts for children in the final year of early childhood education through playful activities that are easily integrated into teachers' pedagogical practices. The impact evaluation, coordinated by J-PAL LAC network researcher Luiz Scorzafave, will assess the program’s effects on children’s social-emotional development and mathematical skills.
Team: Luiz Scorzafave, Chrissie Ferreira de Carvalho, Nara Cortes Andrade, Neander Abreu, Bianca Becker, Ana Rita Barbosa
Partners of the “Pathways to Preschool” project, the Curiosamente program team, and Esther Duflo gathered to exchange experiences regarding the implementation and impact evaluation of the Math Games program, which was adapted to the Brazilian context and named “Curiosamente” in Brazil.
Members of J-PAL (Esther Duflo, Claudia Macias, Priscila Costa e Élida de Aquino), Insper (Cristine Pinto), Fundação Bracell (Alejandra Velasco, Filomena Siqueira e Eduardo Queiroz), Itaú Social (Denilson Aluizio), research team ( Luiz Scorzafave e Roberta Loboda), and implementing partners(Chrissie Carvalho e Nara Côrtes) at Insper. Credits: J-PAL LAC
Partners of the “Pathways to Preschool” project and the Curiosamente program team came together for a workshop on communication using clear and accessible language for public leaders, and for the collaborative development of the project’s work plan, led by Priscila Costa, Research and Policy Manager at J-PAL LAC.
Members of J-PAL LAC ( Élida e Priscila), Fundação Bracell (Filomena Siqueira), Itaú Social (Denilson Aluizio), Research team ( Luiz Scorzafave e Roberta Loboda), and implementing partners(Chrissie Carvalho e Nara Côrtes) no Insper. Credits: J-PAL LAC.
Committee of Experts
Composed of prominent scholars in the field of early childhood education in Brazil, the committee serves an advisory and technical support role.
Associate Professor at the Federal University of Paraná
