Matching Interventions for Foundational Learning Gaps: A Pilot Study of Positive Parenting Program in Low-Income Households

Despite large investments in basic education, foundational learning outcomes remain low in Nigeria. A first-order, underexplored constraint is limited parental confidence and capacity to support learning, particularly among children from low-income households. This study proposes piloting a Positive Parenting Program (PPP) aimed at strengthening parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and home-based learning practices by leveraging Parent–Teacher Association (PTA) platforms. We will collaborate with TENSAI Academy and the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), and target parents of children aged 5-8 in primary 2 in public and low-cost primary schools in Osun State, Nigeria. Over an academic term, the PPP delivers structured modules and interactions focused on supporting parents, based on age-appropriate socio-emotional learning (SEL) and child engagement skills, to provide psycho-learning support. With insights from our funded J-PAL proposal development, we will pilot with 30 primary schools, split across treatments and control groups. The evaluation assesses whether foundational learning gaps can be reduced by empowering parents to support their children’s socio-emotional learning development at home. Also, by amplifying parental support capacity, we will examine whether the hybrid PTA-delivered PPP improves children’s foundational reading and numeracy skills. This pilot will identify and validate measurement instruments to capture outcomes, cost, and outcome effectiveness, implementation challenges, and prospects for the broader evaluation.