This study assessed a 6-month phone-based early childhood development (ECD) intervention for Syrian and Jordanian caregivers in Jordan

This study is a causal impact evaluation of Watch, Play, Learn (WPL), a program by Sesame Workshop that consists of videos that aim to bring playful early learning opportunities to children, especially those affected by conflict and crisis, via mobile phones. This study focused on the effects of WPL math and social-emotional skills content delivered to Venezuelan migrants and Colombian children living in communities in Colombia where families and children face challenges in accessing essential services, including early education. Implementation was led by the Colombia office of Innovations for Poverty Action.

This study is a causal impact evaluation of Watch, Play, Learn (WPL), a program by Sesame Workshop that consists of videos that aim to bring playful early learning opportunities to children, especially those affected by conflict and crisis, via mobile phones. This study focused on the effects of WPL math and social-emotional skills content delivered to Venezuelan migrants and Colombian children living in communities in Colombia where families and children face challenges in accessing essential services, including early education. Implementation was led by the Colombia office of Innovations for Poverty Action.

The recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria hit an already war-torn region and populations in the Middle East. They have left lasting psychological and physical trauma for 8.8 million affected people in Northern Syria alone–a region where 4.1 million people already depend on humanitarian assistance. While immediate emergency responses are essential, once the initial crises pass, children impacted by conflict and crises still need to grow up and learn, coping with painful memories and unpredictable and often hostile environments. They deserve and need support that can help them to navigate the adversities on their own. Unfortunately, the disruptions in the aftermath of crises can exacerbate the emotional and psychological toll on children, affecting their physical and emotional well-being, learning and development over the long term.

Key messages for researchers and practitioners:Key messages for researchers and practitioners:

When studying brief and skill-targeted social-emotional learning activities, consider calculating measures of dosage: how much (quantity), how often (repetition pattern), and for how long (duration) the activities are implemented. Examine these measures as potential predictors of program outcomes or moderators of the program impact; and use the information to determine the “optimal dosage” when scaling up.

Link these measures with teachers’ and enumerators’ reports on implementation to provide better guidance on overall implementation quality. Examine these measures as potential predictors of program outcomes or moderators of the program impact; and use the information to determine the “optimal dosage” when scaling up.

Link these measures with teachers’ and enumerators’ reports on implementation to provide better guidance on overall implementation quality."

The original Response to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ: Connor-Smith et al., 2000) was designed to capture the ways that individuals react to and cope with specific sources of stress, including parental depression, family conflict, and academic stressors. In order to assess local and refugee children’s stress experiences and stress responses in Nigerien public school settings, researchers adapted the child self-report version of the RSQ-Academic Problems (RSQ-AP). It includes two subscales intended to assess: (a) academic problems stress and (b) involuntary engagement response to stress.

The Self-Regulation Assessment-Assessor Report (SRA-AR) is a measurement tool used to capture assessors’ perceptions of of Nigerian refugee and Nigerien children’s skills at regulating their behavior during an assessment. The SRA-AR was developed based on the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment-Assessor Report (PSRA-AR) (Smith-Donald et al., 2007). The developers tested this measurement tool in Niger.

To generate the evidence needed to understand, improve and share what works to help refugee children learn and succeed in school, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and NYU Global TIES for Children (TIES/NYU) established a strategic partnership, the Evidence for Action: Education in Emergencies (3EA) initiative. In Lebanon, this program was designed and delivered to complement the Lebanese public education system and enhance learning and retention of Syrian refugee children through remedial tutoring programs infused with climate-targeted social-emotional learning (SEL) principles and practices (Tutoring in a Healing Classrooms - HCT) and skill-targeted SEL interventions (Mindfulness activities, Brain Games, 5-Component SEL Curriculum).

To generate the evidence needed to understand, improve and share what works to help refugee children learn and succeed in school, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and NYU Global TIES for Children (TIES/NYU) established a strategic partnership, the Evidence for Action: Education in Emergencies (3EA) initiative. 3EA in Niger was designed and delivered to help strengthen the public education system in Niger and to serve refugee, IDP and host community children in the hard-hit Diffa region. It strove to achieve this through a remedial tutoring program infused with climate-targeted social-emotional learning (SEL) principles and practices (Tutoring in a Healing Classrooms), and adding skill-targeted SEL interventions (Mindfulness activities, Brain Games).

To generate the evidence needed to understand, improve and share what works to help refugee children learn and succeed in school, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and NYU Global TIES for Children (TIES/NYU) established a strategic partnership, the Evidence for Action: Education in Emergencies (3EA) initiative. 3EA in Niger was designed and delivered to help strengthen the public education system in Niger and to serve refugee, IDP and host community children in the hard-hit Diffa region. It strove to achieve this through a remedial tutoring program infused with climate-targeted social-emotional learning (SEL) principles and practices (Tutoring in a Healing Classrooms), and adding skill-targeted SEL interventions (Mindfulness activities, Brain Games).

Lebanon Year 1 Deidentified Days

Few of us were prepared to take on the role of teacher in the wake of COVID-19 school closures – one we often take for granted. Indeed, if this past year has taught us anything, it should be the value of student contact with a teacher at school. Research confirms that teachers are the most important school-based factor in student learning, and their effects can be detected well into adulthood. But while we expect teachers to don the hats of social worker, psychologist, and mentor, among others, we collectively do little to support them in their work. This is especially true in developing countries, where teachers are often embedded in and products of a struggling educational system that cannot or does not adequately support them. As millions of children return to schools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a moral obligation to support the well-being of teachers and, by extension, a healthier classroom culture. An investment in social-emotional learning (SEL) can help.

The original Response to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ: Connor-Smith et al., 2000) was designed to capture the ways that individuals react to and cope with specific sources of stress, including parental depression, family conflict, and academic stressors. In order to assess refugee children’s stress experiences and stress responses in Lebanese public school settings, researchers adapted the child self-report version of the RSQ-Academic Problems (RSQ-AP). It includes two subscales intended to assess: (a) academic problems stress and (b) involuntary engagement response to stress.

The Self-Regulation Assessment-Assessor Report (SRA-AR) is a measurement tool used to capture assessors’ perceptions of children’s skills at regulating their behavior during an assessment. The SRA-AR was developed based on the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment-Assessor Report (PSRA-AR) (Smith-Donald et al., 2007). The developers tested this measurement tool in Lebanon.

The Child-Friendly School Questionnaire for Syrian Children in Lebanon (CFSQ-SL) is a self-report survey that was used to capture primary-school aged Syrian refugee students’ perceptions of the climate of Lebanese public schools. CFSQ-SL was adapted and shortened from the original CFSQ developed by UNICEF.

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Chile on 27 February 2010, displacing nearly 2,000 children aged less than five years to emergency housing camps. Nine months later, this study assessed the needs of 140 displaced 0–5-year-old children in six domains: caregiver stability and protection; health; housing; nutrition; psychosocial situation; and stimulation. Multivariate regression was applied to examine the degree to which emotional, physical, and social needs were associated with baseline characteristics and exposure to the earthquake, to stressful events, and to ongoing risks in the proximal post-earthquake context. In each domain, 20 per cent or fewer children had unmet needs. Of all children in the sample, 20 per cent had unmet needs in multiple domains. Children's emotional, physical, and social needs were associated with ongoing exposures amenable to intervention, more than with baseline characteristics or epicentre proximity. Relief efforts should address multiple interrelated domains of child well-being and ongoing risks in post-disaster settings.