Evaluation of Play to Grow Flex

Assessment
Written By Oxford MeasurEd

Client:             Right to Play

Duration:        2024 - Present

Geography:     Uganda

Solutions:        Evaluation

Right to Play developed Play to Grow in 2022, in collaboration with Unbounded Associates, as part of a series of new play-based interventions directed to strengthening early years education and delivering psychosocial support. The programme supports caregivers of children aged 3 to 6 through an education programme built to develop key parenting skills and strengthen their bond with their child. After piloting Play to Grow in Tanzania and Uganda in 2023, it was adapted into Play to Grow Flex to address the particular needs of communities affected by protracted crises, such as conflict and displacement. Play to Grow Flex is currently being piloted in Uganda’s Adjumani and Isingiro districts.

Play To Grow Flex is delivered by Parent Educators recruited from the same communities to which participants belong, to foster trust. These Parent Educators conduct periodical education sessions, parent support groups and home visits over a period of six months. In addition to 24 regular sessions originally designed for Play to Grow, Play to Grow Flex delivers two sessions focusing on the impact that adversity has on children and their caregivers. All these components are supplemented by contextualised radio messages, that reinforce the main themes guiding the programme.  

Oxford MeasurEd was commissioned to undertake an evaluation to assess the feasibility of Play to Grow Flex. The evaluation will assess implementation quality, promising practices, and the program's alignment with its intended outcomes. The results will help refine the programme for future effectiveness studies, as well as provide lessons for future programming around parent support and early childhood education interventions.

Key Activities:

  • Desk-based reviews of programmatic documents and wider literature to assess the strength of evidence against Play to Grow Flex’s Theory of Change

  • Interviews with key programme stakeholders, including parents, caregivers, parent educators and project coordinators

  • A survey of parents and caregivers

  • Piloting a school readiness assessment, to analyse its appropriateness to measure learning outcomes in future effectiveness trials of Play to Grow Flex

Oxford MeasurEd
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