@article{wolf_experimental_2019, title = {Experimental {Impacts} of the “{Quality} {Preschool} for {Ghana}” {Interventions} on {Teacher} {Professional} {Well}-being, {Classroom} {Quality}, and {Children}’s {School} {Readiness}}, volume = {12}, issn = {1934-5747, 1934-5739}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19345747.2018.1517199}, doi = {10.1080/19345747.2018.1517199}, abstract = {We assessed the impacts of a teacher professional development program for public and private kindergartens in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. We examined impacts on teacher professional well-being, classroom quality, and children’s readiness during one school year. This cluster-randomized trial included 240 schools (teachers N ¼ 444; children N ¼ 3,345, Mage ¼ 5.2) randomly assigned to one of three conditions: teacher training (TT), teacher training plus parental-awareness meetings (TTPA), and controls. The programs incorporated workshops and in-classroom coaching for teachers and video-based discussion groups for parents. Moderate impacts were found on some dimensions of professional well-being (reduced burnout in the TT and TTPA conditions, reduced turnover in the TT condition), classroom quality (increased emotional support/behavior management in the TT and TTPA conditions, support for student expression in the TT condition), and small impacts on multiple domains of children’s school readiness (in the TT condition). The parental-awareness meetings had counteracting effects on child school readiness outcomes. Implications for policy and practice are discussed for Ghana and for early childhood education in low- and middle-income countries.}, language = {en}, number = {1}, urldate = {2020-05-16}, journal = {Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness}, author = {Wolf, Sharon and Aber, J. Lawrence and Behrman, Jere R. and Tsinigo, Edward}, month = jan, year = {2019}, note = {shortDOI: 10/ggjrcj KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1080/19345747.2018.1517199 10/ggjrcj 2339240:S3WAE3PS 2405685:H52RQ6MY 2405685:JXYTEU3W}, keywords = {Ghana, \_\_\_working\_potential\_duplicate, classroom quality, early childhood education, kindergarten, school readiness, teacher training and coaching}, pages = {10--37}, } @article{wolf_cumulative_2015, title = {Cumulative {Risk} and {Teacher} {Well}-{Being} in the {Democratic} {Republic} of the {Congo}}, volume = {59}, doi = {10.1086/682902}, number = {4}, journal = {Comparative Education Review}, author = {Wolf, Sharon and Torrente, Catalina and McCoy, Marissa and Rasheed, Damira and Aber, J. Lawrence}, year = {2015}, note = {shortDOI: 10/gftr57 KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1086/682902 10/gftr57 2405685:CW48D6C7}, keywords = {C:DRC}, } @article{ford_cognitive_2019, title = {A cognitive assessment tool designed for data collection in the field in low-and middle-income countries}, volume = {14}, issn = {1745-4999}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499919829217}, doi = {10.1177/1745499919829217}, abstract = {The Rapid Assessment of Cognitive and Emotional Regulation (RACER) is a tablet-based assessment tool for children that measures executive function (EF) skills. Instructions that are brief and visually presented; game-like tasks are designed to easily engage children regardless of literacy level and variable test administration settings. RACER measures inhibitory control and working memory. This study presents the theoretical rationale and empirical evidence for tablet-based assessments of EF, the process of administering the RACER assessments. The current sample consists of students in Lebanon (N=1900) and Niger (N=850). The results indicate that individual differences in EF can be assessed by the RACER tablet tasks. Specifically, we demonstrate that EF scores are associated in expected ways with age and that tasks function similarly to what has been observed in high-income countries. The feasibility and utility for researchers, practitioners, and clinicians, of this cognitive assessment tool is discussed.}, language = {en}, number = {1}, journal = {Research in Comparative and International Education}, author = {Ford, Cassie B. and Kim, Ha Yeon and Brown, Lindsay and Aber, J. Lawrence and Sheridan, Margaret A.}, year = {2019}, note = {shortDOI: 10/ggcdmq KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1177/1745499919829217 10/ggcdmq 2339240:LIPC5YY2 2339240:TL333DE5 2339240:XVBLDC46 2339240:Z5BEQNRN 2405685:3PXAARND 2405685:JSZ4DA4J 2405685:K8AE89HH}, pages = {141--157}, } @article{wolf_preliminary_2015, title = {Preliminary impacts of the “{Learning} to {Read} in a {Healing} {Classroom}” intervention on teacher well-being in the {Democratic} {Republic} of the {Congo}}, volume = {52}, issn = {0742-051X}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X1500116X}, doi = {10.1016/j.tate.2015.08.002}, abstract = {This article examines the impacts of a partial year of implementation of Learning to Read in a Healing Classroom (LRHC), a curricular and social-emotional teacher professional development intervention in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on teacher professional well-being. Using a cluster-randomized control trial, this study assesses LRHC impacts on a sample of 346 teachers from 64 primary schools. We find statistically significant increases in job dissatisfaction for female teachers and increases in motivation for the least experienced teachers. Implications are discussed for the role of teacher professional development and well-being in improving education in low resource and conflict-affected contexts.}, language = {en}, urldate = {2020-01-29}, journal = {Teaching and Teacher Education}, author = {Wolf, Sharon and Torrente, Catalina and Frisoli, Paul and Weisenhorn, Nina and Shivshanker, Anjuli and Annan, Jeannie and Aber, J. Lawrence}, month = nov, year = {2015}, note = {shortDOI: 10/f7zk3n KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1016/j.tate.2015.08.002 10/f7zk3n 2339240:J5TZZGLX 2405685:FVVYBX4Y 2405685:JGP79B9M}, keywords = {Democratic Republic of the Congo, International education, Motivation, Teacher professional development}, pages = {24--36}, } @techreport{aber_opportunities_2015, title = {Opportunities for {Equitable} {Access} to {Quality} {Basic} {Education} ({OPEQ}): {Final} {Report} on the {Impact} of the {OPEQ} {Intervention} in the {Democratic} {Republic} of {Congo}}, url = {https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/document/642/ed-opportunitiesforequitableaccesstoqualitybasiceducation.pdf}, urldate = {2021-06-23}, author = {Aber, J. Lawrence and Starkey, Leighann and Tubbs, Carly and Torrente, Catalina and Johnston, Brian and Wolf, Sharon and Shivshanker, Anjuli and Annan, Jeannie}, month = oct, year = {2015}, note = {KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 2339240:ABHT5QJ4 2405685:38QVMKG5}, } @techreport{wolf_learning_2021, title = {Learning in the time of a pandemic and implications for returning to school: effects of {COVID}-19 in {Ghana}}, url = {https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=cpre_workingpapers}, abstract = {The Covid-19 pandemic led to school closures all over the world, leaving children across diverse contexts without formal education for nearly a year. Remote-learning programs were designed and rapidly implemented to promote learning continuity throughout the crisis. There were inequalities in who was able to access remote-learning during school closures, though little systematic evidence documenting these gaps exists, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, we surveyed 1,844 children in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, as well as their caregivers and teachers, regarding their engagement in remote learning, literacy and math test scores, and household economic hardships. We document inequalities in access to and engagement in remote-learning activities during the ten months in 2020 in which schools were closed in Ghana. Specifically, children in private schools and children in highersocioeconomic status households engaged in remote-learning at higher rates and received more support from their schools and caregivers. Further, controlling for demographic characteristics and pre-pandemic learning outcomes, we document gaps in children’s literacy and math test scores, with food insecure and low-SES children, as well as children enrolled in public schools before the pandemic, performing significantly worse than their peers (0.2-0.3 SD gap). Finally, children in households that experienced more economic hardships during the pandemic engaged in fewer remote learning activities and had lower literacy and numeracy assessment scores. The findings speak to the potential consequences of increased inequalities due to the pandemic as schools re-open in Ghana and around the world and provide insight into how schools may address these inequalities as children return to the classroom.}, language = {en}, institution = {Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE)}, author = {Wolf, Sharon and Aurino, Elisabetta and Suntheimer, Noelle and Avornyo, Esinam and Tsinigo, Edward and Jordan, Jasmine and Samanhyia, Soloman and Aber, J Lawrence and Behrman, Jere R}, month = aug, year = {2021}, note = {KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 2339240:IHPERKZR 2405685:Z7A2W9D6}, keywords = {⛔ No DOI found}, } @article{aber_promoting_2017, title = {Promoting children's learning and development in conflict-affected countries: {Testing} change process in the {Democratic} {Republic} of the {Congo}}, volume = {29}, issn = {0954-5794, 1469-2198}, shorttitle = {Promoting children's learning and development in conflict-affected countries}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/development-and-psychopathology/article/promoting-childrens-learning-and-development-in-conflictaffected-countries-testing-change-process-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/60172D9E82B56CD90063C3176FF18AEB}, doi = {10.1017/s0954579416001139}, abstract = {Improving children's learning and development in conflict-affected countries is critically important for breaking the intergenerational transmission of violence and poverty. Yet there is currently a stunning lack of rigorous evidence as to whether and how programs to improve learning and development in conflict-affected countries actually work to bolster children's academic learning and socioemotional development. This study tests a theory of change derived from the fields of developmental psychopathology and social ecology about how a school-based universal socioemotional learning program, the International Rescue Committee's Learning to Read in a Healing Classroom (LRHC), impacts children's learning and development. The study was implemented in three conflict-affected provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and employed a cluster-randomized waitlist control design to estimate impact. Using multilevel structural equation modeling techniques, we found support for the central pathways in the LRHC theory of change. Specifically, we found that LRHC differentially impacted dimensions of the quality of the school and classroom environment at the end of the first year of the intervention, and that in turn these dimensions of quality were differentially associated with child academic and socioemotional outcomes. Future implications and directions are discussed.}, language = {en}, number = {1}, urldate = {2019-10-02}, journal = {Development and Psychopathology}, author = {Aber, J. Lawrence and Tubbs, Carly and Torrente, Catalina and Halpin, Peter F. and Johnston, Brian and Starkey, Leighann and Shivshanker, Anjuli and Annan, Jeannie and Seidman, Edward and Wolf, Sharon}, year = {2017}, note = {Number: 1 KerkoCite.ItemAlsoKnownAs: 10.1017/s0954579416001139 10/gf86mp 2339240:4FUAN56W 2339240:5P755MDC 2405685:VZHC337C}, pages = {53--67}, }