Table 7. Student Characteristics at Baselines
5.2 Student Characteristics at Baselines 5.2.1 Demographics and Home Life We compared student background data collected during baselines across school types in order to uncover any fundamental differences between the population of Bridge PSL public school students and the population of traditional public school students. See Appendix A3.2 Baseline Student Characteristics for a detailed description of each of the demographic variables. Table 7 below shows the average values of each student background characteristic from the sample of students present at both baselines and endlines,25 across grades. Differences between the student sample at Bridge PSL public schools and the traditional public schools are indicated through t-tests.26
Bridge PSL Public Schools
Traditional Public Schools
275
321
10.78 47%
11.33 46%
-0.55* 1%
19% 25% 29% 27%
28% 29% 21% 22%
-9%* -4% 8%* 5%
92% 98% 2.46 84% 77% 87%
93% 100% 2.73 88% 88% 96%
-1% -2%+ -0.27** -4% -11%** -9%**
1% 2.24 67% 95% 63%
1% 2.20 59% 94% 67%
0% 0.04 8%+ 1% -4%
66% 25% 25% 85%
69% 29% 27% 87%
-3% -4% -2% -2%
65% 55% 46%
70% 58% 53%
-5% -3% -7%+
64% 20% 40% 49% 14% 40% 19%
76% 18% 45% 54% 17% 46% 25%
-12%** 2% -5% -5% -3% -6% -6%
Count Demographics Mean Age % Female Grade Level Breakdown Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Education History Attended School Last Year % Attended Any ECE Years of ECE % Attended Beginner % Attended Nursery % Attended Kindergarten Meals % With No Meals Average # of Meals % Who Had Breakfast % Who Had Lunch % Who Had Dinner Assets % Has Radio % Has Television % Has Electricity % Has Cellphone Language Exposure % Speaks English at Home % Listens to Radio % Watches TV Parent Involvement % Receive Homework Help If Give Help, % by Parent % Reads Out Loud with Parent % Are Read To If Read To, % by Parent If Listens to Radio, % with Parent If Watches TV, % with Parent
Difference
** p<0.01, * p<0.05, + p<0.1
Statistically significant differences occur for five demographic variables: Age, Years of ECE, Attendance of Nursery Class, Attendance of Kindergarten, and Homework Help. 25 This table is replicated for the full sample of baseline students (regardless of whether or not they were assessed during endlines), and the results are essentially the same. See Appendix A3.2 Baseline Student Characteristics. 26 Note that corrections for multiple hypothesis testing have been left out, as such corrections would only adjust to make statistical significance less likely.
The average Bridge PSL public school student is about 0.5 years younger than the average traditional public school student and has fewer years of ECE. This age difference likely stems from the Bridge approach to
Learning in Liberia: Literacy and Numeracy Gains in Year 1
Learning in Liberia: Literacy and Numeracy Gains in Year 1
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