The trial was a pragmatic cluster (by village) randomized controlled trial with an additional matched control group. Sampling included 310 villages in the following 9 districts:
- Bengkulu, Bengkulu Province
- Sarolangun, Jambi Province
- Lampung Timur, Lampung Province
- Majalengka, Jawa Barat Province
- Rembang, Jawa Tengah Province
- Kulon Progo, DI Yogyakarta Province
- Ketapang, Kalimantan Barat Province
- Sidenreng Rappang, Sulawesi Selatan Province
- Lombok Tengah, Nusa Tenggara Barat Province
It was planned that batch 1 would receive the first block grants at the start of the project. Block grants for batch 2 and batch 3 were to follow after nine and eighteen months respectively. A selection of villages was randomly allocated to either batch 1 or batch 3 (within each district), this sampling feature was used during the evaluation design.
The team made every attempt to interview all children aged 12 to 23 months included at baseline, in the fourth-round survey in 2016. Additional instruments were also used to conduct a deeper analysis of school readiness for children attending ECEDs. As a result, teachers in ECEDs and lower grades in elementary schools were included as respondents to provider their assessment of their students. Children also participated in testing designed for different age groups (6-7 years old or 8-9 years old).
