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A short form of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children was derived from the original 90 items. An exploratory factor analysis of each factor identified the four items from each of the original factors with the highest eigenvalues. These items were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The best fit was obtained for an 8-factor, 32-item model. The short form evidenced good convergent validity with parent ratings obtained from the Child Behavior Checklist, the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory, and the University of California at Los Angeles Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (UCLA PTSD RI). Norms (t-scores and percentiles based on raw scores) were calculated by age and by gender. The short form has promise as a screening measure with parents in settings like a child advocacy center.

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PurposeThe study aims to provide insight on the potential effectiveness of demand-side financing for catalyzing improved educational outcomes in Malawi; and, given the extent of cost-related constraints to school contexts in other low-income countries, the results have relevance for education policy decisions more broadly.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilizes a non-equivalent groups research design to compare the educational experiences and outcomes of two student groups – those who did and those who did not receive a needs-based scholarship to attend secondary school and college in the Dowa, Kasungu, and Lilongwe Districts of Malawi. The authors assess impacts across a range of short and medium-term outcomes, including: school attendance, withdrawal, attainment, graduation, employment status, employment quality, and post-schooling income.FindingsThe scholarship substantially reduces the household cost of participation in school, and reduces the distance travelled to school. As a result, scholarship recipients attain between 1 and 1.5 years of additional schooling and graduate at higher rates. In terms of post-schooling outcomes, recipients are in higher wage-earning occupations after leaving school. Overall, results suggest that scholarships are an effective demand-side strategy for improving educational attainment, progression, and potentially longer-term labor market outcomes.Originality/valueThe study adds new evidence on policy approaches for expanding access to educational opportunities and increasing labor market outcomes in a context (Malawi specifically and sub-Saharan Africa more broadly) where evidence on such demand-side interventions is still growing.

This study utilizes a non-equivalent groups research design to compare the educational experiences and outcomes of two student groups – those who did and those who did not receive a needs-based scholarship to attend secondary school and college in the Dowa, Kasungu, and Lilongwe Districts of Malawi. We assess impacts across a range of short and medium-term outcomes, including: school attendance, withdrawal, attainment, graduation, employment status, employment quality, and post-schooling income. The scholarship substantially reduces the household cost of participation in school, and reduces the distance travelled to school. As a result, we find that scholarship recipients attain between 1 and 1.5 years of additional school and graduate at higher rates. In terms of post-schooling outcomes, we find that recipients are in higher wage-earning occupations after leaving school. Overall, results suggest that scholarships are an effective demand-side strategy for improving schooling attainment, progression, and potentially longer-term labor market outcomes.