Transcript Early Childhood Development (ECD) Scales: Overview & Lessons Learned Dr. Ghazala Rafique Aga Khan University Pakistan Regional Consultative Meetings on SEAMEO Basic Education Standards (SEA-BES) &

Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Scales: Overview & Lessons Learned
Dr. Ghazala Rafique
Aga Khan University
Pakistan
Regional Consultative Meetings on SEAMEO
Basic Education Standards (SEA-BES) & SouthEast
Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM)
4 - 5 November 2014
Penang, Malaysia
Early Learning and Development Standards
(ELDS)
• Early Learning and Development standards
(ELDS) have been developed by a number of
countries in East Asia and Pacific with the
support of UNICEF
• Standards developed for all domains of child
development (as defined by the countries)
• They include competences that children are
expected to acquire in each domain
ELDS Domains
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Physical development and well-being
Socio-emotional competencies
Intellectual development
Creative and aesthetic
Cultural and spiritual development
Cultural, Contextual Early Learning and
Development Assessment
• Culturally and contextually appropriate
assessment of ECD is important to:
– Monitor child development in the context of
school readiness and learning outcomes
– Track the development of vulnerable and at-risk
children
– Improve teaching- learning process and materials
– Analyze the impact of early childhood policies and
programs on children
Genesis of East Asia-Pacific Early Child
Development Scale (EAP-ECDS)
• Many countries in East Asia Pacific supported that
the assessment of children should encompass all
dimensions of children’s learning and development
• No globally accepted ECD assessment tools existed
that could inform about what children understand,
know and can do
• Developing a culturally and conceptually appropriate
assessment tool to validate that learning and
development goals, as defined in each country’s
ELDS/Curricula, are achieved
Initiation of East Asia-Pacific Early Child
Development Scales (EAP-ECDS)
• Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood
(ARNEC) initiated the development EAP-ECD scale to
equip East Asian and Pacific countries with a
common measurement tool that can assess the
holistic developmental progress of children ranging
in age from 3 to 5 years.
• Multi-country initiative managed by ARNEC with
support from UNICEF EAPRO and the Open Society
Foundation and implemented by the University of
Hong Kong (HKU)
Phase I: Development of the Scale
• Selection of items to be used in a tool to
assess early child development in the EAP
region
– These items were based on a comprehensive desk
review of the Early Learning and Development
Standards from 7 countries in the Region
Source: HKU Research Team
EAP-ECDS Dissemination
Workshop Oct 1-3, 2014
Development of the Items
Converted indicators Form a 100-item measure
to items
Selected indicators
in each category
Determined # of indicators
in each category
Developed categories +
sub-categories
Established an
Indicator Database
To construct a 100-item
regionally-sensitive measure
Based on the proportion of the total # of
indicators in each category
7 categories
1738 indicators for children aged 3, 4,
and 5 from seven countries’ ELDSs
 Focus on rationale and process
Source: HKU Research Team
EAP-ECDS Dissemination
Workshop Oct 1-3, 2014
Phase II: Revision and Refinement of the
Scale (Pilot Studies)
• Pilot testing of selected items in children aged
3-5 from three countries (Fiji, Mongolia, and
China)
• Scale modification based on the results
• Development of a final revised version of EAPECDS
Pilot study
Mongolia
Fiji
China
Modification
Sent draft to
countries
Translation
& checking
Field trials
Field Consultancy Support
Source: HKU Research Team
EAP-ECDS Dissemination
Workshop Oct 1-3, 2014
Evaluating Effectiveness of the Scale
• Reliability
– Cronbach’s alpha: > .70
• Validity
– Content validity: expert review
– Age Validity: older children scoring significantly higher
than younger children
• Age Appropriateness
– Cross-cultural differences
– Item discrimination
– Item facility
The Revised Scale after Phase II
1. Approaches to Learning
7 items
2. Cognitive Development
21 items
3. Cultural Knowledge and Participation
10 items
4. Language and Emergent Literacy
16 items
5. Motor Development
7 items
6. Health, Hygiene and Safety
9 items
7. Socio-Emotional Development
15 items
Total
85 items
Source: HKU Research Team
EAP-ECDS Dissemination
Workshop Oct 1-3, 2014
Phase III: Final Validation of the Scale
• Construct norms across the region on
representative samples from each country
• Assess psychometric properties such as testretest reliability
• Comparisons across different domains and
groups (age, gender, urban/rural)
• Correlations between parent ratings and EAPECDS domains and total scores
EAP-ECDS - Way Forward
• Data Analysis with the provided dataset to
address country-specific research questions
• Fine-tuning ELDS
• Curriculum revision
• Mainstreaming EAP ECDS for National Research
Initiatives and M&E mechanism
• Feed into ECCD policy framework development
• Improve coordination among existing systems –
ELDS, curriculum, teacher training, etc.
Challenges for Developing new Scales
• Defining and implementing learning and
development goals require systematic efforts
and country commitment (from national, subnational levels to schools and teachers)
• Another challenge in developing a scale for
multiple countries is the issue of item bias and
it is crucial to ensure that items are fair to
children with different cultural background