International Development and Early Learning Assessment Technical Working Paper

Abstract

Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs help ensure that young children fulfill their right to healthy development and education, and ultimately assist them in reaching their full potential. There is mounting evidence from around the world demonstrating that the first years of life are critical in the development of children as they shape cognitive, social and language skills, as well as lifelong approaches to learning. The review concluded that despite the existence of ECCD tools in the global space, none of the instruments available at the time offered a balance between 1) international applicability, especially within low and middle income country contexts, 2) feasibility and ease of administration and adaptation and 3) psychometric rigor. With these criteria in mind, and lessons learned from years of early childhood programming, Save the Children began the process of developing and validating the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA). The goal for IDELA was to develop a holistic, rigorous, open source instrument that is feasible and easily adapted to different national and cultural contexts. IDELA was developed with an aim to support continuous program improvement across Save the Children’s and partners’ numerous country sites, to increase accountability among ECCD initiatives globally, and to offer cohesive and ongoing data and evidence about children’s learning and development across countries that can help governments and global actors to bring successful ECCD programs to scale.