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Raikes A, Rao N, Yoshikawa H, Cohrssen C, Behrman J, Cappa C, Devercelli A, Lopez Boo F, McCoy D, Richter L. Global tracking of access and quality in early childhood care and education. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION POLICY 2023; 17:14. [PMID: 37153856 PMCID: PMC10151214 DOI: 10.1186/s40723-023-00116-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Investments in early childhood care and education (ECCE) have contributed to a growing demand for internationally comparable data. Yet data on access to quality ECCE are not routinely collected in many countries, leading to limited information on equitable access to ECCE, quality of provision, and the impact on learning and wellbeing outcomes. This paper outlines the current status of global measurement of access to quality ECCE and identifies issues with definitions, availability, and accuracy of ECCE data across countries and outlines paths forward. We argue that estimates of access to ECCE should be based on children's participation in quality ECCE across multiple program types, rather than enrollment or attendance alone, given the critical importance of dosage and participation for ensuring positive benefits from ECCE. Governments, international organizations, and researchers all have roles to play in setting standards to define and monitor ECCE, generating workable tools for measuring nationally, and globally investing in national monitoring systems and routine household surveys to obtain accurate estimates of access to quality ECCE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abbie Raikes
- College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, USA
| | - Nirmala Rao
- Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Linda Richter
- University of Witswatersand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Stunting, maternal investment, and early child development in Serbian Roma children aged 36-59 months. BULLETIN DE L'INSTITUT ETNOGRAPHIQUE 2022. [DOI: 10.2298/gei2203175c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Stunting has shown negative associations with poor child developmental
indicators. However, in poor ethnic minority populations the evidence for
associations of anthropometric growth indicators and child development is
limited. This study examined associations between stunting, height for age z
scores (HAZ) and other determinants, with Early Child Development (ECD) among
children in poor Roma communities. Publicly available data from Multiple
Indicator Cluster Surveys for Serbian Roma settlements were used to assess a
cohort of 1075 Roma children aged 36-59 months. Indicators of child growth
and nutrition included children?s HAZ scores and stunting. ECD assessed
physical, learning/cognition, literacy/numeracy and socio-emotional
developmental domains. Multiple regressions were used to assess the
association between HAZ and stunting with ECD, controlling for maternal and
child confounders. Sum score for ECD in Roma children was low, and 18% of
children were stunted. After adjusting for potential confounders, HAZ and
stunting revealed no significant associations with developmental outcomes.
Instead, increasing maternal investment was positively associated with
overall ECD score and higher scores in each of the individual developmental
domains, except socio-emotional. In a low-resource setting, maternal
investment appeared a good predictor of child development: it may buffer
against the effects of poverty and stimulate child development.
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Zhang Y, Kang L, Zhao J, Song PY, Jiang PF, Lu C. Assessing the Inequality of Early Child Development in China - A Population-Based Study. LANCET REGIONAL HEALTH-WESTERN PACIFIC 2021; 14:100221. [PMID: 34671753 PMCID: PMC8484893 DOI: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Background As a country with the second largest child population in the world, China has little population-level evidence on who has been left behind in early childhood development (ECD). Knowledge of inequalities in ECD will inform the Chinese government in policies on promoting ECD and guide global-level monitoring on ECD progress. Methods Using data from the first wave of ECD surveys conducted in China at the least-developed region, most-developed region, and a megacity (Shanghai) in 2017 and 2018, we measured population-level ECD with early Human Capability Index for a total of 63,559 children aged 36-59 months old. A child was classified as developmentally on track if his/her overall development score was above the 20th percentile of the pooled populations. We measured inequalities in ECD with the absolute inequality in five domains: gender/sex, family income, maternal schooling, residential Hukou, and migrant- or left-behind status. Besides observed inequalities, we used a multilevel logistic regression model to generate adjusted inequalities. Findings Children developmentally on track ranges from 71% (95% CI 70 to 72%) in the least-developed region, 82% (95% CI 81 to 83%) in the most-developed region, and 86% (95% CI 85 to 87%) in Shanghai. Significant unadjusted inequalities in ECD were observed in all five dimensions. After controlling for other socioeconomic factors, significant differences remained in three dimensions: those living in the poorest families, or with lower maternal schooling, or boys were less likely to be developmentally on track than their counterparts (lower by 10[95% CI 8 to 11]-15[95% CI 13 to 17], 7[95% CI 5 to 10]-10[95% CI 7 to 12], and 5[95% CI 4 to 6]-6[95% CI 5 to 8] percentage points respectively). Interpretation Efforts of reducing ECD inequalities in China shall focus primarily on reducing poverty and improving maternal education. Funding National Natural Science Foundation of China (81773443), Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology (2018SHZDZX05), Shanghai Municipal Health Commission (GWV-10.1-XK07; GDEK201708), Shanghai Education Committee, Chinese Social Science Foundation (BFA140046), Macao Tong Chai Charity Association, Beijing Sany Charitable Foundation, China Medical Board (#20-388), UNICEF, Faculty Grant of Brigham & Women's Hospital, Economic and Social Research Council [grant reference number ES/T003936/1’] as a UKRI Collective Fund Award “UKRI GCRF Harnessing the Power of Global Data to Support Young Children's Learning and Development Collaborative."
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunting Zhang
- Child Health Advocacy Institute, National Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong University.,School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Le Kang
- China Institute for Educational Finance Research, Peking University
| | - Jin Zhao
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, National Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong University
| | | | - Prof Fan Jiang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, National Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong University.,Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong University
| | - Chunling Lu
- Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Wang X, Zhang Y, Zhao J, Shan W, Zhang Z, Wang G, Jiang Y, Zhu W, Zhang D, He Y, Mao H, Qu J, Zhu Q, Jiang F. Cohort Profile: The Shanghai Children's Health, Education and Lifestyle Evaluation, Preschool (SCHEDULE-P) study. Int J Epidemiol 2021; 50:391-399. [PMID: 33575735 DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyaa279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xuelai Wang
- Child Health Advocacy Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yunting Zhang
- Child Health Advocacy Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jin Zhao
- Child Health Advocacy Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Wenjie Shan
- Child Health Advocacy Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Zichen Zhang
- Child Health Advocacy Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Guanghai Wang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yanrui Jiang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Weiming Zhu
- Department of Epidemiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Donglan Zhang
- Child Health Advocacy Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.,Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Youhua He
- Preschool Education Committee, Chinese Society of Education, Shanghai, China
| | - Hongmei Mao
- Department of Preschool Education Information, Information Center, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiajie Qu
- Department of Basic Education, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Shanghai, China
| | - Qi Zhu
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Fan Jiang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.,Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Shanghai, China
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Pushparatnam A, Luna Bazaldua DA, Holla A, Azevedo JP, Clarke M, Devercelli A. Measuring Early Childhood Development Among 4-6 Year Olds: The Identification of Psychometrically Robust Items Across Diverse Contexts. Front Public Health 2021; 9:569448. [PMID: 33614575 PMCID: PMC7888256 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.569448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 01/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The last 15 years have seen an explosion of measurement tools for assessing the development of young children in low- and middle- income countries. This paper builds on and contributes to that literature by identifying a core set of caregiver-report items and a core set of direct assessment items that measure key developmental domains for children aged 4–6 (48–83 months) and that demonstrate adequate psychometric properties across diverse contexts, the first in this age group to the authors' knowledge. Data were harmonized from previous early childhood measurement efforts in 12 countries that all used the same base measurement tool. Data analyses yielded 20 caregiver report items and 84 child direct assessment items (grouped into 16 tasks) that show strong item-level statistics across countries and that cover the domains of early literacy, early numeracy, executive functioning, and social-emotional competencies. Next steps include adding data and items from other measurement tools to the same analytical framework and field testing across a number of contexts and early childhood measurement efforts. The vision is for the resulting core sets of items, along with guidance on data collection, management, and analysis, to serve as global public goods so that they can (i) present a starting point for linking across different early childhood measurement tools for children aged 4–6; (ii) increase quality across measurement efforts; and (iii) facilitate the scale up of early childhood measurement. When supplemented with items that capture local contexts and their measurement needs, these core sets of items should help to advance understanding of universal and context-specific factors that underlie child development and thus help policymakers make decisions that ensure children receive the quality early childhood care and education they need in order to reach their full potential.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Alaka Holla
- World Bank Group, Washington, DC, United States
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Sincovich A, Gregory T, Zanon C, Santos DD, Lynch J, Brinkman SA. Measuring early child development in low and middle income countries: Investigating the validity of the early Human Capability Index. SSM Popul Health 2020; 11:100613. [PMID: 32637554 PMCID: PMC7327282 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2020] [Revised: 04/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Inclusion of early child development in the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda raises issues of how this goal should be monitored, particularly in low resource settings. The aim of this paper was to explore the validity of the early Human Capability Index (eHCI); a population measure designed to capture the holistic development of children aged 3-5 years. Convergent, divergent, discriminant and concurrent validity were examined by exploring the associations between eHCI domains and child (sex, age, stunting status, preschool attendance) and family (maternal education, home learning environment) characteristics. Analyses were repeated using data from seven low and middle income countries: Brazil (n = 1810), China (n = 11421), Kiribati (n = 8339), Lao PDR (n = 7493), Samoa (n = 12191), Tonga (n = 6214), and Tuvalu (n = 549). Correlations and linear regressions provide evidence that within these country samples, the tool is capturing the aspects of early child development that it was designed to measure. Although the tool was intended to measure development of children aged 3-5 years, results suggest it can be validly applied to children aged 2-6 years. The eHCI is free, requires minimal implementation resources, captures development across domains and abilities, and is designed to allow cultural and contextual concepts to be included. The eHCI appears psychometrically robust in diverse country contexts and could enable evaluation of early years policies and programs, as well as monitoring of children's development to track progress towards the Sustainable Development Agenda.
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Key Words
- AEDC, Australian Early Development Census
- ASQ, Ages and Stages Questionnaire
- CI, confidence interval
- CREDI, Caregiver Reported Early Development Instrument
- EAP-ECDS, East Asia Pacific Early Child Development Scales
- ECD, early child development
- EDI, Early Development Instrument
- Early child development
- Early human capability index
- IDELA, International Development and Early Learning Assessment
- LMICs, low and middle income countries
- Low and middle income countries
- MICS-ECDI, Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Early Childhood Development Index
- MODEL, Measure of Development and Early Learning
- PDR, People's Democratic Republic
- Population monitoring
- Program evaluation
- SDG, Sustainable Development Goal
- Sustainable development goals
- eHCI, early Human Capability Index
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Affiliation(s)
- Alanna Sincovich
- School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, Level 9, Adelaide Health and Medical Science Building, 57 North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Level 15, 31 Flinders St., Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
| | - Tess Gregory
- School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, Level 9, Adelaide Health and Medical Science Building, 57 North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Level 15, 31 Flinders St., Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
| | - Cristian Zanon
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Personality, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Ramiro Barcelos, 2600, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 90035-003, Brazil
| | - Daniel D. Santos
- Department of Economy, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 908, Butantã, São Paulo, 05508-010, Brazil
| | - John Lynch
- School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, Level 9, Adelaide Health and Medical Science Building, 57 North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, First Floor, 5 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1UD, United Kingdom
| | - Sally A. Brinkman
- School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, Level 9, Adelaide Health and Medical Science Building, 57 North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Level 15, 31 Flinders St., Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
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Rao N, Mirpuri S, Sincovich A, Brinkman SA. Overcoming challenges in measuring early childhood development across cultures. THE LANCET CHILD & ADOLESCENT HEALTH 2020; 4:352-354. [DOI: 10.1016/s2352-4642(20)30026-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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