Integrating AIM-ECD CR Child Development Items into Multi-Topic Household Surveys : Design and Implementation Guidelines

Overview & Synopsis

In 2015, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) brought global attention to the key role that early childhood education plays in shaping a child’s future success, emphasizing the critical first 1,000 days of life. Since then, a surge of global initiatives has been launched to improve early childhood education. However, a major obstacle persisted: the lack of globally comparable measurement tools, particularly for assessing the development of children aged 5-6 years. This gap has posed a significant challenge in effectively tracking progress and evaluating the impact of these initiatives on child development outcomes. To bridge this gap, the World Bank launched two key tools in 2020 as part of the Anchor Items for the Measurement of Early Childhood Development (AIM-ECD): the Caregiver Report (CR) and Direct Assessment (DA). These tools provide a comprehensive framework for measuring critical developmental areas, such as early literacy, numeracy, executive functioning, and socio-emotional skills. While the Direct Assessment (DA) involves direct interaction with the child for in-depth assessments, the Caregiver Report (CR) relies on caregiver reports, offering valuable insights into a child’s development and the socio-economic factors that influence it. This Guidebook begins with an introduction highlighting the importance of early childhood development (ECD) and the need for its measurement. It then outlines the components of AIM-ECD, its development process, and the contexts in which it has been implemented. The third section explains the AIM-ECD Caregiver Report and how both the child development items, and additional background questions can be integrated into a multi-topic household survey and training procedures. Section four discusses sampling and weighting considerations for incorporating the Caregiver Report into such surveys. Finally, section five presents an example of a regression model that can be used to explore the factors influencing children’s development. By following the guidance outlined in this guidebook, users will be well-equipped to collect valuable ECD data using CR in multi-topic household surveys. Ultimately, this data will play a crucial role in improving early childhood education and fostering better developmental outcomes for children worldwide.