Early Childhood Indicators

Recognizing the need to identify the level, nature, and impact of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs on children and their families, this theme issue of "Coordinators' Notebook" seeks to complement and further the international efforts at collecting information on ECCD for use at national and international levels. Following the introduction, a review article, "In Search of Early Childhood Indicators" (Robert G. Myers), outlines some of the general questions about indicators, with special reference to ECCD indicators, and offers 16 possible indicators for debate, strongly emphasizing that these need to be critically reviewed across different settings. The indicators are organized in the following categories: (1) coverage, access, and use; (2) program quality; (3) political will as shown in policy and financing; (4) costs and expenditures; and (5) status of or effects on children and parents. A second article summarizes activities of the Consultative Group on ECCD related to indicator development: a review of instruments and measures, construction of a child development profile, and a search for ECCD indicators in five countries. The findings of these five national-level case studies, conducted in collaboration with the Consultative Group on ECCD on the review and development of ECCD indicators, are then presented for Namibia, Nepal, Jamaica, Philippines, and Colombia. The work on reviewing, development, and sometimes field-testing indicators provides a platform for useful discussions around ECCD. Case studies highlight the need to build capacities within countries to enable them to carry out the development of appropriate indicators at country/sub-country levels. The journal's regular feature, "Network Notes," reports on activities, meetings, and the calendar of the Secretariat and of the Partners of the Consultative Group on ECCD. (KB)