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MeasurementOptionsforDevelopmentofSustainableDevelopmentGoalIndicator4.2.1

Memo,GlobalAlliancetoMonitorLearning,TaskforceonTarget4.2

PreparedbyHirokazuYoshikawa,AbbieRaikes,andAliceWuermli1

June2017DRAFT

InthismemowedescribeoptionsfordevelopingameasurementstrategyatthegloballevelforTarget4.2,andspecificallyIndicator4.2.1(“Proportionofchildrenunder5yearsofagewhoaredevelopmentallyontrackinhealth,learningandpsychosocialwell-being,bysex”).Goalsforsuchastrategyincludedevelopmentofameasurethatisappropriateforcross-countrycomparisonoflevelsofdevelopmentineachofthesemajordomains(health,learninganditssubdomains,andpsychosocialwell-being);feasibletouseinnationalmonitoringandevaluation,intermsofcostandhumancapitalresources(e.g.,trainingintensityandeaseinachievingreliability);verticallyequitableinitsunits2acrossthespanofbirththrough60months;andpsychometricallysoundinreliabilityandvalidityfromstandpointsofbothclassicaltesttheoryandotherapproachessuchasIRT.

Ourmemohasthreeparts:1)Threeoptionsforaglobalmeasurementstrategy;2)weighingoptionsattheintersectionofvalidityanduse;and3)optionsfornextsteps.

A. ThreeOptionsforAGlobalMeasurementStrategy.

Option1.AnexistingmeasurecouldbechosenwithoutadaptationasasingleglobalmeasureforIndicator4.2.1.

TheSDGswheneverpossibleaimtoachieveglobalindicatorsthatarecomparableacrosscountries.IncontrasttotheMDGs,thecountriesinquestionincludeallUNmembernations,andthuscutacrosshigh-,middle-andlow-incomecountries.Thechoicetoselectasingleglobalindicatorfor4.2.1isthusquiteformidable;andsettingagoalby2030ofasingleassessment,drawnfrompreviouslearningsacrossothermeasuresthathavebeenanalyzedforvalidityacrossmultiplecountries,isimportanttoweightcarefully.

Whatdomainsofchilddevelopmentshouldsuchameasureassess?ThelanguageforIndicator4.2.1reflectsaglobalconsensusinthefieldofearlychildhooddevelopmentregardingthe

1YoshikawaandWuermli,NYUGlobalTIESforChildrenCenter;Raikes,UniversityofNebraskaMedicalCenter.WethankEliseLegault,BaelaRazaJamil,selectmembersoftheTaskforceonTarget4.2.ofGAML,andIvelinaBorisovaforcommentsonpreviousdrafts.2I.e.,foraparticularconstruct,aunitatonepointofthescale’sdistributioniscomparabletoaunitatanotherpointofthescale’sdistribution.

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multi-domainnatureofdevelopmentinthefirstyearsoflife.Domainsofphysical,cognitive,language,numeracy,andsocio-emotionaldevelopmentaretypicallyinter-related,yetdistinct,withintheagerangecovered(birththrough60months).Althoughgreatvariabilityoccursinthenatureofbehaviorsandskillsintheseoveralldomainsofdevelopment,bothwithinandacrosscountries,theconsensusconcerningthemeaningfulnessofthesedomainsincontextsofnationalECDpolicyandplanninghasbeenshownacrossmultipleregionsandnations(e.g.,Kagan&Britto,2005).

Theinclusionofmultipledomainsincludingphysical,cognitive,learning(e.g.,languageandnumeracy)andsocio-emotionaldomainsrepresentsarelativelystrongconsensusinmeasuresthathaverecentlybeenassessedacrossmultiplenations(Raikes&Anderson,2017).Theseincludeinstrumentsbasedonadult/caregiverreport,suchastheEDI(Janus&Offord,2007),theCREDI(McCoyetal.,2017)andtheUNICEFEarlyChildhoodDevelopmentIndex(Bornsteinetal.,2012;McCoyetal.,2016);aswellasinstrumentsthatdirectlyassesschildren,suchasthePRIDI(Verdisco,Cueto,&Thompson,2016),IDELA(Wolfetal.,2017),EAP-ECDS(Raoetal.,2014),theMELQOMODELmeasure(UNESCO,2017),andothers.

Despitethisrangeofrecenteffortstomeasure,incoordinatedfashion,multipledomainsofearlychildhooddevelopment,currentlynoconsensusmeasureexistsforIndicator4.2.1thatismeasuredacrossalargenumberofcountries(across,e.g.,low-,middle-andhigh-incomecountries)andmeetsothercriteriaforaTierIindicatoroftheUNStatisticalCommission(2016,2017).Thus,althoughOption1wouldbeidealifallconditionsweremetforfeasibility,relevanceandvalidityacrosscountries,inthecurrentcontextoftheSDGindicators,thereisnoalternativethatmeetsthesecriteria.Asdiscussedbelow,Option3wouldworktowardscreatingsuchasinglecriterionmeasureinthefuture.

Option2.Useanexistingcommonsetofitemsoridentifyasetofanchoritemstointegrateintonationalandregionalassessments.Atpresent,therearearangeofmeasuresthathavebeendevelopedandtestedwithincountriesandregions.Anoverviewofthesemeasuresappearsinthefirstbackgroundpaper(Anderson&Raikes,2017).Manycountrieshavealsoexpressedthedesiretobuild(eitherbyadaptingorcreatingnew)nationally-specificmeasurestopromoteongoingmonitoringofchilddevelopmentinamannerthatisalignedwithnationalstandardsandculturalexpectations.Belowwepresenttwoideasonhowcommonitemsetsoranchoritemscouldbeusedinglobalmeasurement.Common Outcome Sets. Invariousfields,theuseofCommonOutcomeSets(COS’s)hasbeenimplementedtoestablishcommonsetsofmeasuresoritemsacrossasetofevaluationorotherresearchstudies(e.g.,Gershonetal.,2013;Schmittetal.,2015;Williamsonetal.,2012).Acrosstheseinitiatives,atypicalmulti-phaseprocessincludesthefollowing.First,aconsensusgroupofexpertsandpractitioners/policyleadersisbroughttogethertoestablishagreementontheconstructsthatwillconstituteameasurementdomain.Second,criteriaformeasuresthatmaybeconsideredascandidatestocontributeitemsorentirescales/

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assessmentsareagreedupon.Third,aninventoryofmeasuresmeetingthesecriteriaisassembled,andcommonitemsortasksareidentified.Fourth,dependingontheinitiative,asingle“consensus”measuremaybedeveloped(someaspectsofwhichmaybenewlydeveloped,withothersdrawnfromexistingmeasures).Fifth,phasesofpilottesting,psychometricanalyses,andrevisionmayoccuriterativelyuntilafinalconsensusmeasureisagreedupon.Finally,ameasureanditsguidelinesforadministrationmaybedisseminatedtoawiderangeofpotentialusers,withcontinuedinputandrefinementasthemeasureentersgeneraluse.IntheareaofIndicator4.2.1,arecentinitiativetodevelopacommonsetofitemswascarriedoutaspartoftheMeasuringEarlyLearningandQualityOutcomesproject(MELQO;UNESCO,2017).MELQObeganwiththeintentofclarifyingifonemeasurewouldbesufficientformeasurementinallcountries(Option1),butmovedquicklyinthedirectionofOption2.Option2,findingacommonitemset,wasdesirablefortwomainreasons:1)becauseitwouldallowcountriestobuildonexistingmeasuresthatwerealreadydevelopedandvalidatedineachregion;and2)itwouldallowagreaterdealofflexibilitytoaddmoreculturally-responsive,nationally-specificitemsthatarenotpossibletoincludewhenrelyingononlyonemeasure.UltimatelythecommonitemsetwasdistilledintoasinglenewmeasurenamedtheMODEL,coveringdevelopmentaldomainsofsocial,cognitive,languageandliteracy,numeracy,andexecutivefunction.Cross-countryanalysesareunderwayonthismeasure(Raikesetal.2017).Measures harmonization.Multipleexistingmeasuresmaybeharmonizedusingsomeformofstandardizationtoallowforscoringonacommonscale.Twoapproachesareoutlinedbelow(butothermayberelevant):1)crosswalksamples;and2)identificationofanchoritems.Theprocessofharmonizingacrossmeasuresistypicallydonethroughidentifyingcommonitemsthatcanhelplinkthedifferentassessments(“anchoritems”)(Chanetal.,2015),and/orbyadministeringmultiplemeasuresonthesamesampletosynchronizemeasurementsandestablishthebasisforcomparingchildren’slearninganddevelopmentonthesamescale,butwithdatacollectedthroughdifferentmeasures(“crosswalksamples”).Toinvestigatethefeasibilityofthisoption,eithermultipledatasetswithasetofcommonitemsareneeded(“anchoritems”)ormultiplemeasuresmustbeadministeredtothesamechildren(“crosswalksample”),sothatcalibrationacrossdifferentmeasurescantakeplace.Forexample,anchoritemscouldbecreatedfromthosemeasuresusedinmultiplecountrieswherecertainitemshaveshownevidenceofcross-countryinvariance.Itwouldthenbenecessarytoensurethatthisscaleworksinsimilarwaysacrosscountries,arelatedbutdistinctstepinbuildinginternationalcomparability.

Crosswalksamples.Crosswalksamples(singlesamplesthatincorporateassessmentofmultipleinstruments)areusefulforfacilitatingdecisionsaboutwhattoincludeandexcludefromparticularinstrumentsindevelopingasinglesetofcommonitemsorreducedconsensusassessment.Thisisbecauseinasinglesample,multiplealternativemeasuresareassessed,allowingfordirectcalculationsofcorrelationsamongmeasures,differencesinpredictiveorotherformsofvaliditythatdonotconfoundsamplewithmeasure.Thisapproachhasbeen

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usedrecentlyinastudythataimedtoharmonizemultiplemeasuresofdepressionandsubjectivehealthamongolderadults(Gatzetal.,2015).

Anchoritems.Achallengeishowtoidentifyanchoritemsintheabsenceofany

universalmeasureorindicator.Forexample,arecenteffortintheUnitedStatestoharmonizestatelevelstandardizedassessmentsreliedonananchormeasurethatisadministeredacrossthecountry,namelytheNationalAssessmentofEducationalProgress(NAEP).Basedonthedistributionofdistrictsonthatnationalassessment,astandardizationprocedurewasusedtolinkthestate-levelassessments(Reardon,Kalogrides,&Ho,2016).IntheabsenceofacriterionoraudittestsuchastheNAEPintheU.S.example,amixofconceptualandtraditionalempiricalcriteriafrombothclassicaltesttheoryandotherapproachessuchasitem-responseanalysismaybeutilized.However,variationintaskrequirements,itemlanguage,assessorsacrossdatasets,orderofitems,andresponsecategoriesallcreatedauntingdifferencesinsourcesofmeasurementerrorevenwhenconsideredwithindomain(e.g.,languageornumeracy).Option3.Createanewuniversal“criterion”scaleofchilddevelopmentagainstwhichmanyotherpossiblemeasurescouldbeplacedThedevelopmentofanewuniversalcriterionscalecouldproceedfollowingestablishedproceduressomewhatsimilartotheonesthatledtotheMELQO,IDELAorregionalmeasures,butwithlearningssynthesizedfromallofthem.Itcouldstartwiththetwoleadinginitiativesinthisfield,whicharetheUNICEFECDI(longstanding,for3-6yearolds)andtheWHOconsortiuminstrumentfor0-3yearolds(morerecentlydeveloped).Thefirststepofpoolingitemsfrommeasuresusedinmultiplecountries,categorizingthembyoutcomedomain,andcompilinginformationonvaliditystudies,samples,andcountries,wasalsorecentlycompletedinthefirstphaseofworkoftheMELQOproject(UNESCO,2017).Acrosstheseinitiativesandothers,ECDmeasurementanalyseshaveadvancedtocross-countryinvarianceanalysesonsomeexistingmeasures.Thussomeinformationisemergingbothonthepsychometricstructureofmulti-domainassessmentsofchilddevelopmentwithincountries,aswellaswhetherthesemeasuresfunctionwellacrosscountriesinordertopermitcomparisons.Suchinformationcouldbeusedintheprocessofcreatinganew“criterion”scaleacrossthefullrangefrombirthtoage5or6thatwouldadvancethefieldtowardstestingasinglemeasure.Twoexamplescanillustratetheeffortstocreateasinglecriterionscale.WHOisleadingaconsortiumtocreateasinglecriterionscalefor0-3yearolds.UNICEF,withitsinfrastructureforconductingmultiplenationallyrepresentativesamplesinasustainedmanneracrossyears,couldadaptandextenditsECDImeasure(thusfarfor3-6yearolds)withinputfromtheinitiativesofthepastdecadethathaveledthefieldtowardscross-countrycomparablemeasures.SuchaneffortcouldintegratetheWHOscaleonsomeconstructsthatmaybesuitableformeasurementacrossthe0-3and3-6yearoldageranges.Theadvantagesofthisprocessincludetheleveragingofresourcesforlargesamplesatthecountrylevelformanycountriesthatmaynototherwisecurrentlyhavetheseresources;experienceinarangeofregions;andthelargenumberofLMICswithinwhichtheMICSiscurrentlyfielded.

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WenotethattheprocessofcreatingasinglecriterionmeasurecouldalsobenefitfromtheexperienceofthecreationandrevisionofthePISAcross-nationalassessmentsorotherssuchasTIMSS,PIRLS,etc.(andcurrentlythesupplementationofthePISAwiththePISAforDevelopment,aimedforLMICuse).Thisisparticularlyrelevanttotheextensiontorichcountriesrequiredinanydevelopmentofanewcriterionmeasure.InthePISAdevelopmentprocess,forexample,initialwide-rangingexpertconsensusonameasurementframeworkatthelevelofconstructsoccurred,followedbyconveningpanelsofexpertstodevelopitemsinspecificdomains;phasesofpre-pilotinginmultiplecountrieswithrelativelysmallsamplestoascertainmeaningofitemsandvariationinresponsetotasks,assessors,andadministrationformats;moresystematicpilotingofitemsacrosscountries;itemrevisionandselectionforlarge-scalepiloting;andfinallynationallyrepresentativeadministrationacrosscountries(OECD,2000a,2000b).ManyofthesestepshavebeencarriedoutintheECDworkoftheMELQOinitiativeandothers,butnotall.However,therearechallengesfacingsuchaneffortaswell,whichshouldbetakenintoaccount.Theyinclude:

1) Theneedtocontinuetosupportcountry-leveladaptationprocesses.Forcountry-leveluse,thestakeholderprocesstobuildconsensustowardsnationalmeasurementofearlychildhoodassessmentformonitoringpurposesandtoinformpoliciesinareassuchasqualityimprovementandteachingandlearningcanandshouldbecomprehensive.Asinglecriterionmeasurecanbeusedbutcouldalsobesupplemented,forexample,inparticularcountrieswithculturallyspecificconstructsofchilddevelopmentthatarerelevanttogoalsforchildren’slearning,behavioranddevelopment.Somecountriesmaychoosetousetheirownmeasures,andthisissupportedwithintheSDGprocess.

2) Thedefinitionof“ontrack”and“offtrack.”Nocurrentwidelyusedearlychildhooddevelopmentmeasureamongthosementionedinthisdocumenthasestablishedcutoffsforonvsofftrack.Thisisinpartbecausethesearenotdesignedasscreeningmeasures.However,thedevelopmentofnationalnormscanbedonewithoutexpectationofacross-country,uniformdefinitionofonandofftrack.TechnicalworktoestablishaconsensusonthisprocesswithinandacrosscountriesisnecessaryinthefieldofECD.

3) Theunprecedentedrangeofcountrycontexts.NoneofthecurrentinitiativesorexistingmeasuresinthefieldofECDhavebeenwidelyadministeredoranalyzedacrossbothLMICandrich-countrycontexts.ShouldasinglemeasurebedevelopedfromthebasisoftheUNICEFECDIandotherexistingmeasureswithcross-countrydata,itwillbevitaltoconsidercross-countrymeasuresthathavebeenfieldedinrichcountries,includingcurrentinitiativesoftheOECD,theEU,andotherentities.SomeoftheECDmeasuresrecentlyfieldedinmultipleLMICsarestartingtobeappliedinrichcountries;theselearningsshouldalsobeintegrated.

4) Needtoincludebothcaregiver/adultreportanddirectchildassessment.AconsensusisbuildingintheECDfieldthatmeasurementofsomedomainsofdevelopmentbenefit

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fromtheintegrationofinformationfromadultswhospendsubstantialtimewithchildren(caregivers/parents;teachers)anddirectchildassessment.Forexample,adultsfamiliarwithchildren’sbehaviorsinhomeand/orcaresettingsmaybeinabetterpositiontoobservelow-frequencybehaviorssuchasaggressionthancanbeassessedinanassessoradministeredtask.Conversely,directassessmentsmaybemoreappropriatewhencertainskillsarenotonesthatadultsinchildren’slivesareusedtonoticing,butmayneverthelessbepredictiveoflateroutcomes(e.g.,aspectsofexecutivefunction),orwhencomplexskillsbenefitfromstandardstimuli(e.g.,comprehensionofasentence).Itisundeniablethatdirectchildassessmentismorecostly,withtrainingtoreliabilitymoredifficultatscalethanwithmorestraightforwardsurvey-basedmeasures.However,optionssuchasrandomsubsamples,withinalargernationallyrepresentativesample,fordirectchildassessmentmodulesshouldbeconsidered.Thisapproachmayreducetheoverallcostsofaddingadirectchildassessmentportiontoanadult-reportedmeasureinanationallyrepresentativesample.

5) Ameasurethatverticallyequatessomedomainsofdevelopmentacrosswideragerangesthan0-3and3-6.Theverticalequatingrequiredtoachievemeasuresofsomeareasofdevelopmentthataremeaningfultomeasureacrossthefullagespanisverychallenging,giventherapidityofdevelopmentintheseyearsandthequalitativechangesinskillsthatoccur,notjustquantitative.Yetexistingmeasurescollectedacrosscountrieshaveforthemostpartbeenrestrictedtothe0-3vsthe3-6yearoldagerange.TheintegrationoftheWHOconsortiumon0-3measurementandcurrenteffortsinthe3-6yearoldsagerangewouldbecriticalforthiseffort.Itislikelythatonlysomeconstructsofdevelopmentaresuitedtointegrationacross0-3and3-6.

6) AlignmentwithlaterlearningtargetsandindicatorsinSDG4.Thecontinuumoflearninganddevelopmentstretchesfrombirthtoadulthood.Alignmentof4.2.1withindicator4.1.1,inparticular(andespeciallythegrade2or3indicator),isimportanttoenablenationstotrackhowlearningunfoldsinthefirst8yearsoflife.

7) AlignmentwithotherSDGtargetsandindicators.ThealignmentofSDG4.2.1withothergoals,targetsandindicatorsintheareasofhealth,mentalhealth,nutrition,andchildprotectionissignaledinthewordingof4.2.1,which(unliketheprimaryschoolingindicators)integrateshealthandpsychosocialwell-being.Suchalignmentcanmovebeyondhealthandpsychosocialwell-beingtoconsiderrelationshipswithotherSDGindicatorsoutsideofGoal4.

8) Integrationofmembernationinputintodevelopmentofacriterionmeasure.TheinputofUNmembernationsintothedevelopmentoftheSDGs,includingTarget4.2.,wasunprecedentedinhistory.Continuedinputintothedevelopmentofacriterionmeasurefor4.2.1isvitalforultimateuseofthemeasureatthecountrylevelandtheglobalprocessestotrackSDG4.

B. Assessingouroptions:Whichmeasurementstrategymaximizesbothvalidityand

use?

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Asingleorganizingquestiontohelpinassessingtheseoptionsmightbe:Whatapproachmaximizesvalidity,feasibilityandproductivenationalandcross-nationalusetoinformpolicyandpractice?Toanswersuchaquestion,agreementonthemeaningandevidencetosupportvaliditymustbeastartingpoint.Whatdoes“validity”meanincross-nationalmeasurementofearlychildhooddevelopment?Acentralgoalofassessmentinthefieldsofchilddevelopmentandeducationistoachievemeasurementwithevidenceofvalidity.Currentnotionsofvalidityconsideritaunitaryconstructsupportedbyevidenceinthecontextofuse.Withthenewdemandforpolicy-relevantdata,thetypesofevidencethatshouldbeweighedinassessingvalidityincludebutgobeyondolderconceptualizationsofvalidity(forexample,thetrioofcontent,criterion-related,andconstructvalidityandtheirsubtypes;Cronbach&Meehl,1955).“Validityreferstothedegreetowhichevidenceandtheorysupporttheinterpretationsoftestscoresentailedbyproposedusesoftests”(AERA,APA,&NCME,1999).Notethatthisoverallsingleconceptionofvaliditysupercedesthesubtypesofcontent,criterion-relatedandconstructvalidity.Fivekindsofevidencehavebeenputforwardtosupportvalidityaccordingtothisdefinition(Goodwin&Leech,2003).Theseincludemanyofthetraditionalsubtypesofcontent,criterion-relatedandconstructvalidity.First,evidencebasedontestcontentrequiresthatexpertconsensusbeachievedonthematchbetweenitemandtaskcontentandtheconstructthatisbeingmeasured,andwhetherthecontentreflectsbiasordifferentialmatchbetweencontentandconstructforparticulargroups(e.g.,asdefinedbygender,language,culture,etc.).Inordertomaximizethiskindofevidence,the“groupconsensus”approachintestdevelopmentandrefinement,aswellastestingexplicitlyforbiasthroughqualitativeresearch,cognitivetesting,understandingofvariationinexperienceofthetestingcontext,analysestotestformeasurementinvarianceacrossdiversepopulationsandothermethodscanbeemployed.Second,evidencebasedonresponsesoftesttakersexaminespotentialunintendedresponsessuchasthosebasedonsocialdesirability,unfamiliaritywiththeadministrationapproachortestingcontext.ThisformofevidenceinthecaseofmeasuresofIndicator4.2.1includes,forexample,analyzingreasonsfornon-responsethatgobeyondlackofunderlyingability,todiscomfort,anxiety,orresponsetotheassessorandsetting.Third,evidenceoninternalstructuretapswhetherthecomponentsofameasureadequatelyreflectthesubdomainsofaconstruct.Inthecaseofthemulti-domainmeasuresofearlychildhooddevelopment,thisincludeswhethertheinstrumentadequatelyreflectsphysical,learning,andpsychosocialdomains.Thelearningdomainisoftenconsideredtoincludepotentialsubdomainssuchaslanguage/earlyliteracy;numeracy,spatialandquantitativeskills;andexecutivefunctionorapproachestolearning.Thiskindofevidenceismostoftenanalyzedthroughexploratoryandconfirmatoryfactoranalyses.

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Fourth,evidencebasedonrelationstoothermeasuresincludestraditionalformsofcriterion-relatedandconstructvalidity,suchasconcurrent,predictive,convergent,anddiscriminantvalidity.Suchevidencealsoincludestheimportantcriterionofsensitivitytointervention.ThisisparticularlyimportantintheSDG4.2context,astheoveralltargetlinksearlychildhooddevelopmenttothequalityofpoliciesandprogramsthatsupportit.Finally,evidencebasedontheconsequencesoftestingfocusescentrallyonusesoftheassessment.Theabilityofameasuretoinformpracticeandpolicyinvolvesnotonlyfeasibilityofadministrationatlargescalewithregularperiodicity,butthelinkstopracticeandpolicydecision-making.Inthisregard,theMELQOinitiative,buildingonpriorefforts,proposedthatbothmeasurementofqualityofearlylearningenvironmentsandmeasurementofearlychildhooddevelopmentoutcomeswasnecessarytomostpowerfullyinformpolicyandpractice(UNESCO,2017).

C. NextStepsandQuestionstoGuideDiscussionTheSDGsprovideauniqueopportunityforbuildingaglobalECDmeasurementstrategythatsignificantlyenhancesthereliability,feasibilityandcomparabilityofexistingECDdata.Movingforwardonanyofthestrategiesoutlinedabovewillrequireagreaterdegreeofsystematicdatacollection,coordinationamongmeasuresdevelopersandexperts,andinputfromstakeholdersthanhastakenplaceinthepast.Belowwehaveoutlinedoptionsforpursuingconsensusonthesestrategies:

- NextStep1.Buildingonpriorconsensuswork,beginbyagreeingonageneralconceptualframework(e.g.,ofearlychildhooddevelopmentdomains)toguidemeasurement.Thiswillserveasthegroundworkforthenextstepsofclarifyingwhatcouldbemeasuredacrosscountries,andwhereexistingdatamaybeavailabletohelpinformdecisionsonconstructsanditems.Severalsuchconsensusmeetingshaveoccurredrecently;however,therearestillareasoflackofconsensussuchassomeoftheeightareasofchallengeslistedabove.

- NextStep2.AddressquestionsofvalidityinlightofthestrongpolicyemphasisofSDG-relateddata,theuniqueaspectsofearlychildhooddevelopmentrelativetolaterphasesoflearning,andtheneedtoensureequityandculturalrelevanceacrossarangeofcountries.Aconveningontechnicalstandardsandguidelinesforuse,synthesisandharmonizationofdatafromexistingmeasures;standardsforcross-countrycomparabilityoftheoptionofasinglecriterionmeasure;andthecriteriafordimensionsofvalidityinsuchaneffortiscritical.Engagingawiderangeofpsychometricians,researchersandotherexpertstakeholderswhocanhelptoassessthefeasibilityofeachapproach,includingthecostandcoordinationrequirementsforpursuingeachoftheoptions,isrequired.Noconveningtodate,forexample,hasbroughttogetherthesmallgroupofpsychometricexpertswhohaveworkedoncross-countryanalysesofexistingECDmeasures.Buildingatechnicalconsensusforthenext

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phaseofworkwouldbeanimportantstepinthenextadvancestowardsglobalmeasurementofSDGIndicator4.2.1.

QuestionstoGuideDiscussion:

1) AmongOptions1,2and3,whichseemfeasibleintheshortrun(next12-18months)?Inthemediumrun(1.5-3years)?Inthelongerrun(3-5years)?

2) WhatisthebestplanformakingprogressonthethreeNextStepsnotedimmediatelyaboveinthissection?AreanyimportantNextStepsmissing?

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