Adapting and Scaling Early Learning Outcomes Assessments in the West and Central African Region

Project Abstract
Access to quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) is essential for acquiring foundational skills such as literary, numeracy and socio-emotional learning. It is a predictor of school readiness and educational achievement. Measuring children's development and learning at the start of school is crucial for decision making on the necessary interventions to help them learn and to improve the quality of ECE programming. Despite significant global progress in access to quality ECE, significant challenges remain particularly in diverse and resource-constrained settings. One challenge across GPE partner countries in West and Central Africa is the lack of localized, scalable tools that measure all skills for all children to inform quality improvements and provide data for meaningful comparisons across countries and regions.
This research will adapt and implement two internationally developed ECE assessment tools that have been widely recognized for their robustness and comprehensiveness. However, their effectiveness in diverse cultural and socioeconomic contexts necessitates further adaptation to ensure relevance and accuracy. The first tool is the Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes (MELQO) that measures early learning outcomes, socio-emotional learning, the quality of the learning environments and the contexts in which children of ages 3-6 years interact with others at the individual, family, and community levels. The second tool is the Early Learning Assessment (ELA) that measures the learning environment and outcomes for children of ages 5-7 years as they transition from preprimary to primary school. Both MELQO and ELA have been piloted across West and Central Africa at different levels. This research seeks to adapt and integrate the tools together and into other existing learning assessment processes to strengthen their use so that they provide a holistic picture of early learning outcomes, early learning environments, and school readiness for children of ages 3-7 years.
The project’s objective is to generate evidence on how learning assessments can be used to strengthen foundational skills and smooth transition to primary school. The expected outcome is improved quality of inclusive early learning environments, foundational skills and school readiness and transitions in Burundi, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, The Gambia, and Senegal.