Chapter 14
Measuring Child Development
to Leverage ECD Policy and
Investment
J. Fraser Mustard and Mary Eming Young*
Healthy brain development during early childhood is essential to the
overall health, well-being, and competence of populations. All soci-
eties need to understand the importance of this connection in order
to cope well with the global changes under way—the exponential
growth in new knowledge and technologies, globalization and its so-
cioeconomic effects, population growth and new demographic pat-
terns, and constraints on resources (Mustard 2006). Communities
and governments that appreciate the importance of brain develop-
ment in early childhood and invest in programs to foster the healthy
development of their children will improve the quality of their popu-
lations and advance their socioeconomic development.
The most promising tools and measures for assessing the outcomes
of early childhood will be those that incorporate the latest scientific
evidence of early brain development and are intended for use in pop-
ulations. For communities and countries, assessments that are both
science- and population-based will yield valuable data on children’s
vulnerability and readiness for school—as they enter school. With
253- J. Fraser Mustard, M.D., Ph.D., is Founding President, Canadian Institute for Ad-
vanced Research, The Founders’ Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Mary Eming
Young, M.D., Dr.P.H., is Lead Child Development Specialist, Human Development
Network, Children and Youth, World Bank, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.