- Stimulate National Policies and Plans.Heightened decisionmaking
is needed to develop national educational plans and policies
that emphasize early child development as the firststep in life-
long learning and human development. - Encourage Innovative Initiatives.Incentives are needed to encour-
age private (for-profit and not-for-profit) groups, civil society,
and local government to develop and participate in innovative
ECD initiatives. - Refocus Government Efforts.National governments should be en-
couraged to refocus their efforts in early education—from deliv-
ery of services to coordination, training, and evaluation—and to
support noninstitutional (e.g., community-based, nonformal)
and private sector ECD initiatives. - Provide a Mix of ECD Options.To reach all children, a mix of acces-
sible and cost-effective ECD options must be ensured. - Conduct Research on Equity and Quality.Continued research is
needed to assess the gaps in achieving equity in early child de-
velopment and to ensure the quality of all ECD programs. - Monitor and Assess Outcomes.To enhance early child development
and to strengthen interventions, ECD programs must be moni-
tored and children’s outcomes must be evaluated. By adopting
and systematically applying established outcome measures and
well-designed and tested assessment tools, communities and
countries can (a) assess the efficacy of national and community-
based ECD interventions; (b) foster a “culture” of evidence-based
decisionmaking in social policy; and (c) promote awareness of
early child development and community development.
Population-based measures of children’s outcomes are already
used in several industrialized countries and can be systemati-
cally adapted to settings in developing countries. Local and na-
tional monitoring of early child development are essential for
understanding the status of child development within a coun-
try and for determining whether particular ECD initiatives and
programs are improving a nation’s early child development.
12 Mary Eming Young