Box 2. Early Development Instrument:
Advantages- Covers internationally recognized domains of early child
development - Population-based and usable for international comparisons
- Valid at the group level
- Implemented successfully in high- and middle-income coun-
tries - Benchmarks established
- Not very expensive and is adjustable to local economies
- Sensitive to socioeconomic determinants and change
over time - Stimulates intersectoral community development
- Useful for high-level planning
- Raises teachers’ and school systems’ awareness of early
child development.
Countries or groups that are considering applying the EDI or an-
other population-based measure will want to address several key
questions:
- Who administers the measure—teachers or education surveyors?
The person reporting on the children’s skills and behaviors
should be an individual who knows the children well in the
early learning setting. One concern often raised is that the data
reported by teachers may be biased and favor the children’s de-
velopment. Although trained surveyors may not know the chil-
dren as well as teachers do, they could administer the measure
effectively. Parents should not administer the measure—their
response data may not be reliable. - What age groupshould be assessed? The EDI, for example, is de-
signed primarily for 5-year-old children (+1 year). Yet, in some
instances and countries, children may be 7–8 years old when
they enter kindergarten or 1st grade. Although some may ques-
282 J. Fraser Mustard and Mary Eming Young