Profiles of Quality in Three Distinct Early Childhood Programs Using the Brief Early Childhood Quality Inventory (BEQI)

Abstract

Quality early childhood care and education (ECCE) is important for young children’s holistic healthy development. As ECCE scales, contextually relevant and feasible measurement is needed to inform policy and programs on strengths and areas for improvement. However, few measures have been designed for use across diverse contexts. Drawing on principles of mixed methods design, this study reports on a new approach to ECCE quality measurement: the Brief Early Childhood Quality Inventory. Using data from the USA, Liberia, and Colombia, results indicate variation in the items perceived as highly relevant to each setting and in the characteristics of classrooms including the degree of child autonomy, the types of activities, and in child/educator interactions and dialogue. However, despite this variation, a small set of items indicate potential functionality as cross-country anchor items. Findings lend support to the idea that quality measures can have some common elements with room for adaptation within and across settings. Future work in this area should address the possibility that the significance of these practices for child development also varies across settings.

Improving Measurement Efficiency of an Early Education Quality Monitoring Tool for Majority World Countries

“…Few studies exist on the relative efficiency of these various quality assurance systems, especially in Majority World countries. A recent look at monitoring systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, however, suggested that prioritizing improvement over punitive measures may be more desirable in contexts where access to ECE is already limited, as the latter may create further barriers for teachers and/or families to take part in these services [25].…”

“…Empirical work in Majority World countries has mostly used three observational tools: the Early Childhood Education Rating System (ECERS) [29], the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) [30] and the MELE. While a handful of other measures exist (e.g., TIPPS [31] and BEQI [32]), these three tools are currently the dominant ones to measure ECE quality. ECERS and CLASS were developed in the United States and have been used extensively in Majority World countries in the last decade [12].…”

“…Considering this, researchers and practitioners interested in shortening quality monitoring tools should carefully review the items on the specific measure they intend to optimize and make decisions regarding whether to retain or discard these items not only based on empirical results, but also practical considerations. Several measures other than the MELE are currently being developed specifically for use in Majority World countries including, for example, the Brief Early Childhood Quality Inventory [32] (BEQI) and the Teaching Quality in Early Childhood Education tool[55] (Teach ECE). While there is currently little-to-no literature on these instruments, their use is expected to increase in upcoming years.…”

Quality and Inequality in Pre-Primary and Home Environment Inputs to Early Childhood Development in Egypt

“…Our findings point to several important areas for future research and data collection to inform policy. Nationally representative data at the pre-primary stage are rare in LMICs (Raikes, Sayre, & Lima, 2021), and data are important pre-requisite to evidence-based efforts to address inequality. Longitudinal data on young children and the trajectory of their development in LMICs are also much needed to understand critical points for intervention.…”