About this paper symposium

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Panel information
Panel 18. School Readiness/Childcare

Paper #1
"Everything is properly placed, and environment is clean": Stakeholders’ perspectives on preschool quality in Pakistan
Author information	Role
Karima Rehmani, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States	Presenting author
Emily Franchett, New York University, United States	Non-presenting author
Saima Siyal, Development and Research for Children in Early and Adolescent Years of Life (DREAM) Organization, Pakistan	Non-presenting author
Shahnaz Hakro, Aga Khan University, Pakistan	Non-presenting author
Elizabeth Hentschel, Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, United States	Non-presenting author
Aisha Yousafzai, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States	Non-presenting author
Shelina Bhamani, Aga Khan University, Pakistan	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs are fundamental in building lifelong skills and can promote the development of young children's cognitive, social-emotional, language, early literacy, and numeracy skills, better preparing them for primary schools. Recent estimates find about one-third of 3–4-year-olds are participating in ECCE in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Attending high quality ECCE centers is associated with improved school readiness, reduced repetition and drop-out rates, and higher achievement in school. While empirical evidence finds a positive impact of quality childcare on children’s overall development, there are varying perspectives on what factors constitute a high-quality ECCE program and this remains understudied in diverse settings, particularly in LMICs. To investigate this further, we conducted a qualitative study to explore how local stakeholders defined quality in ECCE programs. This study was part of a larger study referred to as LEAPS (Youth Leaders for Early Childhood Assuring Children are Prepared for School) implemented in rural Sindh, Pakistan, in which ECCE female youth educators, aged 18–24 years, implemented an ECCE program. We conducted 23 Focus group discussions and 21 in-depth interviews with parents of young children, elementary school teachers, ECCE female youth educators, and government officials. A thematic analysis was conducted using deductive and inductive coding. The themes were organized based on frameworks developed on ECCE quality by Van Heerden and colleagues and Woodhead and colleagues. Three major themes emerged: i) structural features of quality; ii) process quality; iii) and perceived outcomes associated with the structural and process features. Stakeholders focused more on structural features of quality such as safety, hygiene, curriculum, class ratios, learning materials and infrastructure (see Table 1 for illustrative quotes for each theme). Although findings from these major themes are broadly consistent with the existing literature, there were variations primarily in how stakeholders defined the structural features of quality. These variations were possibly due to resource constraints, lack of prior exposure to ECCE settings, and cultural and pedagogical differences. Through these results, we learned how different stakeholders understood ECCE quality, which was grounded in their participation with the LEAPS program. Much of the responses around what constitutes quality were also a reflection of the success of the LEAPS program’s community engagement components and the LEAPS team and youth educators’ ability to promote awareness about the importance of high-quality and accessible ECCE programs. This study emphasizes the need for a large-scale investigation to better understand the quality of ECCE across cultural settings, incorporating diverse perspectives from various stakeholders in the field. Furthermore, developing a quality framework tailored to ECCE in LMICs is crucial, particularly to address the challenges faced in resource-constrained settings.

Paper #2
Measuring the quality of early childhood education in Colombia: Pilot study in the community modality
Author information	Role
Carolina Maldonado-Carreño, Ph.D., School of Education, Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia	Presenting author
Eduardo Escallón, School of Education, Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia	Non-presenting author
Tiffany Jiménez, School of Education, Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia	Non-presenting author
Juliana Sánchez, School of Education, Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia	Non-presenting author
Laura Rojas, School of Education, Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Achieving and tracking progress towards Target 4.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals requires the application of contextualized assessments of quality at scale. However, there are scant data to date on the quality of learning environments in low and middle-income countries. In Colombia, the Ministry of Education developed a tool to measure the quality of early childhood education in country-specific ways to align with the national context and culture (Ponguta et al., 2019). The IMCEIC (Spanish acronym for Instrument for Measuring Quality of Early Childhood Education in Colombia) was originally designed for the institutional modality (a center-based form of care) and later adapted to “transición” (first mandatory grade for 5-year-olds in the public school system). However, nearly half of the children served by the public system attend the community modality (DANE, 2023). This is a home-base childcare program aimed at vulnerable families in which a “community mother” takes care of up to 15 children between 18 months and 5 years in her home. In this pilot study, the IMCEIC was adapted to collect information on structural and process quality in the community modality through a classroom observation guide. By using the IMCEIC against a measure of child development and learning this study explored 1) the levels of structural and process quality in community homes, and 2) the associations between quality and directly assessed outcomes of 3- to 5-year-old children. Children’s logical-mathematical reasoning, language, executive functions, and socioemotional development were assessed using the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA, Save the Children). Data for this study comes from a sample of 80 community homes located in Cartagena. From these settings, 160 children were randomly selected (2 from each setting, 50% girls). Descriptive analysis showed mixed levels of structural quality: although the large majority of the conditions defined to be a risk for children's safety were not present, low availability of resources and learning materials to support children’s learning and development was observed. On the other hand, levels of process quality were low to moderate. While average general pedagogical quality was moderate, the proportion of learning experiences to promote specific skills was low. Substantial variation was found across community homes in the individual indicators used to assess process quality. Multilevel regression models were estimated in which structural and process quality were included as predictors of children’s development and some characteristics of children and their families were included as control variables. Results showed that process quality are associated with children’s language and motor skills. This study provides evidence of the feasibility to capture nuances in quality in the community modality by using the IMCEIC. The results suggest that institutional efforts should focus in promoting both structural and process quality in the community modality. Implications of these results will be discussed in relation to policy efforts to secure quality of early childhood education in Colombia. In particular, the need to secure professional development for community mothers, and institutionalize the quality measurement as a tool for monitoring the policy and supporting evidence-based decisions.

Paper #3
“All parents want childcare providers to love their children”: Perceptions of Childcare Quality from Vietnam
Author information	Role
Elizabeth Hentschel, Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, United States	Presenting author
Karima Rehmani, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States	Non-presenting author
Ha Tran Thu, Research and Training Centre for Community Development (RTCCD), Vietnam	Non-presenting author
Aisha Yousafzai, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Access to high-quality childcare can have multi-generational impacts, including improved employment opportunities for women, improvements in child development, and better family welfare. Despite an increasing number of women entering the workforce in low- and middle-income settings, the definition of “quality” childcare stems largely from westernized, high-income, countries. As evidence on childcare quality from LMICs remains limited, in order to understand the cultural variation, differences in government policies, and services with regards to the childcare sector, it is critical to study country-level stakeholders’ perspectives on childcare quality. To address this gap, this study evaluated a childcare training program in the industrial zones of the Da Nang and Quang Nam Provinces of Vietnam. This qualitative study aimed to understand how childcare quality is conceptualized by key stakeholders in the informal childcare setting of Da Nang and Quang Nam Provinces. In Vietnam approximately 3.5 million individuals, 80% of whom are women, pursue employment in factories located in industrial zones (UNICEF, 2017), the majority of which send their children to informal childcare centers known as Home-Based Cares (HBCs). This study was part of a larger evaluation of the impact of training on childcare quality in informal childcares, which provide care for children in the first six years of life. Utilizing a phenomenological study design, 29 stakeholders were interviewed including, childcare center trainers (n=6), government stakeholders (n=6), childcare center providers (n=8), and parents (n=9) in December 2019 and June to July of 2020. Interviews focused on understanding childcare quality, training experiences, and the impact of training on quality. A mixed inductive and deductive coding scheme found that stakeholders’ perspectives could be categorized into two main themes, structural and process quality, and three sub-themes, the learning environment, childcare provider interactions, and other aspects that promote early childhood development. Although our broad theme findings are consistent with the exiting literature, our sub-themes provide new insights to the specific Vietnam informal childcare context. For example, although the findings suggest that there are commonly shared perceptions of quality noted by all stakeholders (e.g., HBC space and materials), however, there are some unique perceptions raised by a few parents (e.g., obedience). This work also brings into the question what qualifications are necessary for childcare providers, and if those skills translate into behavior that promotes child development. Although provider qualifications were mentioned by trainers and government officials as an indicator of high-quality care, much more emphasis was placed on the positive child-provider interactions which fit under the process quality theme. In conclusion, there is a global need to understand more about the factors that constitute high quality childcare in LMICs. It is important to note that diverse expectations for quality may not only arise from resource constraints, but may also reflect different cultural and pedagogical perspectives (for e.g., Li et al., 2016). Therefore, it is critical to explore stakeholders’ perspectives on childcare quality in different contexts. Including qualitative interviews of all groups of stakeholders is an effective strategy to gain a clearer picture of needs and challenges associated with childcare quality.

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