National ECCD Impact Evaluation Study 2015

The need for early childhood care and development (ECCD) services is growing as family and social structures evolve with development and changing times. There is growing awareness amongst parents and government stakeholders about the benefits of early childhood care and development.

Although ECCD center programing has been steadily expanding, no systematic evaluation has ever been completed to gauge the most impactful and sustainable model(s) for Bhutan. This study will create evidence for advocacy about the importance of early childhood education programs and allow for data-driven decision making at various levels from community to national policy making.

This report documents the baseline assessment for a national impact evaluation of available ECCD programs in Bhutan. A follow up assessment with the same children will occur at the end of the school year (November 2015) to investigate learning growth related to available ECCD programs. The International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) was used to measure children’s learning and development across six domains (Motor, Literacy, Numeracy, Socio-emotional, Approaches to learning, and Spiritual/moral/cultural), and a caregiver questionnaire was used to gather information about parenting practices and home environments.