Strengthening and supporting the early childhood workforce: a needs assessment tool

• In Event: ECE workforce and system development

Proposal

Mounting evidence on the positive link between early childhood development (ECD) services and the physical, social, and cognitive development of young children has encouraged governments to invest more in the early years (Anderson et al., 2003). Policy attention has been paid to strengthening the quality of those providing services to this age group by standardizing competences and standards, providing adequate training and professional development opportunities, strengthening mentorship channels, and increasing the recognition of the profession. Despite a growing body of knowledge on the importance of investing in the early childhood workforce, there remains a lack of basic data on factors such as the qualifications of personnel, their pay experiences and training levels, and the availability of support staff. This lack of data prevents policymakers from identifying and diagnosing gaps in the workforce that could inform future policies and programming (King, Perkins, & Nugent, 2018). Although policymakers have an overall sense of the status of the early childhood workforce in various contexts, the following key questions remain unanswered: What are workforce demographics (e.g. training levels, qualifications, working conditions)? What are some of the systematic issues and gaps in the current system related to supporting the workforce? What areas should be prioritized when supporting and strengthening the workforce?

This paper addresses some of these questions by presenting a new needs assessment tool that helps policymakers support and strengthen the early childhood workforce. This tool focuses on personnel supporting home visiting programs and will equip policymakers with the knowledge and resources needed to strengthen these programs. In recent years, home visiting programs have increased in popularity as an important intervention for supporting parents and promoting early childhood development for children ages 0 to 3 (Sandstrom & White, 2018). Despite growing interest in this area, there is a lack of data on the personnel that support these programs (Karsten 2015), a gap which this tool seeks to address.

The purpose of the tool is to help countries that are in the beginning stages of implementing home visiting programs in the education, health, and social protection sectors as well as those scaling them across sub-national levels. It builds on existing knowledge from sources such as SABER-ECD and the UNICEF pre-primary diagnostic and planning tool and features a user-friendly format that can be completed by policymakers using existing information. Key themes include general characteristics of the workforce, personnel standards and qualifications, training and ongoing support, working conditions, recruitment and retention, and quality assurance.

The tool development has been guided by a conceptual framework which highlights the different factors most important for supporting the workforce based on relevant literature in developing countries. The paper will present this conceptual framework and explore lessons generated from the development of the tool and piloting process. These lessons will reflect on the process for incorporating diverse perspectives in the development and piloting of the tool, identifying country demand and fit for piloting, and contextualizing the tool to meet the needs of individual countries. Overall, the paper will provide insight on the best ways to support ministries and government entities as they work to strengthen the quality of home visiting personnel in their countries.

The development of this needs assessment tool is part of the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative (ECWI), a global, multi-stakeholder effort to promote quality, equitable services through a focus on those who work with families and young children, as well as those who supervise and mentor practitioners.

Authors

• Denise Bonsu, Results for Development

• Kavita Hatipoglu, Results for Development Institute

• Michelle Neuman, University of Pennsylvania