Early Childhood Counts: Programming Resources for Early Care and Development
Full Review

Reviewed by: Meg Wirth, MPA, International Public Health Consultant, USA
Review posted 28 October 2005
Review No. 62

CD-ROM Information

Content: This CD-ROM is a compelling, well-researched guide to Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) that makes clear how and why it is important to invest in the first eight years of a child’s life in order to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
Publication Date: 1 July 2000
Audience: This resource is suitable for development professionals, program planners, trainers, policymakers, and child advocacy specialists working with impoverished children who are at risk of impeded development.

Size: 32MB
Price: US$50. Discounts for orders from developing countries.
Manual needed: No
How to order:

Order online from the World Bank.*

View developing country discounts.*

Order by mail:
Louise Zimanyi
The Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development
Ryerson Polytechnic University
School of Early Childhood Education
350 Victoria Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5B 2K3

E-mail: info@ecdgroup.com
Tel: 416 979 5000 ext. 7034
Fax: 416 979 5239

*This link takes you outside the ADBI website. Please use the back button to return to ADBI.org.

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Full Review

Content

This CD-ROM on Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) is organized into four sections:

1.  Why Early Childhood? This opening section frames the argument that supports the social and economic rationale behind investing in early childhood development. Two fairly powerful sets of presentation slides explain this underlying rationale. Although some of the material seems dated, the arguments for using ECCD to promote equity and social participation are among the most convincing parts.

Next are two short films on ECCD, the first of which is more informative than the second. Both films lack the innovative, high quality video work needed to visually document the rich experiences that must have been garnered from the many case studies cited throughout this volume. The current films rely on a subject-focused narrative that does little to help viewers connect with the individual stories or people being documented in communities worldwide.

Finally, a set of ECCD briefs lay out the key issues ranging from "applying basic research" to "financing." These briefs are succinct, well written, and suitable for use in policy briefings and ECCD advocacy.

2.  What is ECCD? This section further defines ECCD and summarizes the "ten myths" surrounding ECCD. Among the common myths dispelled is the idea that ECCD is simply preparation for preschool. Another important myth tackled is the claim that child survival comes before ECCD in developing countries. The narrative explains that while survival and ECCD are important and interlinked, a child's development cannot be easily be separated into different components such as health, nutrition, education, emotional, spiritual variables. What emerges from this discussion is a clearer understanding about the cumulative nature of child development, and about the different stages and needs children have during the first eight years of life. This section makes evident the role of parents and communities in these stages, and also that different cultural influences must be taken into account.

3.  Programming Guide The substantive center of this CD-ROM is a 378-page programming guide that covers virtually all aspects of developing an ECCD program, from preparation to implementation to evaluation. The early chapters of the guide are thoughtful and realistic in their presentation of the steps and obstacles involved in planning ECCD programs. Particularly important is the focus on values and social equity that is woven throughout. Chapter 1 covers the "Basics" and chapter 2 describes how to conduct a needs assessment. Chapters 3-5 cover goals and objectives, making a choice about an approach, putting the pieces in place. Chapters 6 and 7 cover evaluation and financing.

The programming guide is extremely well edited and presents the content in an accessible and engaging manner. The menu shows the guide in outline form, and gives easy links to key resources in the library. This guide is interactive insofar as it links to the library, ECCD policy briefs, and other documents described below. Users can also open the guide in .PDF format, section by section. This guide could be used as a self-study course, or with a group of planners and colleagues.

Several unique features in the programming guide make for lively reading. "Reality check" sub-sections occur every few pages to interject practical wisdom gleaned from different implementation experiences. Another set of innovative links is the "side trips" and "site visit trips" that lead users to relevant field experiences in a range of countries from Jamaica to Bangladesh to Botswana. Also included are links to planning "templates" which, while useful, seem sparse given the breadth of the topics they cover.

Remarkably, the programming guide appears flexible enough to be used in developing broad, country-wide ECCD programs and policies, or in developing much smaller scale projects aimed at a specific area or age group. The guide accomplishes this by focusing on basic principles and citing a wide range of field experiences. The result is a well-researched, clear, experience-based case for ECCD programming that is essential to development at the individual, community, and country level. Overall, the content is so compelling that one is left with a sense of stunned disbelief that more has not been done to guarantee the healthy psychological, social, and physical development of the world’s children.

4.  The Library includes some 350 background texts that are referenced throughout the CD-ROM along with a searchable database.

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User-Friendliness & Navigability

The CD-ROM is very user-friendly.  The navigation buttons are easy, even rather fun, to use. The main screen or menu page has a clearly marked button that leads users to a "how to use this CD-ROM" screen, and the menu includes options that allows users to print the page, use the glossary, and search.

It is worth noting that the programming guide section, which is the "heart" of the material, is accessible by selecting a small icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen. The icon prompt states, "open this section of the guide" or "open the complete guide." Given the importance of this content, these prompts were far too small and inconspicuous. A larger, more obvious icon might be added to link users directly to the full text of the guide.

Also, in the "Guide to Programming" there is no introduction or context about the guide itself. This context would be useful so that users can learn that the content represents 15 years’ experience by the Consultative Group.

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Sustainability

The CD-ROM will probably need updating in the next few years for two reasons. First, the resource will benefit from the latest research and field experiences, and second, key development agendas like the Millennium Development Goals may need to be integrated to grab policymakers' attention.

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