Thrive by Five Index and ECD Baseline Audit 2021 - South Africa

Abstract
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The cumulative effect of South Africa’s investments in early childhood development services – good health care and nutrition, parenting support, high quality early learning programmes (ELPs), and child safety and protection – can be determined by measuring the proportion of children who are developmentally ‘on track’ by the age of 5 years. No national data currently exists to track this important indicator. The South African Thrive by Five Index (formerly the SA Early Years Index) intends to address this gap. The Index will monitor trends over time in the proportion of preschool children who are on track for age in key areas of development. The aim is to use the data to strengthen collective efforts to ensure that more children receive the full suite of nurturing care and services they need to be On Track, and to support those children whose development is Falling Behind. The Index was initiated by First National Bank and Innovation Edge, in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education (DBE), and supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and ECD Measure. The sample consists of a nationally representative selection of children aged 50-59 months who are enrolled in various types of ELPs. Data was collected electronically using tablet devices, in-person. For each child, the following developmental domains were assessed:
1. Early learning outcomes (measured using the ELOM 4&5 direct assessment tool),
2. Social and Emotional Functioning (measured using the ELOM Social and Emotional Functioning Rating Scales)
3. Height for Age (measured using stadiometers)
Within each cluster of Early Learning Programmes (ELPs) surveyed, 1 ELP was selected to "audit". This involved interviews with the principal and one ECD practitioner responsible for a class of 4-5 year old children, an assessment of the overall environment and infrastructure plus a 2 hour observation of the quality of the early learning programme. This dataset is referred to as the ECD baseline audit. The ECD audit data is merged with the Thrive By Five assessment data in the current dataset.

Geographic coverage
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The lowest level of geographic representivity of the data is Ward-level. The data is also available at the level of Local Municipality.

Analysis unit
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Individuals

Kind of data
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Other

Sampling procedure
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Thrive by Five Index
The Index has child outcomes data on over 5000 children sampled from 1200+ early learning programmes (ELPs) / ECD sites nationally. In the absence of a complete sampling frame for either children or ELPs, it was decided to cluster ELPs via primary schools for random sampling. In each province, 48 schools (432 nationwide) were randomly selected to be used as clusters. As many ELPs were then identified as possible within a 5-10km radius around each school, or, where this impractical because there were not enough ELPs in the vicinity of the schools, as the ward in which the school is located. The school sample in each province is stratified by socio-economic quintiles (1 to 5). Child assessments (ELOM 4&5, ELOM socio-emotional rating and height for age) were conducted with an average of 4 children at each of 3 randomly selected ELPs per cluster.

ECD Baseline Audit
Within each cluster of 3 ELPs, 1 ELP was selected to "audit". This involved interviews with the principal and a practitioner (the practitioner working with the 4 year old children), an assessment of the overall environment and infrastructure plus a 2 hour observation of the quality of the early learning programme. This data is referred to as the ECD baseline audit. The Index and Baseline data are combined in the final publicly-available version of the dataset.

Mode of data collection
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Other

Research instrument
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Instruments used to collect data were ELOM 4&5 direct assessments of young children; ELOM Social-Emotional rating scales (interview with child’s teacher), ELOM learning programme quality assessment (classroom observation tool), CAPI Questionnaire for Principals, CAPI Questionnaire for Practitioners, and a Facility Observation Questionnaire. Stadiometers were used to measure height.

摘要
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南非在儿童早期发展服务方面的投资累积效应，包括优质的医疗卫生保健和营养、家长支持、高质量的早期学习项目（ELP）以及儿童的安全与保护——可以通过衡量5岁儿童中发育‘在轨’的比例来确定。目前尚无全国性数据来追踪这一重要指标。南非‘五岁茁壮成长指数’（原名为南非早期年份指数）旨在填补这一空白。该指数将监测在关键发展领域内，学龄前儿童在年龄上‘在轨’的比例随时间的变化趋势。目的是利用数据加强集体努力，确保更多儿童获得他们需要的全面滋养护理与服务，以保持‘在轨’状态，并支持那些发展落后的儿童。该指数由南非第一国民银行和创新边缘公司发起，与基础教育部（DBE）合作，并得到美国国际开发署（USAID）和ECD Measure的支持。样本包括来自全国不同类型ELP的50-59个月大的儿童。数据通过平板电脑现场电子采集。对于每个儿童，评估以下发展领域：
1. 早期学习成果（使用ELOM 4&5直接评估工具进行测量），
2. 社会情感功能（使用ELOM社会情感功能评分量表进行测量），
3. 身高与年龄（使用身高计进行测量）。在调查的每个早期学习项目（ELP）集群中，选择1个ELP进行‘审计’。这包括与校长和一位负责4-5岁儿童班级的ECD实践者的访谈，对整体环境和基础设施的评估，以及为期2小时的早期学习项目质量观察。该数据集被称为ECD基线审计。ECD审计数据与当前数据集中的Thrive By Five评估数据合并。
地理覆盖范围
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数据的最小地理代表性层级为地区级。数据也可在地方市政层级获得。
分析单元
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个体
数据类型
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其他
抽样程序
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‘五岁茁壮成长指数’
该指数拥有超过5000名儿童的儿童成果数据，这些儿童来自全国1200多个早期学习项目（ELP）/ ECD地点。由于儿童或ELP的抽样框架不完整，因此决定通过小学进行ELP的聚类随机抽样。在每个省份，随机选择了48所学校（全国共432所）作为聚类。在每个学校周围5-10公里范围内尽可能识别出尽可能多的ELP，或者，如果由于学校周围没有足够的ELP而不切实际，则选择学校所在的地区。每个省份的学校样本按社会经济五分位数（1至5）进行分层。在每个集群的每个随机选择的3个ELP中，对平均4名儿童进行ELOM 4&5、ELOM社会情感评分和身高与年龄的评估。
ECD基线审计
在每个3个ELP的集群中，选择1个ELP进行‘审计’。这包括与校长和实践者（与4岁儿童一起工作的实践者）的访谈，对整体环境和基础设施的评估，以及为期2小时的早期学习项目质量观察。这些数据被称为ECD基线审计。指数和基线数据结合在最终公开的数据集版本中。
数据收集方式
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其他
研究工具
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收集数据所使用的工具包括对幼儿的ELOM 4&5直接评估；ELOM社会情感评分量表（与儿童的教师进行访谈）、ELOM学习项目质量评估（课堂观察工具）、校长CAPI问卷、实践者CAPI问卷和设施观察问卷。身高计用于测量身高。