Funded Projects

Research that shapes the future

The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families & Schools is an interdisciplinary research center in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Supporting Early Childhood Development in Africa: Capacity-Building Partnership

Project Information

Principal Investigator: Natalie Koziol
Co-Principal Investigator:
Funding Agency: Children's Investment Fund Foundation
Award Date: July 01, 2017
Theme: Early Education & Development, Research & Evaluation Methods
Project URL: N/A

For more information please contact Natalie Koziol at nkoziol@unl.edu.

Abstract

Implementing standard measurements of early childhood development and learning worldwide has its challenges. But University of Nebraska researchers are working with the United Nations and other international organizations to ensure global measurement tools are not restrained by borders.


Researchers are examining the accuracy and reliability of measurement tools designed to monitor standards developed through the Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes initiative.


Founded in 2014, the MELQO initiative is a joint effort between United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Brookings Institution and World Bank. The initiative has established a set of standard, global measurement tools to assess early childhood development and learning, as well as the quality of early learning environments — primarily in low- and middle-income countries.


For its project, CYFS’ Nebraska Academy for Methodology, Analytics and Psychometrics will receive data from Ethiopia, Lesotho, Liberia, Pakistan and Tanzania to examine the measurement tools’ effectiveness.


Once core measurement standards are pinpointed, they will be tailored to various countries and cultures.