EAP-ECDS
Objectives:
The East Asia-Pacific Early Childhood Development Scales (EAP-ECDS) may be used for direct assessment of children ranging in age from 3 to 5 years. They are the first regional child assessment tool developed based on the culture and values of countries of a world region. The EAP-ECDS were developed between 2010 and 2014 with support of UNICEF, the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF). Technical leadership and guidance for the development and validation of the EAP-ECDS were provided by the Early Childhood Development and Education Research Team, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. The team won the HKU KE Award 2018 with a project entitled “Impacting Early Childhood Policy in East Asia and the Pacific through Contextually-appropriate Assessment of Early Child Development”.
The ambitious project to develop the EAP-ECDS was initiated in response to the concern, that existing Western assessment tools might not be valid in East Asia-Pacific (EAP) countries due to cultural and contextual differences, not only in assessment techniques, but also in the overarching constructs to be measured. Yet, culturally and contextually appropriate child development assessments are considered particularly important in developing regions to support evidence-based policy making, investment and programming for early childhood. Thus, the EAP-ECDS aimed to equip the key Early Child Development (ECD) stakeholders in EAP countries with a reliable measurement tool to assess the holistic developmental progress of children of pre-primary age.
Related outputs:
HKECDS
Objectives:
The Hong Kong Early Child Development Scale (HKECDS) was developed based on the context of Hong Kong. This Scale is a population level assessment of early childhood development. It is not an IQ or achievement test, and individual decisions about children cannot be made based on results from the Scale.
Content:
Each Test Kit includes: an administration manual, test items including an easel, an exercise booklet and a scoring booklet.
In 2020, an iOS version of HKECDS is released for the purpose of standardizing the administration of the tools.
Related outputs:
Rao, N., Sun, J., Ng, S.N.N., Ma, K., Becher, Y., Lee, D., Lau, C., Zhang, L., Chow, C.B., & Ip, P. (2013). The Hong Kong early child development scale: a validation study. Child Indicators Research, 6(1), 115-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-012-9161-7