Evaluation in the field of early childhood development: A scoping review
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Author | Shelly Jun,Mischa Taylor,Rebecca Gokiert,Giulia Puinean,Pieter de Vos |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1035719X221080575 |
| Subject Matter | Academic Article |
Academic Article
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2022, Vol. 22(2) 63–89
© The Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1035719X221080575
journals.sagepub.com/home/evj
Evaluation in the field of early
childhood development: A
scoping review
Giulia Puinean, Rebecca Gokiert, Mischa Taylor, Shelly Jun
and Pieter de Vos
Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families, School of Public Health,
University of Alberta, Canada
Abstract
Children’s early experiences and environments profoundly impact their development;
therefore, ensuring the well-being of children through effective supports and services is
critical. Evaluation is a tool that can be used to understand the effectiv eness of early
childhood development (ECD) practices, programs, and policies. A deeper under-
standing of the evaluation landscape in the ECD field is needed at this time. The purpose
of this scoping review was to explore the state of evaluation in the ECD field across
four constructs: community-driven evaluation, culturally responsive evaluation, eval-
uation capacity building, and evaluation use and influence. A comprehensive search of 7
electronic databases, including Canadian and international literature published in
English from 2000 to 2020, was conducted. A total of 30 articles met the inclusion
criteria. Findings demonstrate that some studies include aspects of a community-
engaged approach to evaluation; however, comprehensive approaches to community-
driven evaluation, culturally responsive evaluation, evaluation capacity building, and
evaluation use in the field of ECD are not commonly achieved. This review will inform
strategies for bridging evaluation gaps in the ECD sector, ultimately equipping orga-
nisations with the evaluative tools to improve practices, programs, and policies that
impact the children, families, and communities they serve.
Corresponding author:
Rebecca Gokiert, Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth and Families,
School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Canada.
Email: rgokiert@ualberta.ca
Keywords
early childhood development, evaluation capacity, community-driven evaluation,
culturally responsive evaluation, evaluation use and influence
Introduction
The early years constitute a critical period of development, with substantial effects on
children’s long term health and social outcomes (National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child, 2020). Consequently, ensuring the well-being of children through
effective early supports and services is critical. Evaluation is an integral part of this
work, as it is a systematic approach for collecting and using information to understand
the effectiveness of practices, programs, and policies (Nielsen et al., 2018). Yet,
historically, evaluations in the context of early childhood development (ECD) programs
have reflected a top-down approach, where the funder dictates the evaluative process
(Bledsoe, 2014), failing to consider the context and histories of the communities they
are working with (Bremner & Bowman-Farrell, 2020). A shift from evaluation-as-
judgment to evaluation-as-learning is, therefore, necessary to transform evaluation into
a tool for improving programs and developing ways to better serve children and
families (Tribal Evaluation Workgroup, 2013). Empirical studies show that collabo-
rative and participatory evaluation approaches increase evaluation use, promote ca-
pacity building at both individual and organisational levels (Acree, 2019), and
encourage evaluation buy-in (Odera, 2021). There is a need to transform current
evaluation approaches and methods, and foster practices that reflect the plurality of
cultures and are actionable at the community level. By utilising community-driven and
culturally responsive evaluation approaches, it is possible to design and improve early
childhood practices, programs, and policies so that they better reflect community
interests.
The Evaluation Capacity Network (ECN) at the University of Alberta formed in
2014 in response to the evaluation capacity needs of the early childhood sector within
Alberta (Gokiert et al., 2017a) and has since broadened nationally and internationally in
scope. As an interdisciplinary and intersectoral partnership, the ECN seeks to build
evaluation capacity in the ECD field through engagement with early childhood
stakeholders and a broader network of practitioners, researchers, funders, and eval-
uators. Through comprehensive community engagement consultations and surveys, the
ECN identified gaps in our understanding of four evaluation constructs: community-
driven evaluation, culturally responsive evaluation, evaluation capacity building, and
evaluation use and influence.
Definitions of evaluation constructs
As there are no global definitions of the four aforementioned constructs, for the
purposes of this review, we interpreted them as follows. Community-driven evaluation
64 Evaluation Journal of Australasia 22(2)
To continue reading
Request your trial