Developing and validating the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA)

Evidence about the importance of stimulation and learning in childhood has been mounting in recent years, culminating with the inclusion of early childhood development in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. In following, there is a need for reliable measurement of early learning and development at local, national, and global levels. None of the existing tools designed to measure learning and development at the pre-primary level have been proven to be appropriate and feasible in diverse national contexts, as well as psychometrically rigorous. Therefore, Save the Children developed the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) from 2011-2015. This paper presents evidence from the IDELA validation process including internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, test-retest reliability and concurrent validity.