Learning Objectives

• Examine what evaluations can tell us about the efficacy of various program models and their effects on children, and when and how should they be used to shape early childhood policy

• Learn about how evaluations and monitoring can be conceived in democratic and transparent ways

• Identify strategies to involve stakeholders and peers in evaluation processes

• Determine what types of large-scale evaluations have been proven as effective and worthwhile investments for governments, and what information and lessons they have provided

• Learn about evaluation and assessment opportunities in the early years, such as kindergarten entry assessments, and how they can be used to collect valuable information and data for effective program and policy design, especially for disadvantaged subgroups

• Explore how evaluations and assessments can be better designed to be culturally and linguistically appropriate and capture the unique strengths that migrant children and second language learners bring to their early childhood programs