Achieving Impacts at Scale in Early Childhood Interventions: Innovations in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

About this Research Topic

Background

This series welcomes a variety of contributions reflecting on the role of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) in the process of achieving sustainable and sustained impacts in early childhood (ECD) interventions at scale.

MEL questions of interest include, but are not limited to:

• How can MEL support the testing/challenging of assumptions around the meaning of scaling?

• How can MEL systems support contributions and buy-in from a variety of stakeholders (e.g. communities, public authorities, civil society) as ECD interventions (seek to) achieve impacts at scale (e.g. through the public system)?

• How do MEL systems evolve as ECD interventions (seek to) achieve impacts at scale? In terms of staffing, accountability/responsibility, scope, etc.

• How can MEL systems contribute to ensuring positive early childhood development (ECD) outcomes are maintained or improve as interventions seek to achieve scale?

• How can MEL systems contribute to ensuring ECD outcomes are maintained or improve as interventions seek to achieve scale by reaching new communities/regions/countries?

Examples which highlight system change, and the development of cross-sectoral initiatives with other social or health programs are also actively encouraged. We expect papers/authors to reflect accurately in which country/ies the ECD intervention has/have taken place.

This series is the second series being supported by the ‘Measurement for Change (M4C)’ initiative, a collaboration on the use of effective MEL systems for decision making that started as a conversation between ECD practitioners, academics, and funders. The conversation produced a set of five aspirations to guide the integration of MEL into decision making (Dynamic-, Inclusive-, Informative-, Interactive-, and People-Centered MEL systems).

These aspirations are described in Krapels et al (2020), which is one of 31 contributions to a recent series, organized by the M4C initiative in Frontiers in Public Health: ‘Effective Delivery of Integrated Interventions in Early Childhood Development: Innovations in evidence use, monitoring, evaluation, and learning'.
As such, in this new series we also invite reflections from authors on whether, and how, these aspirations contribute to achieving sustainable and sustained impact at scale in ECD interventions.

Keywords: MEL, measurement for change, systems change, early childhood development, achieving impacts at scale, LMIC.

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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