Design and validation of assessment tests for young children in Zambia

Early childhood education has received unprecedented attention among African policymakers in recent years, recognizing that the early years form an important foundation upon which later development is anchored and noting evidence that various Early Childhood Development (ECD) indicators are predictive of future academic success. Central to the provision of quality early childhood education is assessment of developmental outcomes. But currently there is little systematic documentation of culturally appropriate child assessment instruments in Africa. We briefly review the literature on cross-cultural issues in child assessment and identify a variety of approaches to test design and adaptation. We then describe the process through which two child assessment instruments were developed in the Zambian context and empirical evidence was collected of their ecocultural and psychometric validity: the Panga Munthu Test and the Zambia Child Assessment Tool (ZamCAT). Implications are derived from these examples for future development of culturally responsive child assessment instruments in Africa.