Involving Early Childhood Stakeholders in Program Evaluation: The GGA Story

When we advocate for quality in early childhood care and education settings, we must remember that quality itself is culturally and contextually bound, and can look very different in different countries, communities, and cultures. While in one culture, quality may mean that children participate in food preparation as part of the center community, that type of participation may not be appropriate or valued in another culture. With the development of the Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) in 1999, its authors created a globally applicable measurement tool for quality in early childhood care and education programs that left room for the cultural and contextual differences inherent in any assessment of quality. One important element of the GGA is its inclusion of internal stakeholders. This idea of inclusion—both of diverse students and of parents and community members—is critical to ensuring quality care and education for all young children.