Measuring Early Childhood Development in Low-Resource Settings: Evidence from Wearable Technologies in Malawi

During early childhood, social, economic and/or health disadvantages can impair the development of essential skills, such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional abilities. The effects of these early disadvantages often extend into adulthood and contribute to persistent social disparities.

The King Center on Global Development and the Stanford Center on Early Childhood hosted a one-day workshop, convening researchers to share data and findings on methodologies to track and monitor aspects of early childhood development (ECD) in rural Malawi. A panel of researchers covered different data streams collected via wearable technologies: electroencephalogram, electrocardiogram, language interactions, social contacts, nutrition, and economic shocks. Shared data showcased innovations in data collection and methodology, potentially informing both high-level scientific inquiries and pressing public policy debates regarding inequalities during ECD. Presenters addressed questions around the challenges and opportunities for measuring ECD in low-resource settings, and their implications for cost-effective program design. 

Presenters:
Guilherme Lichand, Assistant Professor of Education, Stanford University
Elizabeth Shephard, Affiliated Researcher at the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London
Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Attending Psychologist, Boston Children’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School
Alexandra Carstensen, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Jessica Kosie, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Ciro Cattuto, Scientific Director, ISI Foundation
John Phuka, Associate Professor, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
Pedro Carneiro, Professor, University College London