Three-Pronged Approach

At CLCD, we use multiple, tested techniques to effect meaningful change in Ghana

The key pillar of the Center is a focus on identifying problems that impact children’s survival and development, as well as developing interventions that address them. This involves designing innovative programs, tweaking existing ones to be more effective, and adapting successful projects from other locales into something specific for the context in Ghana. Recognizing that there are limited, locally validated tools to identify and measure developmental problems in children in Ghana, one key area the Center excels in is scale/assessment development. Our experts have extensive training in research methodology, have spent considerable time in Ghana, and have experience in developing and leading complex research studies/programs. We develop new trategies, materials, technologies, and tools to promote solutions to problems related to ECD, such as:

• Validating assessment tools for diagnosing developmental disability and delays.

• Developing interventions that will concurrently maximize children’s health and educational outcomes.

• Creating a consortium of schools to collect information on children’s health and educational outcomes in order to track progress and identify factors that promote child development.

Other activities are designed to translate research into practice and promote attention to early child development issues in Ghana. At its core, it is the means through which the Center pushes the integration of its research findings into mainstream service. We focus on advancing community and political investments in early child education, child rights and child health by:

• Making information about ECD programs, children’s survival issues, developmental needs and social protection readily available to service providers, caregivers and policy makers through a variety of communication channels

• Creating a platform to connecting parents, health workers and educators to ECD services, particularly for developmental delays and disorders and nutritional disorders.

• Supporting ECD stakeholders to translate research findings into practice by creating a clearinghouse of documents and interventions in neonatal health, early child education, and child development in Ghana.

Learn more about specific programs we implement to advocate for child development issues:

In addition to research and advocacy, we also focus on capacity building activities that aim to:

1) support service providers, such as health workers educators, and local NGOs with the knowledge they need to impact children’s survival and development;

2) support ECD-related institutions to collect and use data to drive ECD related programs;

3) foster professional development of early childhood educators; and

4) increase the number of qualified researchers focusing on early childhood development. 

Our aim at CLCD is to ensure that stakeholders have the best training, information, tools and skills to help children reach their fullest potential. Specifically, we are developing methods to:

• Support service providers, such as local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with database management and data analysis

• Provide relevant periodic training for service providers (eg. health workers, educators) in ECD, and pioneer models that will expand the number of trained professionals who teach in ECE

Learn more about work we do with our partners.