Halpern, Robert; Fisk, David Preschool Education in Latin America

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 208 941 PS 012 384

AUTHOR Halpern, Robert; Fisk, David TITLE Preschool Education in Latin America: A Survey Report from the Andean Region. Volume I: Summary Report. INSTITUTICN High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, Ypsilanti, Mich. SPONS AGENCY Agency for International Development (Dept. of State), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 78 NOTE 168p.: Page 101 is missing from the original document and is not available.

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Annotated Bibliographies; Community Involvement; Cost Effectiveness; Cross Cultural Studies; *Decision Making; *Economic Factors; Educational Objectives: Educational Policy; Foreign Countries; Government Role: *International Organizations; *Latin Americans; Parent Participation; *Policy Formation; *Preschool Education; Program Development; Program Lvaluation IDF4TIFIERS *Andean Countries; Bolivia; Chile; Colombia

ABSTRACT This report records survey results of preschool education programs serving children ages 3 through 6 and their families in Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia. Programs surveyed were primarily designed to reach the poorest sectors of the popu.i.ation, focused on improving the young child's psychomotor and social development, and utilized various educational intervention techniques in the home or center to provide services. The central objectives of the survey were to describe from a public policy perspective the major preschool education activities in the host countries; to document the nature, objectives, and central variab.Les constituting the "decision rules" governing program implementation; to analyzethe implications of these objectives and decision rules; and to formulate testable assertions and/or suggested program guidelines for early education programs in developing countries. Among 10 policy questions stated were: Whor should programs be serving? How can the full range of children's basic needs be met? How should the role of parents be defined? and, what should be the nature and extent of intersectional cooperation in early childhood education? Attachments incude a list of variables identified as influential in decision making in early childhood education in Latin America. An annotated bibliography is also provided. (Author/DB)

iblitili******************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that call De mule from the original document. *********************************************************************** U.E. DEPARTMENT Or EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) >Cres document has been reprodzced as received !torn the person or organization noginaung It Moor changes have been aside to 'reprove tproelte. eon quality

Points ol view 01 open ons stated in this duct, went do out net scanty represent! olfirtal NIF pu,1100 Ofiiil±i e-1 Preschool Education a) cp in Latin America c(NJ A Survey Report from the Andean Region

,eSummary Repor t

REPRODUCE THIS PERMISSION TO BY BEEN GRANTED MATERIAL. HAS k'\ \`1

A6At U" vSY c c Rk. RESOURCES 10 THEEDUCATIONAL (ERICA INFORMATION CENTER AMERICA PRESCHOOL EDUCATIONIN LATIN FROM THE ANDEANREGION - - ASURVEY REPORT

Volume I:

SummaryReport

Foundation High /ScopeEducational Research 600 North RiverStreet Ypsilanti, Michigan48197 - 1978 -

3 olume the first volumeof a four This report is inLatin America. The series onpreschool education complete seriesis as follows: Preschool Edbcationin Latin America; A Summary Report Sobre laEducaci5n II. Antecedentes Generales Preescolar enBolivia Generales Sobrela Educaci6n III. Antecedentes Preescolar en Chile Sobre laEducaciOn IV. Antecedentes Generales Preescolar enColombia and English, Volume I isavailable in Spanish available in theSpanish volumes II, TITand IV are language originalsonly.

4 This report reflectsthe result of acollaborative international survey effortcoordinated by:

High / Scope EducationalResearch Foundation Ypsilanti, Michigan

David P. .Weikart,Ph.D. Project Moriltor David D. Fisk, ProjectDirector Ph.D., Judith Evans, Ph.D.and Robert Halpern, Technical Advisors

1 Latin American with the collaborationof the ,following educational research anddevelopment groups:

Centro Boliviano deInvestigaci6n y Acci6n Educative (CEBIAE) ofLa Paz, Bblivia Lic. Jose Subirats,Principal Investigator

Centro de Investigaciony Desarrollode la Educaci6n (CIDE) ofSantiago, Chile Lic. Johanna Filp,Principal Investigator

Centro pare elDesarrollo de laEducaci6n No-Fo,.mal (CEDEN) ofBogot6, Colombia de Benjamin Alvarez, Ph.D.and Martha Lucia M. Lombana, PrincipalInvestigators. sub-contract with the project wasdeveloped under a of Portage, Cooperative ervice Agency Ng 12 Wis onsin (CESA 12) Ph. D., Sub --cont rcast Of icer /JeAten, h/ Ms. Rebecca Sfcler and Mr. Georg Project Consu ants provided by: with funding andtechnical assistance Agency for InternationalDevelopment Washington, D.C. Mr. Kenneth C.Martin, ProjectOfficer Economics Consultant Ms. CharlotteJones, Education

contained and opinionsexpressed in this The information collaborative effort of report are thereflection of a mentioned above withthe support ofCESA-12 the agencies The report and the Agencyfor internationalDevelopment. Foundation ResearchAssociate was draftedby High/Scope VI) and Halpern (Chapters II,III, IV, V and Dr. Robert VI,recommendations), Project DirectorDavid Fisk (I and assistance of CharlesSilverman and with editorial of Ms. CarmenSotelo. secretarial andadministrative support Contents

Acknowledgm(nt:

I. Introduction

1 A. Summary Description 3 B. Background 6 C The Methodology 9 D. Comments on the Methodology

II. The Country Reports: Bolivia,Chile, Colombia 12 Bolivia A. 18 Chile B. 26 C. Colombia

III. A Comparative Analysis ofthe Country Reports 35 Historical Antecedencs A. 36 Quantitative Overview B. 38 C. Objectives and Priorities Organization and Administration 39 D. 41 g. Personnel 43 Educational Curriculum F. 45 Planning G. 46 H. Evaluation 47 Some General Issues I. 51 J. Conclusions

IV. International Agencies andPreschool Education in Latin America 53 A. Introduction 57 B. Factors Influencing DecisionMaking The Growth of Interest inEarly Intervention 59 C. 59 D. What International Agencies Wantto Accomplish Through Investment in EarlyChildhood Education 61 E. International Agency Support forEarly Childhood Laucation in Latin America International Agency Views andPrograms 63 F. 65 G. Role of International Agenciesin Evaluating Early ChildhoodEducation Agency Views of Central Issues 66 R. 68 I. Conclusions V. The Economics of PreschoolEducation in Latin America

A. Introduction 69 B. Investment in PreschoolEducation: 70 Some Arguments C. Costing out Preschool Procrams 75 D. Analyzing Benefits 80 E. OpportunitiesilforlImprovement in 83 Analyzing CoSts and Benefits F. Discussion of-the Three Country 84 Reports: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia G. Next Steps 87

VI. Ten Policy Questions NQ 1: Whoshould programs be serving; 91 how can they best be reached?

Ng 2: Who shouldhave administrative 92 control of preschool education programs?

N4 3: How can the full rangeof 97 the child's basic needs bemet?

N4 4: What should bethe nature and 100 extent of intersectoralcooperation in early childhood education?

NQ 5: How should therole of parents 102 be defined?

N4 6: Who should the"Educational 105 Agents" be in preschool programs?

NQ 7: What are themost effective modes 107 of compmnity participation?

NQ 8: What might be therelation of 109 preschool education to otherlevels of the educational system?

N2 9: What are thesocio-cultural '112 bases of program development?

N4 10: What are theresearch needs 113 in early childhoodeducation in Latin America?

7 iv I

Conclusion 115 Attachments

A. The Variables 118 B. An,AnnOtated Bibliography 127 / ,

i Acknowledgments

Institutional capability and professional competence in the private social development sectoris an especially valuable resource in developing countries. There are many urgent problems to be addressed andincreasing support is available to those domestic organizationsthat have a demonstrated ability to do something aboutthe problems in their countries. The Latin American groups and individualswho participated in this survey are a goodexample of this very competent and verybusy institutional and professional capability. They are constantly faced withmaking difficult choices as to resource allocation. We are aware of the implications of this on their decision todedicate time and resources -far beyond contractualobligations- to this task. We are grateful for their supportin this effort.

- The High/Scopeproject team

vi INTRODUCTION

Summary Description

survey of education This report recordsthe results of pre-primary school-agedchildren and their programs serving The scope of work families in Bolivia,Chile and 'Colombia. which for this surveyincluded those programs serve the 3-6 yearold child and hisfamily poorest sectors were primarilydesigned to reach the of the population educational componentcentral to have an explicit improve the psycho- program designwhich attempts to child, motor and soci,4:development of the young also be (and generallyare) other although there may in corollary service componentsserving basic needs such areas as nutritionand health

utilize formal ornon-formal educationintervention techniques, a e home orcenter-based, and are experimental or service-orientedin nature. population or do not Programs that servethe 0-3 year old poor childhood educationcomponent as central have an explicit early marginally in this report. to program design arereferred to only ...the problem of development must be defined as a selective attack on the worst forms of poverty. Development goals mu-t be defined in terms of progressivereduLf- tion and eventual elimination of malnutrition, disease, illiteracy, squalor,-, unemployment; and inequalities. We are taught to take care of our GNP,because this would take care of poverty. Let us reverse this 4149514L ake care of poverty, because this will take care of GNP.

Ma tib ul Hag, Staff m er of the Wcrld Bank

I. Introduction The central objectivesof the survey were to: Describe, from a publicpolicy perspective, therajor preschool eclicationacl.livities in the host countries

Document the nature,the objectives andthe central variables constituting the"decision rules" governinc program implementation.

Analyze the implicationsof these objectivesand decision rules and, onthe basis of thisanalysis, formulate testable assertionsand/or suggested prograrl gpidelines for earlyeducation programs indeveloping dountr'es.

The survey was acollaborative effort of theHigh/Scope and selected counterpart agencies Educatignal Research Foundation agency threeparticipating countries. The counterpart in the participating and principal investjTatorin each of the three countries were:

In Bolivia, the CentroBolivjano de Investiaaciones de Aocift Educativa (CE6IAE) with the Center's director Lic. Jose Subirats asprincipal investigator.

In Chile, the Centro deInvestigaci6n v Desarrolic de la Educaci6n (CIDE) with Lic.Johanna Filp as principal investigator.

In Colombia, the Centro pareelDesarrollo de la Educaci6n No-Fprmal (CEDEN) with Dr.Benjamin Alvarez and Martha Lucia M. de Lc.ltbana asprincipal investigators.

The study was based cnexisting program data available to into these professionals in theparticipating countries and took or account prior survey work onthis topic. The basic mechanisms gathering data were a literaturereview and interviews withpolicy Personnel makers and program implementorsin the host countries. private in the field and home officesof selected public and international agencies supportinghuman rescurc development efforts were also interviewed.

Financial support for thestudy was provided bythe Agency for under an agreement withthe International Development (AID) of Portage, Cooperative Educational ServiceAgency - 12 (CESA-12) Wisconsin. Peru were The countries of Bolivia,Chile, Colombia and represent a originally proposed as projectsites because they spectrum of earlychildhood development good cross- section in the of some 30 years programming in the LDC's. Chile has a history involvement in preschooleducation, Bolivia of strong and growing equal period of has been in an on-again,off-again posture for an

212 time, and Peru was in the first stages of implementatt:q wnat is projected to be a massive "full cover" program.

There are also ir.terestingcontrasts in the wayofficial policy reflects the purpose ofpreschool clan in the dif- orienta- ferent countries. This ranges from tr'- J:.%j "process" tion reflected in the Peruvianeducational reform to the "outcome" orientation found in Varyingdegrees in the other threecountries. There are also a variety of constraintsin the different settings. Colombia, through Law No 27,apparently has the financialcapability and for massive programming, but isfacing critical institutional personnel needs; Chile hasinstitutional and personnel resources but is captive of a stringentfinancial reality; Peruand Colombia are somewhere inbetween.

Agreements were successfullynegotiated with organizations in in Bolivia, Chile andColombia. The Ministry of Educatio in this Lima, however, requestedthat Peru not be included project.1

Background

There is a growing awareness amongLatin American development planners of the possible significanceand relevance of research data from their own countriesand elsewhere demonstrating the decisive influence of the earliest yearsof life on later human develop- development. This is having an impact on human resource ment intervention programsin a variety of areas. For exarple, commodities channeled under publicfeeding programs are shifting from fandly,feeding to the pregnantmother and her infant child. Maternal/child health has become apriority activity of thehealth sector. There are few who would questionthe appropriateness of these moves.

1 In a letter from Andres Cardo-Franco, Dirctor S':Iperiorof the Ministry of Education in Perrl,he acknowledged that the survey is an initiative "de sumo interes e imbortancia", butalso informed us that the initial educational reform process inPeru is in a transitional stage and is not yet ready to besubjected to the type of diagnostic analysis proposed in the survey project design. For this reason he requested that we oostp':ne the Peruvian part of the study until 1979, "un ano en suetdmbi6n contarlamos con mss v mejores oosibilidades dP cooreracion". Since the study would be completed prior to1979,High/Scope proposed that project resources be shifted to reinforceefforts in the other three countries by incorporating a discreet economicanalysis component. The proposal was implemented.

3 Educators are alsoshowing an increasing concernabout the developmental processes duringthe early years ofIi.fe. The data in Latin America, theU.S. and growing body of research at least elsewhere indicating thatpreschool education programs, influence the those run in controlledexperimental settings can children is probably later school performanceof disadvantaged Other such factors are: one factorcontributing to this concern. Extremely high dropout andrepetition rates in the early years of publiceducation and the suosequent reduction in internalefficiency of the educatioaal The figures are dramatic. In rural Colombia system. in education for it takes 66child-years of investment each "successful completer"of the five yearprimary question how much program. Even though it is open to that might of th2.s "wastage"is due to problems addressed through preschoolprograms, be successfully students the cost involved inproviding education to who either drop outof school beforebecoming functionally literate, orwho repeat severalgrades cycle, is before completingthe eleme cary education arguably one of the mostserious problemsconfronting and may be the educational sectorin Latin America, potentially one of thestrongest economicarguments in favor ofpreschool intervention. tendency to vieweducation as a lifelong A growing days of life, and process whichbegins in the first that public investment ineducation might a feeling this better reflect this concern. PerG has even used for an educationalreform measure concept as a basis first step in which "initial"education is seen as the (List. of the word"initial" in this lifelong process. points up their instead of thetraditional "preschool" orientation). than custodial carefrom programs A demand for more of work serving youngchildren. Extending the scope intervention programscurrently reaching of the many of physical young childrenalong the sole dimension provision is seen by some asan urgenttask, as well opportunity. Many see these programs, as an exciting resolve multi- which are oftenaccused of attempting to problems with monofocalsolutions, aspotential faceted development of vehicles for initiativesaiming at the and attitudes andcognitive and those basic skills meet that a child musthave in order to social abilities educational systems the demands not onlyof the formal but later life. Directives instructing development Dlannr-,-s (:,oth national and international) to channel an increased proportion of their resources to directl-; benefit the poorest of the poor. Tnis has special ramifica- tions for education in the preschool years. Those on the bottom rung of the ladder often do not even enter the formal elementary education system, and are unlikely to make it through the system when and if they do begin. The incorporation of women into theoutsidc-the-home work force, and the consequent need for co7.prenensive care programs for their children.

of preschool For these and manyother reasons the momentum probably will education in Latin Americais increasing, and integral continue to increase as oneaspect of comprehensive intervention efforts. However, unlike other early childhood individuals who are areas such asnutrition and health, many education, well informed andstrategically placed in the social service, anddevelopment programdecision-making question the effectiveness,desirability, structure seriously preschool and/or feasibility ofincreased investment in education programs. For example:

Development planners andeducational economists are concerned about the costsinvolved in a massive expansion of theeducation sector tarcetaudience. Budgetary support forthe educational system is woefully inadequate formeeting the demandspresently of placed upon the system. In terms of percentage GNP, education budgets arealready at or beyondthe limits allowed for thisactivity by currenteconomic wisdom. Some even noint outthat the implications here include not onlythe direct costs ofthe preschool future programs themselves,but also the potential increased educational costsresulting from decreased dropout in the elementarysystem. On the other side, lack of any empiricaldata base they point out the education in which might demonstratethat preschool device to the LDC context mightbe an effective decrease wastage in theformal system. educational Many consider dubiousthe track record of systems in meeting newcnallences in an appropriate They view traditionaleducational methods as manner. in which questionable on any leveland cite examples become simpledownward preschool programs have The extension extensions of thesetraditional methods. bureaucracy to coveranother massive of the educational unrealistic and area of concernis seen as both undesirable. 15 Some research data indicatethat preschool education may not nave asicnificant long-term impact or even a short-term impact onstudent outcomes.

Looking at the record, observersnote that a great amount of time is needed toenable new education programs to reach asicnificant proportion of the population. Examples citedinclude one Latin American country where preschooleducation has been a major area of emphasisfor over 30 years. At times preschool education enjoyedthe highest of executive priorities in this country;its universitieshave well established degree courses,and there are a host of government,private and semi-autonomous agencies with service programs. However, even here only 8% of the targetpopulation is being reached. that externally inducedintervention Many are concerned socio- during the earliest yearsof life may Jeopardize . the cultural adaptive systems. Little is known about socio-cultural basis forchild-rearingpractices among Latin American the poorest, mostisolated sectors of the Interference with thetraditional patterns population. such things as may haveprofound and unknown impacts on the extended familystructure. In Latin America, as elsewhere, there are also manythat question the (or appear desiral lity of programswhich may attempt to the primary to attemptto)r.-2place the parent/community as educatorof the child duringthe preschool years.

C. The Methodology between July 1, 1977 The project developedin three phases and July 1, 1978. consolidation Phase I, a three monthperiod, was dedicated to During this periodinitial contacts weremade of project design. American counterpartgroups; and contractsnegotiated with the Latin review was done byHigh/ScOpe and counterpart and initial literatur_, and an initial staff, first draft surveyinstrumentation developed, early childhood programsin the threeselected historical review of This work countries was carried outby the counterpartagencies. meeting held inBogota in culminated in a fieldreview coordinating well as Representatives from thethree countries as October, 1977. attended the meeting. high/Scope and ProjectPortage personnel review of the papers onhistorical development Agenda items included finalization of the of programs in theresnective countries and surveyinstrumentation. Phase II of the projectbegan in October, 1977, and continued through February 1973. Activities during this periodconcentrated on the interviewand interview documentation process. Phase III was dedicated tofinal data analysis and prepare' on of the final report. In mid-March a secondcoordinating meeting was held in Ypsilantito review the first draftof the completed country reports and discussthe content of the final report. High/Scope staff, building uponthese discussions, thendrafted version of the report forcirculation and comment a preliminary of the final to the counterpartagencies prior to preparation version. In addition to the tworeview meetings,throughout the the various project L:ommunicationbetween High/Scope and agencies was maintained in aseries of circularletters, as prepared for the well as throughquarterly progress reports project monitors, AIDmission personnel in theparticipating in the work countries and selectedoutside contacts interested reports. under this project werealso recipients of these used to'gather data As mentioned above,two mechanisms were The first was a reviewof available literature under this project. of interviews education. The second was a series on preprimary the particip4ting with people concernedwith young children in countries. Literature Reviews counterpart agenciesdid a thorough The three Latin American childhood programs in review of the availableliterature on early and prepared anannotated bibliography their respective countries, pertinent to the of the documents judged tobe most useful and included books, reports, task at hand The literature review other material pertainingto the subject of theses, statutes and developed in preschool education. The bibliographies were accordance with thefollowing outline: in(countrv). This The policy basis ofpreschool education includes references toappropriate legaldocuments with public preschoo'.education or dire -tives pertaining to documents articles of constitution,by-laws or other such for programs run by private orsemi-autonomous agencies. This Research in preschool childeducation in (country). proposals, reports and otherdocuments section references education in different on experimentalprograms in preschool countries. Service_ programs in preschooleducation. This section references descriptive or analyticalliterature on past/ current intervention programsproviding preschool child education services in the countries.

General references. This sectionincludes references on publications in other areas (e.g.,nutrition, curriculum development, etc.) that may be ofinterest in conducting the survey, either from(country) or from general professional literature.

A total of 180references were reviewed bythe counterpart agencies in this part of thedata collection task. The bibliographies prepared by the counterpartsare included as attachments to the individual countryreports. High/Scope also prepared abibliography on references available in the U.S. that arepertinent to earlychildhood world. The bibliography inAttachment education in the developing counterpart and A to this report is aselection from the combined High/Scope references.

Interviews series of The second method fordata collection was a national interviews with a selected groupof representatives of children in and internationalgroups working with preschool-age elsewhere). In each of the threecountries the Andean region (and aaencies) (and at the U.S. headquartersof a number of international people interviewed included: in Ministries national policy makers,including authorities Offices, of Education, Budgetand Development Planning and social welfareagencies; rofessionals in universitiesandrivate organizations, directly involved inactivities related toearly child- teacher hood education, includingpeople involved in training, service delivery,and research anddevelopment programs; technicians and managementpersonnel from international agencies and groupsworking on human resourcesdevelop- bilateral and ment, including publicand private and multilateral organizations. agencies were responsiblefor implementing The counterpart countries. and reporting on theinterviews in their respective for the internationalagency inter- High/Scope was responsible all levels on In all more than 100people working at view process. spectrum wereinterviewed the human resourcedevelopment programming as a part ofthe data collection process. The questionnaire for the interviews was developed out of conversations held during the first field review coordinating meeting held in Bogota. The questionnaire was developed to expand one four basic questions.

What are the central issues or concerns in early childhood education among the selected countries?

What strategies heve been employe:: in developing and operating early childhood education programs?

What have been the major obstacles to overcome in

A implementing and maintaining these programs? By what measures are early childhood education programs judaed to be successful?

Comm2nts on the Methodology

The comments below on aspects of the survey methodology should be seen in light of the following key assumptions underlying the design of the project.We assumed: that there presently exists a rather large body of fairly reliable data on preschool educaticn in the Andean region of Latin America, as wall as a sizeable group of policy makers and early childhood program administrators in the countries themselves and in the international agencies that have intervention programs reaching young children and their families. These people are reasonably knowledgeable and have important opinions on the issue of preschool education in developing countries.

that an international, inter-institutional effort would be the most efficient way to gather and analyze the policy implications of this body of data.

That it is possible to use these data to design 1 conceptual framework that would be useful to policy makers in reviewing the advisability of preschool education in the context of a given developing country.

The Data Base

While there is a consensus among survey participants that gathering and analyzing existing data may have been a necessary first step, and that little has escaped our coi.?ective efforts to pull together all that is available, we have a strong sense that some of the key data we are relying on are highly suspect, and that there are significant gaps in our knowledge. The lack of field observations of preschool programs and the suspected lack of reliability and the existing data on the costs of preschool education are two especially important examples of the incompleteness of our knowledge. 19 that With several notableexceptions, we also found personnel involved domestic as well asinternational agency resource programsin the region are in social service/human cognitive/social generally unfamiliarwith the issue of development during thepreschool years.

international agencies. This was especiallyevident in tne of the international With two exceptions,the representatives with the interviewrequest suggested that agencies contacted issues of pre-primary it mieht not be toouseful to discuss the In spite of thefact that all werechosen educEtionWith them. development, because of their workin education orearly childhood education as at bestmarginal to their they saw pre-primary reports, efforts and area ofexpertise. Reading over the interview that in the opinior of mostof those contacted, one might conclude school. the important learningbegins with entry into primary institutional competence andoutreach of the At that point the preparedness, is education system, ratherthan the individual's perceived as that which reallydetermines a child's success.

The Maragement Plan network set up for thisproject The ad-hoc international mechanism for did prove its value as aneffective and appropriate It was also obviousthat all three data gathering and reporting. beyond that called counterpart agencies spenttime and effort far for in the covering agreement.

The Policy AnalysisFramework

We simply did notmove far enoughtoward the development for utilizing all of a clear, explicit,and cohesive framework under this project. In the final analysiswe the data gathered attention still had to fall back -onsuch concepts as "integral of the child" and caveatsabout the extreme to the basic needs intervention efforts caution necessary when oneattempts to develop cultural diversity and which are truly sensitiveto such factors as current adaptive systems. data from Adding to the problem,data from this survey, as indicate that only asmall fraction ofthe many prior surveys, level on any Latin American population areat a critically low most of thepopulation one of the basicneed indicators; instead, time. In this is low on several ofthe indicators at the same research-based evidence thatstems from situation, traditional useful. And single-cause, single-effectapproaches is not very

10 as for policy recommendations,there is no simple problem that can be identified and towhich policy makers can attach one solution. In conjuntion with this survey wehave, however, been able to identify and list thevariables that appear to be the major influencing factors in thedevelopment of preschool programs in ,the countries thatparticipated in the study. At this stage there appear to be 26variables of special significance. They are listed in Attachment B to this report. By way of an advance warning as totheir usefulness to a policy maker, however, the interrelationships at work amongthese variables create a grid with 625 cells! Hardly amanageable tool for policy analysis. In summary, under this survey wefeel we have been successful at gathering, analyzing, anddocumenting a significant body of data on pre-primary education in theAndean region of Latin America. We have also identified key variablesthat appear to influence the decision-making process, and we have been able tomake what we feel to be some important recommendationsindicated by these variables. There is much to be done, however, on thetask of conceptualizing a framework of analysisprocedure which would be simpleenough to be useful in the task ofpolicy determination while at the same time reflecting the extreme complexityof the issues involved.

11 Bolivia

Overview

Bolivia has a centralized national preschool system, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, and operating largely in urban areas. Under a 1975 reorganization of rural education, the preschool level was subsumed by the primary level, to become a transitional year before first grade.There exists also in Bolivia a.ndec4antralized" element of preschool education under the jurisdiction of the mining and related induStries, and a small number of private preschools. According to a recent Bolivian Ministry of Planning data (1978) matriculation at the preprimary level was reported by the Ministry of Education to be 38,270 4-6year-olds, of a total 4-6 year old population of 360,000. This puts preprimary matriculation at about 11 percent. It has been estimated that matriculation in the decentralized programs is about 5,200, and in private programs about 2,000.

History Bolivia's first preschool cent-L opened in 1855, to attend to children of miners in Potosi. In the early 1900's a few kindergarten centers c?ened up in La Paz and Sucre. Also in the early 1900's the first Normal School courses for preschool teachers were initiated. The general history of preschool education in Bolivia up until the1950's was marked by a series of decrees, stating broad objectives and delegating broad responsibilities.

In the last 25 years matriculation at the preprimary level has gone up, according to authoritative Bolivian sources, from 3.6 t.:i about 8 percent, almost all of the matriculationbeing among children 4, 5 and 6 years old. The following table illustrates the historical trend in relation to other levels of the system.

22 I

IL The Country Reports: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia

------.--...... IIIMNIII=IMMIIIIIIIIIMIMIIIJ Year Level 1952 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975

Preschool 3.59 3.66 4.86 5.61 5.83 7.98

primary 30.92 44.07 50.72 60.69 63.67 66.06

Secondary 8.84 9.47 12.6 19.9 24.7 19

Total 19.07 25.95 30.3 37.4 41.6 41.9

Table I: Bolivia ;Historical trends in preschool enrollment (as percentages of total population).

There has been, historically, an implicittendency to consider preprimary education as a transitional or preparatory year for first grade. This tendency was formalized in the rural areas in 1975 by the elimination of ruralpreprimary education, and incor7oration of the proaramsinto the rural primary system. Priorities and Objectives

A number of decrees have been p ;omulgated overtne years outlining objectives for preschool education inBolivia. The most authoritative are considered to bethose promulgated in

. the 1955 Education Code:

1) To maintain physical and mental health inthe child,

2) To help the child acquire positive socialattitudes.

3) To enhance the biological and mentaldevelopment of the child.

4) To encourage expression of creativity andinitiative.

5) To guide and enhance the child's earlyexperiences.

6) To provide activities for motor developmentand language.

7) To adapt the child to his environmentand to school. Educational policy makers in Boliviainterviewed by the investigators in this project mentioned asimportant objectives to inculcate in childrenthe best possible habits of study,work discipline, and morals; and to meetthe children's bio-physical and socio-emotional needs. Broad priorities included attention to children in rural areas,the need to train specialists in prescnool education, the need to expandthe preschool infrastructure throughout the country, and the need todevelop materials for prz:st.,,lool education. An implicit priority thatinfused the statements of many people wasto prepare young childrenfor first grade.

Administrative Organization

The Education Plan of 1975 inBolivia re-structured preschool education as follows: education, not obligatory, 1) There will be one year of preschool for children 5 years old, to bepart of the primary system.

2) It is foreseen that forchildren 1-5 years of age non-formal programs will be developed,coordinated with the formal system.

3) It is foreseen that thepreprimary program will also offer non-formal activities, in accordancewith the needs of the community.

The general organizationalstructure of preprimary education in Bolivia appears as follows(within the Ministry of Education):

Department of Primary Education

National Preprimary Office

District Preprimary Office

Preprimary Directors L F--- Teachers Administrative and Service Personnel

Table 2: Bolivia: Organizational Struct,Lre of Preprimary Education.

14 Curriculum an3Activities Education Plan apreschool level"plan of In the 1975 reportedly similar curriculum, isoutlint.-3; it is studies", or outlines 8 activityareas at to one developedin 1969, which These areaare asfollows: 1) health, the preprimarylevel. mathema- 3) sensory, 4)initiation to modern 2) psycho-motor, of nature andof work, tics, 5) language,6) understanding 7) aesthetics,8) social life.

Personnel personnel workingin preprimary The threebasic types of administrators (centerdirectors, education inBolivia are the personnel trainers), making up18.6 percent of supervisors, personnel forca; making up 69,5percent of the force; teachers, 11 percent ofthe personnel and assistantteachers, making up force. force is made up 64 percent ofthe teaching An estimated in preschooleducation.' of normal schoolgraduates specializing graduates, of this force aresecondary school About 14 percent school graduates, interns, 5 percenturban primary 14 percent school graduates. About 1 of and 1.5 percentrural primary has no trainingat thepreschool every 4preschool teachers level. vary accordingto geographic zone Student-teacher ratios Estimates range urban or semi-ruralsetting. and location in There is oneassistant teacher from about 28 toabout 34 to 1. for every 167.3students.

Materials uniformity in the useof materialsin the There is no There are oftencomplaints in .Bolivia. Usually, it is preschool education materials available. about thelimited didactic help of thechildren) themselves(sometimes with the the teachers used. The creativityof the who make thematerials that are materials",that is, shown in the useof "waste teachers is often seeds, sticks,buttons, dry corks, bottle caps, etc. empty boxes, jars, wool,light bulbs, cloth, cans, considered in a leaves, candles, materials that are other centershave didactic like aiaactic sense to Delearning mateLial, cut, more formal toys, blocks,figures to pictures, puzzles,bingo cards, slides, table service,stcries, magazines, number counters, especially the privateones, use playdough. Some centers,

15 expensive materials imported fromLatin American countries (Argentina, Chile) or Europeancountries (Spain, Germany).

In general, it is recognizedthat the preschool teachers in Bolivia are creative indeveloping didactic materials from simple elements. Some teachers have the tendencyto make everything themselves withc cparticipation of the children. Recently, in several preschool centers aninnovative trend towards more activity andparticipation of children in the construction of materials has beennoticed.

Planning

The 1975 National EducationDevelopment Plan does not foresee expansion of preschooleducation as a priority for the education system in the next' w years. This may be due to basic unfulfilled needs atthe Primary level,especially in rural areas. Preprimary education in therural areas may eventually be considered withinthe context 0i the ruralnucleo concept as the first gradein the nucleo school. There appears to be alace of specific, concreteplans for the short, medium andlong terms within the primary directorate of the Ministry. Various officialsinterviewed mentioned various possible futureaction at the preprimary levelmaking it obligatory,developing clearer norms and objectives--but there is nounified vision of the nextsteps.

Evaluation undertaken is of The major part ofevaluation currently individual children's progressin the classroom, using instruments developed in theMinistry and the impressionsof formal comparative classroom teachers. While there has been no school for children whoattend study ej progress in primary and and don't attend preschool programs,some of the teachers officials interviewed inthis study indicatedthat children who attend preschool are betterprepared for first grade. There preschool centers, are no resultsavailable of evaluations of or of the whole program.

There are a few pilot experiments that arebeing implemented currently in Bolivia. One example of current effortsis a program underway in La Paz,the "Centro Cultural ySocial" for children in the marginal ba-erio of Achachicalabegan functioning in 1969 as a non-formal program whose goal 1 to enhancethe personality development and creativity of the childin the marginal areas. The method used in the "CentroAchachicala" is designed to enhance group work and the autonomyof children. Some important

16 elements of this experienceare low cost, small amountof flexibility, time necessary forcnmpletion of activities, Work is done in the j.nformality, spontaneityand freedom. communication, sensitivity,concepts of quantltv areas of creative and space, reasoning,physical development and that the program willhave expression. It is anticipated three levels, but there aretwo in operation. Although the experience has not beenevaluated, it seems thatthe model_ focusing on preschool as it isoffers a new method of education.

Problems and Challenges education the developmentof preschool Those involved in distinctive faced with a numberof challenges in Bolivia are but particularlyconcentrated to the Andeancountries in general, mountains, or Much of the countryis altiplano, in Bolivia. hign infant In the altiplano,there are generally very jungle. lack of social mortality and morbidityrates, due both to services and theecology of the region. Bolivia's population areQuechua or Aymara Two thirds of systems of educating Indians with their ownlanguage, values and children. system ingeneral'is acknowledgedto Bolivia's educational of its less thanefficiently, both in terms be functioning offered the school agepopulation. content and the coverage should be committed How much of the scarceresources available Should the principaleffort be to to preschooleducation? These questions make the primarysystem morefunctional? remain to beanswered in the comingyears. challenges, a number Asid,.. from theabove mentioned problems were mentionedby those interviewed of concret,, lack ofinter-ministerial Jor this study. Among these are: On behalf of youngchildren, excessive cooperation in actions lack of classrooms bureaucracy, lackof trained personnel, and materials.

Conclusions develoong There are no major newplans or programs deficiencies in theed,_ tional at this time,and other serious Bolivia's largely sstem deflect concernaway from thislevel. Indian populationsuggest that rural geographyand its largely kindergarten educationis not an answer traditional, formal answers are Yet, at this moment,no other for this country. coanitive/social an6 fortl.coming to better supportthe basic sectors of the emotional nevelopment neeasif the neediest population. Chile

Overview There are currently four programbases for preschool education in Chile. The first is the programof the Ministry -of Education which reached 81,639 4-6 years old in 1977. The second is the program ofthe National Preschool Education Council (Junta Nacional deJardines Infantiles), under the administrative direction ofthe Ministry of the Interior, which reached 39,753 children 2-6 y'arsof age in 1977 (11,805 of them 4-6 years of age). The third base is thenetwork of private preschool centers, reachingabout 29,000 children. The fourth is the series of experimentalpilot programs that have

. been run under various auspices. The major programs (focus ofthis discussion), those of the Ministry of Education andthe National PreschoolCouncil (JNJI), are divided into levels -for children 0-2, 2-4 and 4-6 years of age. The large majority of the childrenreached by these programs are 2-6 yearsof age. Childien 0-2 years of age, when involvedin any early intervention, areinvolved with activities of the National HealthService. The large majority of children reached are also inurban areas, the JNJI hasnot, to the present, developedactivities in rural zones. The Ministry of Education has enrolled about4,500 children from rural areas.

18 In 1977 total preschoolmatrioulatioa in Chile was 18,181 total 2-6 age group, and children. This was 9.5 percent of the 18 percent of the 4-6 agegroup. Of total matriculation 81 in private percent wasi.i the two public programs, 19 percent centers. The following chart outlinesthe differences andsimilar- ities of the Ministryof Education and JNJI programswith respect to selectedimportant characteristics:

rogram Junta Nacional de i Ministry of EducationJardines Infantiles ;Characteristi-- Children 2-6 'Levels served Children 4-6

100% daily require- Nutritional Service 70% of daily requirements,to_children in ments provided extreme proverty

8 hours IHours daily 4 hours

t I Months per year 9 months 11 months

Professional end/ Classroom Personnel Professional teachers or _paraprofessional I teachers

at All children Children in Target poptuation extreme povert,-

Min. Interior I Jurisdiction Min. of Education

Independent Classroom location Usually annexed to a primary school buildings

Table 2: Chile --A comparative chart of two programs.

HiSfdry consisted of a preschool educationin Chile Until 1970 serving asmall population few public andprivate kindergartens

19 3() of mostly urban children. Legal bases for preschool education were in development since the early 1900's, with laws mandating child care facilities in factories, teacher training program-, in universities and normal schools, and a section in the Ministry of Ed'cation responsible for preschool education. Yet action, in terms of coordinated program development, was extremely limited.

In 1970 the JNJI was created and placed under the auspices of the Ministry of Education (where it remained until November 1976, passing then into the Ministry of the Interior). The creation of the JNJI, whose responsibilities included nlanning, supervision, promotion, coordination and implementation of preschool education throughout Chile, led to the first large scale action and commitmert of resources to the area by the government. For example, enrollment in Ministry of Education preschool programs increased by 43 percent between 1973 and 1977. Enroll- ment in JNJI preschool programs increased 600 percent in that same period.

Priorities and Objectives

Chile's two major programs, the Ministry of Education and JNJI programs, have the same broad goals, but different priorities and emphasis. Both programs aim at providing young children integral attention, meaning attention to nutritional and health, as well as educational needs. Yet the JNJI in actuality concentrates more than the Ministry on non-educational services, possibly because of its target population priority, many of whom are malnourished and may have health problems (theMinistry of Education has no such priority).1 An explicit objective and priority of the Ministry of Education program and the JNJI program - is preparation of children for first grade. In the JNJI program this objective pertains more to the transition level than to services for children up to 4 years of age.

Both programs have as objectives working with parents to help them better meet young children's needs, and workingwith programs and sectors that are trying toimprove living coiditions and the quality of family life.

Administrative Organizations The Ministry of Education program operates under the auspices of the Directorate of Primary and Normal Educationin the Ministry. It is responsible for supervision of allpublic and private preschool programs throughout Chile,administering the norms and guidelines for preschool educationdeveloped by

1 The JNJI's health services are providedby the National Health Service, part of the Ministry of Health. 31 20 the Ministry's normativebodies. Its direct responsibility "transici5n" (transition is administration ofthe public school or Kindergarten) programsfor children 4-6 years of age. The JNJI, under the auspicesof tne Ministry of the Interior's Program of Social Action,is semiautonomous in of Directors, led by the operation. It has its own Board wife of the President ofChile, and a large measure of autonomy over how its funds areused. The JNJI has a centraldirectorate of Administra- and 16 regional offices. The former has offices tion, Finance, Planningand Programs, andTechnicdl-Pedagogical curriculum Matters (including social,nutritional and educational technical assistance toprivate activities). The JNJI also gives programs. Curriculum and Activities used by all There is an officialcurriculum required to be preschools in Chile atthe "transition" level. It contains a and abilities, matchedwith suggested list of desired behaviors and methodolo- activities demonstratingthe behavior or ability, gical suggestions to helpteachers develop classroomactivities. of behaviotal norms forchildren 4'-.6 There is also a glossary The curriculum years of age inthe various domains ofdevelopment. based on Piaget'sdevelopmental -theory and is supposed to be teachers. Gesell's forms. It is designed for useby fully trained Education and JNJI programsthere In oth the Ministry of 4 hour for daily routine,the former based on a are guidel' es 2 hours day, the la.ter on a 8hour day. In both programs about daily for iwmaleducational activities. Other are set aside washing, activitiesjeaking up signitthant amountsof time include outdoor cleaning up and assortedhygiene activities,snack, provide lunch, the recreation and meals. The Ministry programs JNJI programs brea!:fastand lunch.

Personnel JNJI programs The personnel structuresof the Ministry and The Ministry reliesalmost solely on fully differ significantly. isolation in the trained teachers, operating moreor less in fully trained teachers, classroom. The JNJI uses teams with nutritional serviceauxiliaries, and paraprofessional teachers, primary teacher directors of the centers. It is common for the oaraprofessiEinal supervisedby in many JNJIclassrooms to be a The Ministry ofEducation seemsto be based on a professional. the JNJI a morehorizontal a morevertical personnel structure, structure. Materials

The JNJI, which relies on a standard listfor equipping classrooms, supplies part of the materials itself,and relies on teachers, paraprofessionals and parents to supplythe rest. The Ministry supplies onlya few basic materials, and relies largely on teachers and parents tosupply materials. The Ministry of Education program and the JNJI transitionlevel classes use a textbook or "primer" for 5 And 6year old children, ,whOse function 5s to prepare the children forreading and writing. There seems to be a general shortage of formal materials in many classrooms in bothprograms and much is left to individual teacher initiative.

Planning

National plans for preschool education for thetwo major programs are developed in the office of the Superintendent of Education, a normative body within the Ministry ofEducation. The plans are supposed to be made in consultationwith officials from the JNJI, the Ministry of Health and othersworking in the area of services to young children.

At present, a reformulation of preschool education policy is underway. Preschbol education for children in extreme -2overty has been included as one of the educational priorities within long range national strategies for economic and social development. It appears likely that children in ruralareas will have increased priority, followed by children inurban poverty areas. Also, children 02 years of age in need of services will be reached through programs developed by the National Health Service. The long-term goal is to reach the total rural poverty population in 20 years and the totalurban poverty population by 1985. It is possible that the JNJI will - cut its full-da': programs to a half day, for those families in which mothers are not working, der to reach a larger number of children in extreme povert

An important factor influencing plans has beena feasibility study carried out by the Interamerican Development Bank and the Chilean Office of Planning. This study examined the potential costs and benefits of developinga national preschool program of Centers of Integral Careco be targeted toward urban children in extreme poverty. Using a Chilean study (Napa de Extrema Pobreza) identifying the size, location and characteristics of Chile's population living in extreme poverty, the study team developed a series of estimates for costs of alternative strategies of services, and hypothetical individual and social benefits. This is probably the first study in Latin

22 America that has laid out a hypothetical cost-benefit picture for those considering investment in preschool educaticn as one means of attacking poverty.

Evaluation There have as yet been no efforts to evaluate either of the major preschool programs in Chile. Many of the experimental pilot programs have had clearly defined evaluation components (see next section). But most evaluation outside these programs is of individual children in the classroom.

The JNJI program uses attendance registers andmonthly height and weight measurements of children diagnosed as malnourished upon entering the program. Anecdotal records and observation schedules are used to evaluate cognitive, motorand social development. These are applied three times a year The Ministry of Education also uses an observation schedule to evaluate cognitive, psycho-motor, and socio-emotionaldevelopment of children enrolled. This instrument is also applied threetimes a year. The ministry of Education uses this instrumentto control passage of children to first grade.

Experimental Pilot Programs There have been two notable pilot programsin Chile designed to examine the potential ofalternative service delivery models for meeting the children's basiceducational and physical needs, and one rather extensive effortin innovative curricula design for preschool programs.1 The "Programa Padres e Hijos"(Parent and Child Program) of the Center for Research and Developmentin Education (CIDE) is also a program of parent education. This program operates in a rural area of central Chile usingtrained group leaders to work with groups of parents inregular meetings. "arious childrearing themes and issuesare discussed,using the

1 In addition to these preschoolefforts there is also an experimental parent-infant program that mayha important to reference. The "Programa de EstimulacionPrecoz" (Program of Early Stimulation) under the leadershipof Dr. Hernan Montenegro of Chile's National HealthService was a home- based parent education program examiningthe effectiveness of instructional manuals in combinationwith paraprofessional home visitors in enhancing the mentaldevelopment of infants. Control and experimental samples of mothers werechosen from among those visiting maternaland child health clinics. Treatment mothers were taught how to use aseries of manuals (one per month) giving guidance oninfant stimulation for children 0-24 months of age. The project team alsoexamined differential effects of mothers andinfants entering the program at different times in theinfant's first year of life.

23 34 (briefly, adults are pedagogical philosophyof Paulo Freire when the contentpertains to concrete motivated to learn they can be activeparticipants issues in theirlives, and when knowledge shared as agroup). Group leaders in shaping the tnat can be used with parents todevelop materials also work children. in the home tostimulate young (Preschool Center)of the The "PlazaPreescolar" program designed to examine a privateagency, was Preschool Foundation, educational programrelying on the effectivenessof a low cost in and human resourcesin poor communities community physical needs. The programused meeting youngchildren's educational to construct land in one ofSantiago's barrios available public centers structures, withoutdoors learning two simple small indoor area. Paraprofessionals delineated by lowfences and a The idea was to see %Fere trainedas teachers. from the community small resourcebase. if the programcould be run on a institutions areexperiment- A number ofChilean educational High/ScopeFoundation's Cognitively ing withadaptation of the settings. to a varietyof preschool program Oriented Curriculum used this curriculummodel in The above-mentionedPlaza Project teacher training curricula for thechildren and the design of the eight preschoolcenters with presently operates in model. The JNJI the curriculummodel is also approximately 900students where (in of theUniversity of Chile The Schoolsof Education University use. and Antofagasta)and Catholic Santiago,ConcepciOn, Talca study of theCognitively and Valparaiso)also include (in Santiago preschool TeacherTraining courses. Oriented Curriculumin their

Problems andChallenges facing Chile's twomajor Perhaps theprincipal challenge with pilot efforts,is to reach programs, andothers involved of young childrenliving in extreme more than asmall percentage of 13.2 percentof all youngchildren poverty. Currently a total The are attendedto in both majorprograms. in extreme poverty serving thesechildren, has 55.6 JNJI, with apolicy emphasis on of matriculation from thisgroup. The Ministry percent of its children in percent of itsmatriculation from Education has 39 87 percent The goal ofreaching the remaining extreme poverty. an ambitious one. of these childrenby 1985 is certainly in the presentstudy The concernsof those interviewed Mentioned by many challenges and problems. reflect other major of current officials andteachers were:1) inadequacy of these 2) the needfor research approaches toworking with parents, priority needs ofthe Chileanpreschool on thesituation and alternatives toformal child, 3) theneed co moreactively seek

ilo Z4 currently out order to reach manypoverty children programs in effective evaluation the need develop more of reach, 4) in this area,5) the need instruments andpersonnel trained for program education programs,and 6) the need for more special clearly and'concretelyto provide objectives to bedefined more better guidanceto teachers. from the factthat there One potentialproblem emerges operating in thefield of preschool are twomajor programs between the programs-- there competition education. Not only .s there is alsothe for responsibility--but for resources, services, aproblem that a possibility ofduplication of situation can ill developing countrywith a scarce resource afford. of emphasis onquantitative expansion There is a strong planning in termsof the tvoe of the system,and very little Expansion might be mosteffective andefficient. program which high costs. Perhaps it of the existingsystem involves very in order to be to studyexisting programs nd might be necessary which shouldbe maintairec. able to identifythose aspects those whichshould be changed.

Conclusions Latin Americancountry, and Chile has gone asfar as any of action than most, inelaborating the lines probably farther needs of youngchildren, especially meeting the national necessary for There are twowell developed those living inpoverty working in talented and welltrained people programs, and many Latin American In addition,Chile is the first these programs. number andlocation of young country to navemapped out the examined potential extreme poverty,and to have children living in investment in programsfor these young costs andbenefits of children's - Chile, then, is"ready" to meet young children. in fact beable to do so educational needs. Whether it will will be seen inthe next fewyears.' Colombia

Overview currently in asituation education is populations In Colombia,preschool serviceoffered, terms of planning. of flux andrealignment in control and and levelsofadministrative services being being reached 70 percentof preschool As recentlyas 1975, and publicprograms were in theprivate sector, funded. The offered were of agenciesand weakly scattered acrossa number (ICBF), thegovernment Institute ofFamily Welfare services to young Colombian coordinating responsible bylaw for provide a focusan a agency only recentlybegun to children, has service. base forpreschool resource children approximatelyfour million Colombia in1975 had 1,800,000 arein the age, ofthese, over under sevenyears of Enrollment inpreschool of four tosix years. million age-range group, by rowcloser to two for this age five percent. programs 1977 at96,500 or about in size,stood in Attention to Centers forIntergral Although ICBF's present themajor publicly constitute at increasing in Preschoolers(cAIPs) rapidly and the onethat is most preschool funded thrust, importantpublic two other of importanceand coverage, the Ministry exist inthe country: the service programs and thepreschools of preschool centers, Special Education's Social Welfareof the Division of and community- Administrative A numberof universities District ofBogota. centers. Colombian have their own eventually developmentagencies also the CAIP programwill officials havesuggested that network towhich all naticipalpreschool form theskeleton of a be affiliated,apossibility preschoolefforts may other public CAIP fundingbase. made morelikely by the

37 26 History Historically, preschool education in Colombia has been an urban phenomenon, private kindergarten centers being built in a few major cities serving mostly children of wealthy families, or supported by private charity. In 1962, the first public kindergartens were built in a few urban centers and department capitals. Along with these were built the first child care centers for children under 4 years of age. Also during the 1970's a series of resolutions were promulgated establishing norms for various aspects of preschool center functioning. By 1970 there were 28 public kindergarten in Colombia. In 1968 the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) was created to coordinate all action on behalf of young children and their families in Colombia.'A number of nutrition and health programs were incorporated into ICBF, and in 19/0 an ICBF program called Community Infant and Young Child Centers (CCI) was begun to provide service to poverty children and their families not being reached by other actions. These centers developed slowly, and in 1974 the program was superseded by the passage of Law Ng 27. This Law established norms for the creation of Centers of Integral Attention (CAIP) for preschool children of employees in various public and private enterprises, and secondarily for the children of the unemployed and indigent.The CAIP program is funded by'a 2 percent contribution to ICBF of the total payroll of all public and private enterprises; ICBF operates the program with these monies.

Priorities and Objectives

No one set of objectives that would constitute apolicy for preschool-age children exists in Colombia; variousinsti- tutions have their own objectives. The closest thing to a national policy can be found in Law Ng 27 and a 1975decree (Ng 626), outlining the process for the development of a national network of programs to provide "integralcare" to the preschool child. Law NQ 27 and decree N4 626 nonetneless are basically administrative innature, and do not speak to substantive objectives. The broad objective of the CAIP program, toprovide "integral care", is made more concrete by definitionof "areas of action", physical care of the child, stimulationfor psycno- social development, educational action with thefamily, promotional action (including mobilization ofcommunity resources), and provision of complementary services.

38 27 The Ministry of Education program seeks to provide to children 3-6 years of age educational preparation for first grade. Not included is physical care of young children (nutritional and health service). Other institutions have varying goals for their activities, ranging from provision ofphysical care and secur..ty (Foundation for the1doption of Abandoned Children), to research and development of educationalcurricula, intervention strategies, and teacher training methodologies (National Pedagogical Institute, University of SanBuenaventura).

Most agencies involved in preschool education inColombia are increasingly emphasizingnutritional and health as well as educational needs of young children, and the priority ofeducation per se is only foremost for the Ministryof Education preschool centers.

Administrative Organization

ICBF, the agency responsible for general coordinationof activities on behalf of young children in Colombia, hasactual administrative control only over its own programs, mostnotably the CAIPs. The CAIP program is run by ICBF's regionaloffices, which have a good deal of autonomy inselecting CAIP sites within their regions, and actual supervision of CAIPsis done by the regional social promotion offices. The decentralization of ICBF's decision makingand program administration is reflected also at the center levelin a differentiated center network. In the larger population centers these are "nuclear" centers with a full rangeof sup rt es and supervisory personnel responsible to aseries of "sate ite" and "peripheral" centerslocated in less densely populated areas and relying on the"nuclear" centers for many program activities. The Ministry of Education has aDivision of Preschool and Special Education under theauspices of the Directorate of Administration. There is also a Division of Curriculum Design for Formal Education, oneof whose functions is development of preschool educationcurriculum. The city of Bogota has its ownsocial sector infrastructure, part of which is a Divisionof Social Welfare, with an Education Section. As part of this section there havebeen developed 50-60 preschool centers, mostlyin marginal areas. They are under the broadjurisdictional authority of the office of the ri,ayor of Bogota.

The large majority ofchildren receiving preschool services in Colombia continue todo so through a largenetwork of private programs. Administration of this network remains in the hands of the individualsand institutions providing services. 39

28 The number ofpreschools operating in the public sector has been estimated by theBernard Van Leer Foundation to 1e it may be over 200 by now. about 170. This was in 1975; thus The Ministry of Educationhas about 20 centers; the city of Bogota about 50-60 centers;and ICBF is running the remaining 120, either as CCIs orCAIPs.

Curriculum and Activities

The Ministry ofEducation's preschool centers offer a program aimed atenhancing primarily cognitivedevelopment. Important elements of this programinclude sensory-motor activities,logical reasoning,socialization, affect and artistic and verbal expresqion. In practice the program focus in most Ministry centersis to prepare children for supplementary nutrients in a first grade. IC137;' provides number of the Ministry'spreschool centers. preschool centeraccommodates three A typical Ministry 10:30 a.m., groups of childrenduring the day: from 7:30 to from 10:30 to 1:30, andfrom 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.,-Eachthree hygiene, clean-up and otherroutine hour session includes various learning activities, languageactivities, activities in activity centers, newactivities, freeplay and motor development activities.

centers offer a programincluding the The ICBF preschool physical care ofthe child (nutrition following activities: control), psycho-socialdevelopment, educational and health action (in the crmunity) action with thefamily, promotional services of ICBF. The ICBF programs and complementary 1:30 a.m. to 4:30 generally run in onesession, from about snack are providedby ICBF. p.m. Breakfast, lunch and a uniform curricularview- In contrast totl-,e above fairly curricula pri ate-sectorpreschools tend toward points, Colombian of the groupsthey serve. that reflect theneeds and priorities training program Bossio Preschoolalso has a teacher The Victoria leadership intraditionally herself has provided approach and Ms. Bossio country. Their curricular oriented earlyeducation in the social- following areas:intellectual development, emphasizes the of self-controland of appro- ization (viewed asthe acquisition example habits) andself-reliance. A contrP.sting priate social emphasis is offeredby FANA, an of private-sectorprogram lower-class children organization aimed atassisting abandoned for them. Since theorganization and findingadoptive parents is not strictly way-station forthe children it serves as a but its explicitgoals are comparable to aregular preschool, other Privatelyfunded charitable quite comparableto those of and order, thesegoals are nutrition preschools. In priority to and emotionaldevelopment, adaptation health, psychological skills, andreadiness. the environment,acquisition of

29 Personnel

There is a severe shortage oftrained professional personnel for preschool education in Colombia. Altnou9_ a number of universities now have training programs(Universidad Peda,, ca Nacional, UniversidadSan Buenaventura, UNINOCA, Instituto Superior de Educaci(n, CINPE,CIELI), the number of graduates is still very small; as recently as1973, only 57 teachers c, aduated with a preschoolspecialization in the country. Most of the programs, in addition, arefive-semester (2 1/2 year) ccirses; only the UniversidadSan Buenaventura has a four-year rpgram, although the UniversidadPedag6gica Nacional is currently L _arming one. The high demand for morequalified personnel created by ICBF's CAIP programis meeting with a re2ponse by training institutions,howeler, and the number of irofersional preschool teachers available canbe expected to increase rapidly over the nextfew years. In the private sector, a major forcefor training has been Victoria Bossio. Graduates from her Institute, however have been principally working in.theprivate middle-class-oriented preschool, and the number of graduates is stillrelatively small.

This lack of specialized professionalshas meant that preschool programs rely heavily onparaprofessionals and volunteers, and train their staff throughbrief preservice courses. In the operating model ICBF's CAIP system, for fxemple, only4a few Centrally-located unitsin each region (-he so-called nuclear centers) have amulti-disciplinary rrofessional team. At a more dispersed level (that ofthe satellite centers) only the nte: director may be a professional, while at the peripheral centersthe teacher/director is usually a paraprofessional.At all three operational levels, paraprofessional and volunteerstaff round out the program structure. For the moment, then, the demandfor preschool teacners is much greater than the supply oftrained staff, and the gap is being narrowed by preservice training. Program personnel represent a mix of levels of trainingand experience, and over the next few yearsthis situation can be expected Lo continue. The production of more sperialieedteachers by training institutions and the diffusionof training through inservice courses can be expected to graduallyhelp upgrade the level of experience and skill ofpreschool staff.

31) Materials Material resources for learningand play in preschool settings in Colombia aregenerally fairly scarce. Supplies and from central programorganizations arrive sporadically receive heavy use. Teachers are generallyresponsible for supplementing this material withwhatever they can get from comm city sources,find asscrap or buy withtheir own money. instance, have limited Ministry f Education preschools, for plastic and wooden toys, rostof which show heavy amounts At wear. Scrap and found materialsplay an imp_rtant roles the ICBF CAIPs there are scrapmaterials and some wooden toys. At sites for both programs, ner and paints,for instance, are sca.-ce or nonexistent.

UNICE has attempted to supportpreschool programs by providing some material resources,but these are not enough for the demand. In general, supplies andmaterials are scarce, and what isavailable is supplemented bythe -ngenuity and resourcefulness ofthe teachers.

Planning Although the Ministry ofEducation has two divisionsin principle concerned withplanning frr the preschool sector and the (the Division deEducaciOn Preescola- v Especial, Division de Diseno yProgramacitin Curricular de E-Iucacin Formal), in practicepreschool education planingis dominated by ICBF through itsadministration of the CAIP program. Current plans for thelatter organization involve astrong increase in coveragewithin the bounds of thelegal mandate (Law 27 of 1974, andAdministrative Decree 626 of1975), which set as prioritiesthe children of workers,the unemcioveCI and the rsor. No up,00r nur e has been setfor ._:overage, no an overall planbeen defined. No well defined plan currently exists formonitoring therJvate sector.

Evaluation

Al dough the variousexperimental and nilot programs components, neither (see next section)include strong evaluation Ministry of Education northe ICBF CAIP programshave t k,,,pt, but no systematic evaluation. Attendance registers are other systematic record-keeping currently exists. Experimental Pilot Programs elforts and at least onesianifica-nt Two major research in the area of pilot program have beencarried out in Colombia have served as a basisfor recommendations early childhood, and policy-makers. and as sources o:,nowledge for practitioners Welfare's Directorate Colombian Instituteof Family Under the University's and in Cooperationwith Harvard for Nutrition 1958 a numberof linked studies School of PublicHealth, snce childhood physicalgrowth and mental on nutritionand early neighborhoods been carried outinlow-income urban development have effort in thisseries of studieshas The celminating in Bogotl. experimentalintervention on been a prospectivelongitudinal of age, contrastingthe children underthree years families and supplementation andpsychological stimula- effects ofnutritional of youngchildren at highrisk and development who tion on the growth a sampleof pregnant women of malnutrition. In this study, children wererandomly already had one ormoremalnourished had or to oneof the controlgroups; assignated tovarious treatments paraprofes- provided throughspecially trained stimulation was twice-weekly visitsof one hour's sional homevisitors, using when the target Although theinterventions ended duration. a follow-upphase is children reachedthree years of age, planned.

Development ofNon-Formal Education The Center for community and 1975 a pilotstudy using (CEDEN) began in education as atechnirrue, with .ed non-formal preschool-age furthering thedevelopment of the goal of neighborhood ofBogota. children in alow-income urban approaches havebeen tried, A variety ofmaterials and presentation forms: combining differentmedia and message (films, slide-tape),demonstra- audiovisual presentations discussions, of printedmaterials, open tions, distribution objects. circulation ofhome-made toys and Research Foundationhas In Cali, theHuman Ecology applied studies 1968 a seriesof basic and carried out since and educational on theeffects ofnutritional, health urban preschool- the developmentof low-income - interventions on contrasted the Its majorlongitudinal study age children. of center-basededucational effects ofdifferent ler;ths component withthe intervention with asubstantial nutrition supplementation alone,using as effects ofnutritiona no interventionand a control groups asubsample receiving of thi.s work a sample. On the basis middle-class comparisonefforts have beencarried out or are demonstration being number of replications andadaptations are under way, andprogram planned for othernearby towns. investigations of other pilotefforts and A number of work with the"neighbor- underway, including the pilot local programs are barrio) ofCartagena and hood schools"(escuelitas de Ahticquta. north- centraldepartment of programs ofACNIPA in the apblicative considerable amountof research a^. To sum up, a and a numberof potent'al- in Coloarbiaat present, 3oth work is underway at differentstages ofstudy. ly applicablestrategies are the pilot prcer=37_have efforts andalmost all of ICBF of the research policy-makers andplanners in the formal or i.nformallinks to effort (within and effects uponthis major service CAIP program, can beexpected. the constraintsof its mandate)

Problems and Challenges available forpreschool Although a large amountof money is of Law 27-2974,the major education throughthe payroll tax child- Colombian planners inthe area of early challenges facing do with those in ICBF's CAIPprogram) have to hood (especially and the devel- and upgrading ofhuman resources the availability and alternativeintervention opment of clearplanning guidelines children currentlybeing reached is strategies. The number of of the population atneed, and the amount low relative to bottleneck due to the available. Ii part, this resources administrative infrastructurethat can lack of a suitable heterogeneity of the determine needs, adaptiteelf to the needs, train andupgrade the personnel population and its services in a required, and directthe provision of Al "1:-Th ICBF isworking very hard to coordinated way. much work remains develop such anaaministrateve strucaure, to be done in thisarea. coverage goalsdo not appear to Although specific of formulated, theColombian Institute have been explicitly to increase coverage. Family Welfare ispushing ahead strongly law initiallyoriented Within the constraintof an enabling of workers, it isattempting to specifically at children children of families broaden coveraae so asto include the Although a Varietyof alternatives tocenter- of greatest need. piloted in the country, based day care arebeing explored and administrative mechanismby which such there is no cleat' ICBF's programs: inspite alternatives can beincluded within and to some extent of this, thu Instituteis interested in models. is supportingalternative preschool needs, and determinationof population The further study and mandates toidentified the adaptation ofexisting legislation of a supp^rtiveadministrative and needs, tne establishment upgrading of human -harming infrastructu-e, the creataan and definition of a varietyof interventivemodels resources, the broadening and sulapopulationneeds, and tne adapted to regional nasic challengesfacing and extension ofcoverage, are t Colombian earlyeducation at prese. Conclusions leadership positionin Latin American Colombia has taken a emphasis at the by placing astrong policy prescb^^1 education service to thepreschool-age high governmental levels on to country, and byestablishing legislation children of the for program efforts provide the economicresources necessary There is anational program at an in preschooleducation. development and anadministrative structure early stage -,f supervise thefinancial resources gearing up todistribute and The lack of accumulated forthis purpose. that are being and conceptualcapabili- trained human resourcesand of planning order that Colombiamust handle in ties are themajor challenges to extend andbroaden its coverage.

4 5

34 A COMPARATIVEANALYSIS OF THE COUNTRYREPOTZTS

of the historical In this chapter acomparative examination state, and likelytrends in preschool development, current will be presented. education in Bolivia,Chile, and Colombia will be tohighlight similari- The purpose ofthe examination within the among thethree countries ties and differences political, and context of theirsocio-cultural, economic, infrastructural realities. situations of thesecountries, and r-f young Because the differ in a numberof ways, children withinthese cuantries examination is notmeant to beevaluative. the comparative out variablesthat have Rather, the focuswill be. on seeking education, and trying influenced thedeveloprncnt of preschool so. to establishhow they have done

A. Historical Antecedents number of in generalthere have been a In Latin America of preschooleducation. factors associatedwith the development welfare of been (1) an interestin the social Among these have agencies and certaininfluen- the poor on thepart of religious of (2) the importationfrom Europe tial wealthy menand women, by about the kindergartenand early childhood various theories receiving t:ducationthere, wealthy young LatinAmerican women of of laws anddecrees for protection (3) the promulgation working mothers,particularly minors, and (4) aneed to support in urban areas. preschool education Historically, in allthree countries, and programgenerally reached developed as anurban phenomenon, children from of the wealthy. Those few only the children preschool programsusually poverty situationsinvolved in

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B. Quantitative Overview unrealiability of theavailable In spite of thepaucity and it is education, particularly± Bolivia, data on preschool across- country trends possible to gain someunderstanding of data. It must benoted through examinationof quantitative investigators, inpresenting thefollowing that the present populations beingdescribed.1 data, had to assumecomparability in respect topreschool Perhaps the mosttelling fact with pre- countries is thepercentage of tne education in the three As shown in (4-6 years ofage) enrolled. school-age population Bolivia, anesti- figure is about7.9 percent in table 1, this in Colombia. A recent mated 9.4 percent inChile, and 5 percent Preescolar en Mialaret for UNESCO(La Educacion report by Gaston children attending indicates that only10 percent of el Mundo) socio-economic statuschildren. preschool in Colombiaare low of Education figure is 39 percentin the Ministry For Chile that the JNJI program(children in programs and55.6 percent in extreme poverty").

4S 36 Bolivia Chile' Colombia

Total population 498,200 1,535,741 1,832,909 :Matriculation 39,793 148,181 96,566 18.4 5 % 4-6 pop. enrolled i 7.98

Table 1: Preschool matriculation for Bolivia, Chile and Colombia

and public, In terms of percentageof programs, private Colombia has by far thelargest privatematriculation, perhaps reflecting its (until recently)lesser commitment to the population living in extremepoverty. Table 2 presents a (The trend breakdown of the situationin the three countries. to play a in all three countriesis for the public sector greater role in thedevelopment of preschooleducation.)

Bolvia2 Chile Colombia 69 rivate 25 19 31 ublic 75 81

Table 2: Percentage of children in public and private_ programs at preschool level in Bolivia, Chile and Colombia

While there are no comparablestatist cs on urban-rural matriculation, due to Bolivia'seliminati of rural preprimary programs in 1975,differences in the percentageof urban-rural populations, and an emphasis inChile on planning for urban

1Estimate is for totalpreschool-age population

2Private in Boliviaincludes the "decentralized" sector for example, day care programs runby the mining companies.

4 9 37 rather than rural areas, itis clear that at present preschool education is mainly an urbanphenomenon in all three countries. In Colombia about 93.5 percentof all matriculation is urban. In Chile the figure may be evenhigher. (An estimate would be 97 percent, using a 1976statistic of 4500 children enrolled in rural areas.) The student-teacher ratio inthe three countries varies frcm about 25 to 1 in Colombiato a',out 28 to 1 inBolivia and 30 to 1 in Chile (by law). These are rough figures, butthey demonstrate the generally high --by European and Americanstandards- student- teacher ratios to befound in Latin America. Even with this high ratio, it must beremembered that some teachersof training in early young children inLatin America have minimal childhood education.

C. Objectives and Priorities Perhaps the most distinctivefeature of early childhood education in the three countriesis their emphasis on the nutritional and health as well asthe educational needsof young particularly, there is an children. In Colombia and Chile, emphasis on integrated actions,with the physical wellbeing of the child an importantcomponent of programplanning decisions. Early childhood educationin all three countries ishigh in rhetoric and policydocuments and relativelylow in funding. problems Chile and Colombia, facingfewer basic infrastructural than Bolivia, have managedto commit more resourcesto early that, in general, childhood education. It may be hypothes.zed certain concern for youngchildren's needs must wait_till a primary education systemis achieved. . minimal functioning of the and Recent polio doduments from Chile and Colombia, especially from Chile, suggestgrowing concern for thelow socio-economic status population as apriority target. This policy trend, apparentalso in other LatinAmerican countries, of has important implicationsfor the future development preschool education in termsof strategies selectedand priority needs attended to. with A policy priority in allthree countries is working children's needs. Yet few effective parents to better meet young for mechanisms exist, particularlyin the national programs, working with large numbersof parents in a morethan margin41 fashion. moving Chile and Colombiaprovide an example of countries of one unified policy for youngchildren toward the formulation agency. through coordination ofresponsibilities by one umbrella of jurisdiction (In Chile nonetheless,there is still division between the Ministry ofEducation and the JNJI). Feeding programs for young children have historically been the highest implicit priority of governments inLatin America, perhaps due in large part to theavailability of international agency food donation resources. Yet with recognition of the complexity of young children'sproblems, and the importance of the familial andcommunity environment, the recent tendency has been to prioritizeintegral action involving many agents and a number of sectors. This requires specific and concrete objectives, especially asresponsibility for action must re clearly delegated.

D. Or anization and Administration

The organization ofpreschool education in Chile and Colombia offers evidence of the as yetunresolved issue of responsibility for educational policy. In both countries there are two principalagencies--the Ministry of Education andthe JNJI in Chile (under the Ministryof the Interior), and ICBF in Colombia( under the Ministry of Health). Whether or not this division of authority has created, oris creating, administrative problems is difficult to determine. There is-supposed to be a good deal of cooperation andinter-agency planning. Also, responsibilities are somewhat different. In,Chile, for example, the JNJI program is focused onchildren in poverty, the Ministry of Education program less so.

The existence and growingresponsibilities of the ICBF in Colombia and the JNJI in Chile suggestthat there is a tendency for preschool education to pass outof the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education in bothcountries. The reason for this trend is not clear. It may be that the Ministryof Education is not designed to deal withnutritional and health needs, andnot flexible enough to target servicesto particular groups of children (e.g., poor children).

Chile and Bolivia both show atendency to centrali7e decision-making and program planninc;almost all early childhood education activity depends onofficial government agencies. This is not true in Colombia. Perhaps, because of this, therehas

39 to experimentand seek been more of atendency in Colombia in Colombiatoward more effectivemodels; the tendeacy pluralism, without thenecessity forcentralized diversity and models for other control, has provided anumber of interesting countries in the area.1 Bolivia in that the Colombia also differsfrom Chile and participating in earlychildhood education majority of children The programs there arereached throughprivate programs. earlier indicate thatColombia is reaching a statistics cited status children among lower proportion oflow socio-economic this might be one reason. Another reason those enrolled, and disadvantage of of centralizationoffers the could be that lack within the population lack of control overchoice of sub-group to receiveservices. paying significant While none of thethree countries are Chile and Colombia are attention to children0-3 years old, attention--through ICBFand JNJI activi- paying relatively more the past, there was a ties--than is Bolivia. In Bolivia, in direction; but therecent emphasisis on pre-primary. trend in that cannot easilyshift their It may be thatMinistries of Education developmental needs ofinfants and toddlers. focus to meet the 0-3 years that meeting theneeds of children There is a feeling and attendance tophysical old is a matteronly of custodial care demands Also, there is thereality of pressing necessities. levels. ICBF and JNJI, at the primary,secondary and university young to work withfamilies--in particular though their mandates toward developingstrate- mothers--may be morenaturally oriented infants and toddlers. gies of earlystimulation for preschool programsin Colombia Administratively, Ministry Directorate ofAdminis- with specialeducation to the are tied in under the Directorateof In Chile andBolivia they are tration. is thus notviewed as a Primary Education. Preschool education system.2 separate levelof the education

1 have been a fewexcellent pilot This is not todeny that there padres Chile and Bolivia--forexample, the Progr- a programs in countries--but which is currentlyoperating in both e Hijos dive -ity hasbeen more of only to point outthat in Colombia, a policy.

2 preschool program,has Education the national In Per0,Initial and it seems tohave had now become aseparate directorate, out, in effect of separatingpreschool education the positive the nationaleducation people's minds, as adistinct level of system. The implicit tendency is for thepre-primary year-- kindergarten --- to be attached to first grade, andthus become part of the primary system. The question whether preschool education is to become an integral part of the national education systemin the three countries, or whether it will pass outof the Ministries of Education into other hands, remainsunresolved. But the resolution of this question will do much todictate what form early childhood education takes inthese countries in the future.

Finally, Of clear administrative problem in all three countries has been a lack of inter-agencyand inter-sectoral coordination. The interactive nature of young children's problems (i.e., the inseparability inpractice of health, nutritional and educational needs) and thescarcity of resources point to the necessity for coordinatedaction. There have indeed been agreements at the policy level in allthree countries. But these agreements break down at theoperational level, as problems of financial and personnelresponsibility, lack of parallel infrastructure at the local level, and timeconstraints due increased need for planning, become apparent.

E. Personnel All three countries have a system forcategorizing the level of teacher qualification, the basicdistinction being between professionals, who have received either2 or 4 years of training in early childhood education (2 yearsthrough Normal Schools and Pedagogical Institutes, 4 yearsthrough the University system), and paraprofessionals, whooften receive short training courses of 2-6 weeks andoccasional in-service seminars. The Ministry of Education programs inChile and Colombia tend to use fully trained teachers,while the ICBF and JNJI programs tend to rely more onparaprofessionals working under the supervision of a master teacher. Bolivia's Ministry of Education program also uses fullytrained teachers.1 But, as the Bolivia report indicates, oneof every four teachers working at the preschool level has nospecial training for working with young children.

Lack of fully trained personnel, and resourcesto train them, is a problem throughout LatinAmerica. Thus, the new style of personnel use (sometimes called "differentiatedstaffing") being applied by JNJI and ICBF holds some promiseof being a realistic alternative in the struggle to reachlarger numbers of young

1These are normal -school graduates,by and large, notuniversity graduates. 53 41 criticism children in need ofservices. There has been some teachers, particular- of the greater useof paraprofessionals as the quality of theeducational program. ly with reference to may reflect But the disadvantagesof using paraprofessionals in-service support,rather than a lack ofadequate training and an inherentproblem. is the fact One seeming advantageof paraprofessional use tend to come fromthe lower and that the paraprofessionals identify more lower-middle classes,and thus can potentially needs and values oftha children andtheir closely with the all three It was noted bythe investigators in families. coming from theuniver- countries that manypreschool teachers classes of theirsocieties. They do sities are from the upper problems of poverty not have first handacquaintance with the children. This could expiainwhy the and its effects on the families problems of povertyfamilies are often blamed on deficiency--rather than onsocial- themselves--some cultural structural inequalities insociety.

Except where theyhave worked as paidparaprofessionals, personnel, particularly as_teachers, has the use of parents as There is no been extremely limited inall three countries. in the class- tradition in Latin Americaof parent involvement In addition, many parents(particularly mothers) of poor room. work to sup- children have other childrento attend to, or must significantly greater use port the family. The possibility of of parents as personnelis questionable. With respect to thequestion of supportpersonnel--nutri- counselors--the structuresof Chile's tionists, health workers, conducive to incorpo- JNJI and Colombia'sICBF appear to be more ration of such personnelthan thF structuresof the Ministries three countries. The former organizations of Education in all level, rely more on "horizontal"teams, working at the program and less on a vertical structurewhich leaves the teacher This team approach is verypromising as a way of isolated. children living dealing with themultifaceted needs of young in poverty. is the lack One interestingfinding in all three countries of preschool of adequate mechanismsfor in-service training harmful forparaprofessionals, personnel. This lack is particularly teachers transferringfrom the primarylevel but it also affects working for years (not too uncommon) am_teachers who have been ideas. In-service mechanisms are with outdated pedagogical becauee of new particularly important atthe preschool level, teachers (e.g., workingoutside theclassroom demands on preschool health problems with parents and community,helping to diagnose of children).

42 54 Educaticnal Curriculum

In all three countriesthere exists what is called an "official program". This program, developed wlthin the Ministry of Education,generally consists of a series of broad objec-ives indicating the valuesand behaviours to be inculcated in children, and aseries of developmental objectives, behavior/ability for based mop -,, less on expected norms of young chill at different ayes.

At the pre-primaryLwel, obj ctives tend toward piepara- tion of children for firstgrade. At this level, also, the tendency is ,lr objectives to befocus d on academic abilities; this is es2eclally true inthe year commonly called"transition".

In Chile and Co).-mbiathere has been a rent tPr.dcv to us` developmental theory tnormsand guidelines) from the United States and Ehrope (inparticular Eiagetian theor: andGesell abilities within a certain age norms). Expected behaviors and range are translatedinto concrete behavioralobjectives and then into suggested pedagpaicalactivities, or experiences is basis for young children. Nonetheless, the psychological c,Lrriculum has no counterpart in apractical pedagogy--how the classroom teaching-learningsituation should bestructured.1 This lack was found tobe common 3n all threecountries, and to some extent was not evenviewed as a problem. As mentioned in the Chile iepert, tnepedagogical orientation ofclassroom 'achers is to a largeextent dependent on individualincline- on and previoustraining. it is argued in all three c:ntriesthat the official curriculum should be adapted to localrealities. Tha curriculum itself is not viewed so much as an operationalplan as a framework within which plans can be developed. This leaves a good deal tc the initiative cf local-level teachers andadministrative support staff, and may pose a problem as paraprofessionalstake on more teaching roes. (In Chile and Colombia, the JNJI and ICBF ale iecuired tc use the official programdeveloped by the Ministry of Education, whose curriculumdevelopers may not always be rincirul of the program development strategiesof these agencies.2

Evidence from Chile, ColcYlbia, and Bolivia suggeststhat _7onsc eus application ofparticular pedagogical models is very

Exceptions to this genorali.zation can befound. For example, in Chiie tnere isexpeli-,entation with the Cognitively nrint]e2 i,urri.:-alum as a peda,j I basis for activities.

Currently, ICB:' and the Minlstry of Educationin Colombia arc working to ether to develop a jointcurriculum.

43 limited. It is not at all clear that one peciago7ic_ii e' should guide all preschool education in any coun,ry. terms of applicatio!. ofcurriculul',--official progr-,m--at center and 'lassroom level, any setof oojectives more powerful within the contextof a consistent fra-.--owor:--, for student and teacher interaction. In this type of settinc ,11 the components of curriculum--includingmaterials, classroc--, structure, student-teacher andstudent-student interaction-- reinforce each other.

Common also to all three countries, butparticularly relevant to Bolivia's situation, is alack of serious cnnsider- ation of sc Lo-cultural contextsin which early childnood education programs are being developed. The official progra:-.5 in--S-1,1 three countries reflect tnethinking of psycsologists concerting the de-s,elooment of the individual chlid, but riot questio'hs of cultural and ethnic identity and language. This lack is particularly significant inBolivia, where two tnirds of the population are eitnei Quechua orAymara, and hundreds of thousands of young children speaklittle or no Castellano.- A basic ques+ion remaining to beaddressed in Bolivia is whether preschool education should serve as avehicle for acculturation of Bolivia's ind'_an population, or as avehicle for :ethnic affirmation, forming one small part of a nit mcA .ent to realign Indian-Span?sh relations.

In all three countries, butparticularly in tne- is an inadequate supply of educationalmaterials in most childhood classrooms. This problem is not uniformly serio:- in many private centersand public centers in the lard-- cities there are enough materials forchildren. But it is often in the preschool centers serving the poorestchildren--in marginal uroLn. And rural zones--tharJ educational materials arein snort s;:bply.

Lack of materials has one un1annedadvantage, however. has led, in individual cases, to gre use of teach__-r7,adi,amf locally constructed toys, games,block_ -' nuzzles. Those are of :en inexoeno.:ve and very creative,and cau be made by parents who could not otherwise affordeducational materials for their children. To some extent, locallyconstructed materials are also culturally more a3propriate, beingsometimes based on local games, animals, workmaterials, etc. The potential use for locally constructed and tea_her-mAdematerials is orobaply greater at the preschool than atother levels of tnc. -2c,,stcm.

In.=1 re=t ::tits hold eon_, found ti_ at _3.7s Bolivians speak Seanics at !lomf2,26.3--;; speak c2u; 18.5% goeak Aymara.

44 56 G. Planning early ch-ildnood edeca- The content andextent of plans for vary widely, the processesinvolved tion in the three countries to naee tee in planning less so. Of the three, Chile appears the next few years in ternsof most clearly laidout plans for for types of programsto be developed and national priorities a)lozbia report reached. In Colombia, as the target populations mechanism mentions, there is no onenational plannlug group or although ICBF, through LawNo 27, for early chilchoodeducatior tarp t- probably has the central re= risibility for strategic and In Bo ia, whilethere are quantitative population planning. there do not projections for increasein tire-primary coverage, appear to be anystrategic Plans. documents from Chile The contents ofavailable planning targeting of effort inthose two countries and Colombia L.aggest a rural poor as toppriority, toward the poor, inChile toward the children living in extremeproverty in urban followed by those ICBF's regional Colombia toward therural poor (through areas; in Colombia's raL,idly grow- offices), and themarginal urban poor in settlements. Plans in 'Thile also ing slums andurban squatter of by age with 'cheJNJI and the Ministry divide responsinility and for children 2-6(the Ministry 4-6), Education res,nnsible 0-2 years of age. National Health Servicerespon-sible for those centralized in all The process ofplanning is generally decision-making being themost clearlycentralized three countries, Education Bolivia, wnere officialsin 'ehe Mtnistry of in Chile and to be some make all majordecisions. In Colombia there appears the regional levelby uni,re-,sities,ICEF's independent planning at Also the Ministry regional offices, andpilot ProgramdeveluDers. plans. of Education andICBF make separate with a penula- In Bolivia, a countrystill two-thirds rural, Andean terrain,e'=fcctive tie,n scattered over.,ery difficult preschool level isconstrained by a lac::of planning at the solution nas infrastructure to Implementplans. One tentative level per se in rural areas,and been to eliminatetne preschool basic cycle. (Distinctions between ore integrate it into a ai.ays been in rural areasbased on age have primary and primary has teLs been anyway.) Plahninq in Bolivia somewhat arbitrary greater extent shaped by ethnic andgeographic realities to a than in Chile andColomLia. H. Evaluation

Evaluation t o oral plans, national programs, progress of children in inui;idialclassrooms, and pilot programs has no -'Pen of uniform 'mportance forthe three countries ex .mined in this study. Chile, with its g.nerally unifiednational plans, seems to be concerned with macroeffect- Colombia and Bolivia appear less concerned. In both Chile and Colombia therehave been a number of pilot programs withevaluation components, and in Bolivia chere is at least one (Padres eHijos).1

With respect to national programs,there have to the pr,-sent been no eftorts in any of the threecountries to evaluate overall program effects. At the classroom level there are both standardized 2 and locally constructed instruments(e.g., checklists for student completion of objectives)available, but these instruments have not been consistently andwidely applied. Chile has used standardized instruments to a greater extentthan the other two countries, because in Chile these instruments areused to control promotion. The data base of the Ministry ofEducation programs consists mostly of such information as how manychildren are enrolled, how many teachers are working,etc. Reports from teachers and local supervisor.: to the national level formthe remainder of the data base; these reports are generallyquantitative but usually include an impressionisticelement describing progress andproblems. A good deal of interestinginformation has emerged from evaluations of various pilot programsin all three countries. (Although these evaluations areoften conducted under difficult field conditions, pilot programdevelopers have recognized trio importance of a data base and some measureof control for examining The problem at present appears tobe Knowing . program effects.) what to do with this information,knowing how to use it for planning future programs.

s.:1,11, cor.runity developn2n,-. This program isconsidered to be as mLch a effort as a strictlyeducational pilot program.

2 By "standardized" we meanconstructed by s:-.!cialized teams in at the national level,to record student abilities general and progress onparticular objectives. See Chile rqport discussion of evaluation. A common fe,tture ofclassroom-level evaluation in at of children's least Chile and Colombiais periodic measurement for evaluation cf tne height and weight. This forms the basiJ nutritional and health statusof the ,:hnldren. In the JNJI there do seem to be and ICBF programs andin pilot programs, the nutritional and some moredetailed efforts to examine health status of thechildren Constraints on evaluationin all three countries ale Within the national programsin particulai,lack numerous. defined coals, of personnel and resources,lack of concretely of program activities atthe local and diversity in quality Also, level have made programmacro-evaluation difficult. national programs in Chileand Colombia have ',ustrecently At the embarked on new paths,with new mandates tofulfil:.. local level, many teachersappear to havetheir hanys full just coping withday-to-day operations. have Chile, and to a lesserextent Colombia, appear to which to base begun the process ofbuilding a data base upon future plans and strategiesat the national

The tension in thethree countrie:.1 betweentha desperate intervention need of large numbersof children for immediate the need to develop to overcome theeffects of poverty, and E)t3:ategie, to attack variouimanifesta- effective and efficient toward the tions of poverty, isdemonstratea 2 an ambiguity While aware of th importance of evaluation- evaluation issue_ instrument for both formative andsummative--as an important controlling program quality, manypolicy-makers and program planners seem to feelthat it is secondary tothe process of delivery of services per se.

Some General IF.,=,:ues hat-, been set - The limits of thiscomi-Jrattve examination cultural, to some extent bythe distinctive socio-economic, realities in which preschooleducation is functioning and political In this section, someof the in Chile,Colombia, and Bolivia. of the development ofpreschool education contextual correlates of will be discussed briefly,with the purpose in each country country. annertaining which factors mayinfluence tn2ends in each The assumption is madethat there are bothcontext-specific three countries. factors and universalfactors operating in all education has beenhistorically an uroan Because preschool degree of phenomenon in Latin America,it is likely that tne national preschool urbanization influencesthe development of a urbanized of the t_ re -Duntries, network. Chile being the most

47 has also demonstrated a longerhistorical interest in preschool education at official levels. Colombia has been urbanizing rapidly, if chaotically, and asthe Colombia report states, the sixties--a period in whicheffects of urbanization began to be apparent--brought a surgeof interest in services for young children. Interest in preschool education inBolivia- still largely a rural ccuntry--ha;sye_tto make itself felt in any significant fashion. Interest in attacking malnutritionin young children, apparent on the part of the governmentsof Chile and Colombia, also appears to have had spin-offeffects on preschool education. Chile's national milk program of thelate sixties and early seventies, and the primary-schoolfeeding program, created a corps of social scientistsand interventionists who stimulated interest in early educationalinternertion. ln Colombia, 1:BF has expanded its mandate frombasic care and meeting physical needs to developing educational programs. These natural extensions of action from nutritionto multiple intervention are worthy of examination asone approach to expansionof ear =y childhood education throughoutLatin America.'

As preschool educationdevelops in Bolivia, decision-makers in the country will be facedwith a set of factors unique tc three countries examined in thisreport, but pertienent also to Peru and Ecuador. First of all, rugged geographicalfeatures of the Andean region raise questionsregarding the most effective strategies for infrastructuredeveopment and expansion of services. The delicate ecological conditionsof altipiano, highland mountainsides andvalleys call for intervention strategies by that do not radically alterthe socio-cultural system -?dopted the Indians over hundreds of yea-sto assure survival. Child- rearing strategies have provenin many parts of the world tobe functional adaptations to environmentalthreats and strcnses. This is true also in the Andeanhighlands, and must be taken into account as plans aremade to develop educationalstrateaies for parents and youngchildren. Finally, the previously mentioned issues of cultural pclicy(toward accultun_'-on or cultural pluralism?) and language policy mustbe part of the decision- making process when Quechuaand Aymara populations areinvolved. Colombia is faced with a problem commonto all but a few Latin American countries(Chile being one of theexceptions), c'f pre- and one that will inevitablyaffect future development

1 Two questions then arise: Cainsupplementary feeding programs be expanded into educationalprograms? supplementary feeding infrastructure be made useof?

48 60 school educat-n. This is the very high birth rates an declining infant mortality. About twenty percent of Colombia's population is 5 yearsold or younger; 25 r)ercen- is 6 years old or under. An available data ilidicate that pregnancy rates are fivetimes higher among low-Incomethan a 'cng high-income women.(The situation is very similar in Bolivia.)

How will Colombian planners copewith this trend, in terms of preschool services? What strategies can be evolved that will help increase coverageabove the present extremely low levels? It must be noted again that only5 percent of Colombia's young-child population isenrolled in preschool programs, and of that 5 percentthe majority are from the middle and upper class. The example of Colombia is not unusual. The question of numbers reachedbecomes ever core important as Latin America's preschoolpopulation grows from 20:0. the present 8 nil lic. to abort 150 millon by the yea- One possible solution to theproblem of coverage is suggested by Chile's strategyor defining clearly the extent and location of the young-childpopulation living in extr_--e poverty (through the Mapa deExtreli.a Pobreza). This solution' suggests that children most .1_nneed' must be identified and targeted for services. Chile is the only Latin American country that has thus fardefined its poverty population in this manner. But as prioritizing of targetpopulations for services becomes more crucialin countries like Colombia, the Chilean model might prove useful.

A number of othernon-educational factors like the ones discussed above for Boliviaand Colombia have influenced, and will in the future influencethe development of preschool education in the three countries. Most of these are internal to the three countries--extentand type of economic activity of women, income and resourceredistribution policy, general health and nutritional status of thepopulation, changing family structures. A few are external international agency interests and funding patterns, the role offoreign technical consultants,the influence of developments inneighboring countries.

It appears that no one setof contextual factors operates in all countries, andthat the operating factorsinfluence each other. In Bolivia, for example,inforirlal childcare networks that have operated effectivelyfor generations in the rural

1 Generally by socio-economic criteria.

V I 49 become increasinglyinvo3Aed areas may nolonger work as women Choice of income and ambulatoryvending. in urban marketing in Colombiaactivelybeing considered redistribution strategy funds availableat the at the present--maypartly determine nutritional and level.' In bothcountries the poor preschool population willinevitably health status ofthe young-child influence the typesof programsdeveloped. factors, somediscussed Certain broadmacro-educational interact withthe sections of thisstudy, also in previous trends in earlychildhood noneducational factorsto determine programdevelopment. financial controlfor The locus ofadministrative and some the threecountries has had early childhoodprograms in Programs under pattern of programsdeveloped. effect on the in all threecountries the Ministryof Education the control of of primaryeducation, have tended to uedownward extensions Th7re is a the for;:al primarysystem. resembling in format basic model to theneeds proposal afloat inChile to apply one the country. The question of of povertychildren throughout extensive human and whether this model, withits fairly requirements, isflexible enough tobe financial resource resources--marginal urbanand applied to contextsof scarce rural communities--remainsunanswered. -city of theBo) avian setting Thesocio-geographicaldig.- tailored call for a varietyof individually would seem to almo-t alleducational decision- strategies. Yet in Bolivia. and it isquestion- control remainsin the Ministry, by that making and strategies canbe evolved able whetherflexible enough for Ministriesof historical tendencyis clearly agency; the strategies ofplanned diver- Education to be veryill-suited to sity. variety of Colombia therec,:ntInues to be a Although in of earlychildhood education for ad:anistration under loci of control toward greatercentralization, activities, thetendency is support theapparent in Colombiais, can ICBF ICBF. The question will itsprincipal strategies thathave emerged, or those diversity of supersede otherefforts, such as model, the CAIP,begin to

and .private 1 27, under whichall public Colombia's Law N2 monthly payrollto contribute 2 percentof their enterprises activities, of its earlychildhood educaion ICBF for support redistribution measuredesigned example of an income extent, the provides an industries and, toa lesser to ai0workers in tnese under -andunemployed. ongoing in Cartagena? The tendency toward centralization of administrative authority in theICBF may assist in tne transition of preschooleducation in Colombia from a largely private system supportingmiddle-an,i upper-class children, to one serving therapidly growing urban and rural?Jov:,rty population.

J. Conclusions Comparison of the extent and natureof development of the national preschool networks in thethree countries chosen for examination offers an exampleof the wide variety of facto-2s influencing preschool education inLatin America. While the main concern of this chapterhas been with educatic;:lalfactors, it is clear that non-educationalfactors at least indirectly affect decision-making at thislevel of the education system.

To an extent, thechallenge in Colombia and Chile hosbeen to take the existing networkof uncoordinated, difruse preschool activities and turn it into ainstrument of social development policy and action. Chile is further along thanColombia on this path; but the trend inColombia is toward more foc,isedaction. Bolivia, with a good partof its copulation continuing tolive preschool educa- near subsistencelevels, has not vet turned to tion as an instrument ofsocial development.

The potential effectivenessof many of the pilot programs ongoing in Chil ld Colombia, and to a lesserextent Bolivia, by inter- is beginning to oerecognized within Latin America and national agencies. Some of the features of tnese programs- reliance on community-levelhuman and financial resources, sensitivity to local valuesand lifestyle, direct work with parents--speak directly to theconstraints within which preschool education in LatinAmerica must develop.

Many specific issueswithin each of the broad features chscussed in thischapter--priorities and Lbjectives,organiza- curriculum, personnel training and use,etc.- tion, educational in Chile remain unresolved. Will control of prechool education outside of the Ministry and Colombia eventuallyreside within or component of pre- of Education? Will education be the central school programs, or willit be secondary to physicaland custodial Are present levels andcontent of training ofpreschool care? ever teachers appropriate? How will Colombia, Chileand be able to reach morethan a small percentage ofthe preschool population in need of services? Some of these issueswill be Key Questions. This comparative discussed in the chapter on as a examination makes it clearthat (1) preschool education countries, and system is just beginning todevelop in the three

f; 51 decisions (2) there are no hardand fast formulas for guiding that will have to bemadethe institutional,socio-cultural, at least economic, and pDliticalcontexts of each country are distinct somewhat distinct, andwill require at least so:rc,what strategies of intervention. I am aware that there exists a 71.,,t-ap of development psychologists that contends that 80% (to cite a figure) of a child's cognitive/socialdevelopme,:t patterns are determined byexperiences ;:e has before reaching first grade. I don't know how much of a consensus exists on this in the profession, but the present programming of funds for education by international development agencies most certain?y ignores whatever may hethere... We might be moving in the rightdirectio, Ten years ago our emphasis was on producing University graduates, andt;'is has now been replaced Oy a concentratio.: on a basic elementaryeducation for the poorest masses. Who knoL;s, in ten ife:zr.:; more we may belooking at the critical early years.

An international agency official commentlng on the education policy of the development community (January, 1978)

IV. International Agencies andPreschool EthIcation in Latin America

F; 5 INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES AND PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA

Introduction Since the beginning of the First United Nations Develop- ment Decade the "problem of development" has un--2rgone a tundamental re-conceptualization. Throughout the decade of the sixties development planners and policy makers ininter- national agencies and various governments assumed that problems impeding national development could be solvedby raising GNP and increasing economic productivity. Development was viewed as an economic problem,requiring investment in the er-Inomic sector.

Yet, by the early seventies, even in countries where significant economic development had taken place, there was often no substantial reduction of poverty for the great majority of the population (Sewell, 1977, pp. 147-79). Planners and policy makers at the international and national levels began to view actions aimed directly at the social manifestations of poverty--malnutrition, disease andinfection, educational waste th ugh failure to enroll, repetition, and dropping out, lack of general social services, lack ofemploy- ment opportunity--as investment in future economicdevelopment, and as a foundation for assuring sustenance of economicgains in the present. Thus, reduction of poverty and its manifestations has come to be viewed as investment in thefuture of a society, as well as social welfare for thedisenfranchised (Hag, 1974; Selo sky and Taylor, 1973; Singer,1972).

Among those least affected by development effortsof the sixties and early seventies were women, particularlymothers, and young children. While conscious of the needs of these two

53 66 population groups, planners and policymakers dad not view frilure to meet those needs as a centralobstacle to national development. This is no longer the case. In response to greater emphasis on therole of social problems in the process of national development,international agencies have developed a number of newpriorities and strategies. These are reflected in by now well knowncatchwords. Within the United Nations system there hasemerged a commitment to meeting "basic human needs" through"integral services". UNESCO has developed a framework for its programscalled "lifelong learning". UNICEF is seeking to help communities develop strategies or providing "basic services". The World Bank, AID, and various foundations are nowcommitted to "human resource developrent" and meeting theneeds of the interested poorest majority. 17::-.d calmr)st all have become greatly in the role of women in the development process. Various agencies and institutions also emphasize particularsubstantive priorit ,atrition, health, education, familyplanning, emloyment, housing, rural development, urban development, etc.

How does early childhood education fit intotnese priorities and strategies? First, it must be stated tnat few international agencies have well defined policieswith respect to supporting early childhood education programdevelopment. Some agencies, like UNICEF, have hypothesizedthat early childhood education might be an excellent vehicle, orentry point, into communities, for developing broaderintegrated services to young children and families. Others sense that early childhood education might be a vehicle for attackingother social development problems (primary education wastage,malnutrition). No agency yet seems sure of where it wants to gowith early childhood education. What has been expressed, eitner explicitly or implicitly, is th't there is a rolefor earl: childhood education within broader social developmentstrategies.

or example, UNICEF has developedthe basic services (or intoI rated services) approacn to solvingcommunity level development problems. Community members identify what they view as their highest priority needs,select fellow community members to receive short training coursesin tne content areas involved, and then deliver basic services totheir own communities. The community receives technical and programsupport from government agaets working witnin thealready existing social sector infrastructure. Priority areas in Latin America

1;7 54 would be maternal and childhealth, child nutril-ion, education and training, water supplydevelopment, and integrated (multisectoral) programs for youngchildren.

UNICEF has used existing ornewly created early childhood education programs as springboardsfor launching services in all the above areas, or in priority areaschosen by the community. The assumption behind the UNICEFapproach is that individual needs of young children cannotbe istnlate,d; there is a network of interactingproblems affecting young ahildren, all of which influence each other. A program in any one area can be the entrypoint into the community. Within UNESCO, early childhoodeducation is viewed as part of a process of"lifelong education., firstconceptualized in the FAURE report (1972),Learning To Be. Lifelong education is viewed by UNESCO as theprinciple upon which all educational plans should be hised. The idea is that societies mustplan the development of nationwidelearning systems (to useFrederick Harbison's words), so that allcitizens have access tp some kind of deliberate, plannededucational activity. This would include young children, potentiallythrough formal preschool programs, maternal andchild health centers, mother'sclubs, home based group and parenteducat2n programs, etc. The important idea is that educationalplanners consciously plan for young children and infants, aswell as those six years old and older. From comments made by UNESCOstaff in interviews Yith the authors of this report, it isapparent that there is afeeling within UNESCO that theorganization and support of earlychildnood education should Pe theresponsibility of communitiesthem- report (1972, p. 191): selves. This idea is stated in tne Faure Education for preschool children(as from 2 or 3 years old) mustthen be organized on a free flexible pattern, finding the best waysof getting families and local communities to worktogether and share expenses. As part of its cu-rentresearch efforts in lifelong education, UNESCO is examiningthe role early childhoodeducation plays and mightplay in Latin America's nationwide that it is at learning systems. One UNESCO official suggested that the interdeperHent natureof the early childnood level be seen. the problems of LatinAmerica's poor can most clearly intersectoral Thus, the nationwidelearning system might have an foundation, roote.d in nutritional-Ind health, as well as

6S55 o nee' clearly, thou:, the no :iton, earlyr.niij,nocd oh in national,regional,

proritie, of bathU:::SCO and U1,=', development of eariv chalanoodeducation, particular mothers', needs,in 11) m--Et_n; w.-len's, in of co cice, vocationaltraining, and parenuing basic, education :a too; ana(2) providinc a minimal., or formal school system tt theze tfi'4.1-endenied access to the hre.enools). Witn fespect to thefort priority, to early childhoodeducation 1,7 :-st-ei coot one approach with parents,particularly mothers, in .sto wor; dilecti": children's needs. the:- on be h-itterable to meet their arly childhood programs isviewed in toe -o cf,rivelors-not _ -f f:uelhc m.--hers to -,d.-age Ineconomically productive Wito c pect to providingbasic education, toe to ,tructure educationalacti,rities, using 1- the minimum essential , so as to meet one unildren in a particularsocio-geot:rapnic Early enf,'_dnood C et al, 1973, po.13 -20) .1 a_12,p he oonceTtualazedwithin the context _ n t ", through a series of policypapers, has °nil:Mood education (as anissue) in toe development, and as onealternative cr no sources future economic develoPrientof f-rmof inyestent in the elorin cantrie-. The argent is thatthe potent-1-4-.e urea bea:gs arestrongly influencedby ii !a:ill:it:les of adalt Since the central experieng:_, in theearly years of life. development or nuinan nf o-tlonaiCey-lopment is ootimal programs assuringadeGuate ear r t an :nvestent In developmental needs is aclearly = --ting or .nv:mstiment. _ Inve:;"72nt in earlychildhood eduction as neot in 1-F_clan resourcesdevelopTehr has Peen t,f- agencies, like AI: and topWorld -=e--', LLm1.1(_:1 a:-:ong those solving developmentproblems. to s 1;-,:.,rod'7:1 to nroblems r'-'71alil unansweredand too mLnv other In i.e.,_ ticular, ahumher of

, the "bench atj0 as , ::t eon t_ '1 children in those -anrenf Trany of the lir childrendenied a. .he

_- variaLles in tn a,:iolesunt year, ne,:ate Cr cirly ihtrventlun.

12,*2C2 F Li Pa-- Agencie,,: Ce tlo,C2 71 7_ Education

There are a variety of reasons wnv interri _opal agencies have not o,cninvesting in and supporting early childhood education in 1.atin America at asignific-int Some of these are simple and concrete:many agencies other :ccJ., are not interested, ordo riot feel competentto work in this area. Others reasons are more comniex and relate to the historical role of 3riy childhood -,duca!:ion in LatJn America, oerceptions of whatrole it play in the future, and lack of a conceptualframework in wnich to develop policy. First, it muot be noted that ,.-triarLads of agencies view earl childnood cd.._,ution an a l'oxutifor tn-, wealthy, a form of education that Is ourof reach for the ma ity of Latin Americu's 'oune Thcri the thillk of early childhood elucailon theythink of exoennive: toys and materials importudfrer-1 ii:urobo and the Unit_ed Stat, and wealthy your,: women te,ace, raurd,:otic71 the role early Cr.lidh3C1 115i p:yea an lifA Latin America.

Some officials bei_ic, tnat coo problems of Latin Ar-?rica's ycnn7 priority when elan u_i are h:_inzTmade to llitervnu at 1 The majprity inter-. "e wed childhood level. me authors of this ro:,crt painatraton as toe problem aff -tin_, young Am,?r-c.7. it argued that edueataonal nrocr,:-;C'77-Dt planr- physical needs are met. It was a1.:-.3 a that nut-cition education heLtur in

T . or 4---iuoa r

it was also atanc-i moot not T l o to- r- tt context of tn._family of the famaly to rar.,,..! not be takinj on_drenOut . Th17> '2011-_:-; no.- oi partic,ilar reLevnc, co-'er world where covernm-ht W11 ' servicc:s normajl'i -d .11 of cni1:1 A iela* u a r,-s: -was that ,r-ihy fa-111.-sre2d tr./= cnildron at h._ :-r econa,-lo reaons. Tha- e-yr-,r,-_:ed a'sa a:naral no concrete p2ta,n old c:-Ilarso In r: officlal oa,..ed, for exa.--s1_, thaa not tr: tak.2 away nave (4-n,2 tneYve develp_d f-r survival) practical and i.a.alistic .t.t! _11_, c u- rcnnJ.

It was at-_.1,ad by sone:_stcrnat'ohal adenc: officasL: that tn,d pnoblena telata to cniversallaltanof prinary edcaticn, undm'dk.rccc both levels mote efficientand effh,--a/ve nave not yet been solvi, tnerc,foretbi lb not the ti:ra to invest an early childh:cd rrocra7s. Available re-:,ources ;o r 17provin9- bracl.ams; scarce should not ne fcrth stretched. In practical terns it was c:qcstec teat forr.al edccationalsystem': in Latin A_merica lack both :infrastructure andorganiYatic..al ability to absorb new pro,jrar at ti-e. Generally, root Latin American )uhtr'es are seen as hat'lhg so man- pressin:j croblecls re-;uirioc nLTeciat rention, that in term n of Taricrita_c:s chllidn,od education must remain low. 2rob)ems ITantionac: includeunemployment, hol;-,a birth rates, C:1,13:iC urbanacatlun,crossly inefficient eddc,a tlonal s:stems,l_necTuttable land tnure 1:1-13VeniV distiibct(-:l health serviues, andmainutration. It is 11,-,t percetved now early chaidocoj notionc3uld afftct any of toese probe:ts- noon -.1aldhood edu-ation ussailv ban disrisse. consldared as acm. Inve_.tn,aor opt,on, it has

The alatner:, of than reportfoonfi that the most pervasive constraint n expansion or Investment inearl- cnilanood eCucation is a narrowhess in cflnceotaa1121notoe forms car caald000d eau:afiaon can tu,:e, and a lackof knowleCce about soacific brocrams that have been alole to reacncarl Iran. In various soc:o-cac;raphic there -3 a ceneral conte;:ts. Wath resbeut to this latt-r toint lack of kne.wied--::, Drolably due toloon of data on botentlal snott- and long-term T)rocram effectsof :particular interventionstratecTies. One official ax::ressed a concari.oahers felt bdt ores -e' more inlrectly. He noted that rcso rca constraints-,al oreveat oreschool from aver readnia3 a m-.-,tatyof cnilareh an need in Latin America.

The cartS r Oc f eLin,a L-17::pnpinterhataonll 1--; known af)outthe 1:,.terviewed Is at we ,1:-;t. effec:uve, in orda- to tieable to ktncls of procr.-c7s, ti t are :10e; a:endies and invest sensahli,. ci one to Latin A--er:71n :his point. The Growth of Interest in Early Interver-'en a Early Childhood Education Fits In

Those few international agencies thathave conceptualized a role for early childhood(.ducation in social development strategies, have generally viewed it within tne contextof a broader approach to meeting children's needs. This broad approach has been characterized as earlyintervention. It is clear from the opinions related in thepreceding pages by international agency officials, and from acrowing body of literature f-om international (WHO, UNICEF,FAO) and private agencies, that the problems of young childrenin Latin America and other developing countries gee multidimensional,complex and inter-dependent.

It was gued by the agency personnel interviewedthat (1) single-sector programs fue youngchildren are inadequete and inappropriate, and (2) when sectoral( nutrition, health, education) plans are made, services for youngchildren becoire immersed in bureaucratic waste, and only asmall percentage fund' slotted to meet children's needs reachthem. The implication for early childhood education isthat it must ac conceptualized within a broader frameworkof programs designed to attack specifically a number ofproblems of iung children. As UNICEF officials noted, early childhoodeducation :.ay be an excellent base from which to developmultisectoral program:. But the educational componentitself must be only one of many pieces of a eiroader strategy, based on aholistic approach to young children acid theirfamilies. What Irternational Acencies Want toAccomp_in.-1 Throucn-, Investment in Larly Cnildhood Education

lust as the social development strategiesselecff?-d various international agencies vary,se do their coals w_Lih respect to investment in earlychildhocd education. Reasons vary from the purelyeconomic-expected returns on an ihver:tmi2nt- to the largely humanitarian-theaemand for social equity.

One goal, expressed by AID officialsand in. '_)cumen±,: of RID and the World Bank, is to prepare youngcntldten to be better able to take advantage offormal schoolinc, or other primary level educational programs.1 Tftis rationale is in

One AID official expressed the ironic_col rn develop too good an early ehildood prorjr. :yea develo;, expectations among parent, thatcan't be met by .m,ol,t school programs!

5q ways similar to that for Head Stortin tne Unit(a S:o First, the rase or eductional wasLaire in Latin very high, and early childnoodprogrars, apnropriatc--y structured, can attack some of tile_ causes of tnis Secondly, early childhood prcqrums can be vehicles fc- providing basic education to children out of reacn of formal primary schools.

A secondary goal of AIE this area is to cost, nonformal strategies of meeting basiceducat:onal needs of children, and related needs of parents. Therr, a sense that this is not aoinc tobe an area of great future investment. Thus cost-effective strategies of reaching voune children and families mast be worked out. A common way of expressing this goal in some Latin Americancountries 13 "to capacitate comrrunities" to better re able to meet tne needs of their young children. UNICE: officials expressed an interest In givin; yaung children basic skills necessary for success intheir environment. In this regard, there 15 a resistance to creparinc children for primary schooling that may bedysfunctio:al . majority of Latin America's roor children (not inevitaoly, DUI- as prezehty structured, and outof roars for the rest. ThIs UNICEF goal -; 171 line with the"bas services" strategy In which commun:ties definetheir priorities for problem solving and educational trc:ihihq.

Most agencies hove expressed an 7_nterest inthe needs of working mothers (usinc, a proad definitionof mticyrent all poor mothers in Latin Arrerrca are worsingT---,thers; and one goal of investment in earlychildhood educe: len is car-:in- ly to free mothers to work productivnlvoutside t:2 hose, or to provide more supnort for thosealready workin7 outsLcl- home. (0ae int?resting strategy expressed ny u UNICEF of =_s__ was to devCLop early childhood procrramsthar havc as use component the training,f mothers Ln inco:ra genera-In LT

A corollary oonc_rn of sorile 1 In which the family, as Primary educator or younc:chlcireh, become a more of "human resource or-vel er". On.:1 or the functions of the is rnd_e-i the prenar,itiln oL children co hocus': econr:n1c,illy tive ners communities, ,on-1 the nrnader conherv_d)le nor early child'cl nrs,-7ram,, would sareh on paren tin 1 s .v- for Earl y Chldheocl Actual InternationalAgency cninb)rt Education in LatinAmerica mentioned, there isat presentonly mr_)d,st As has been of activity directlyfocused on support international agency nonetheless eon education. There has early childhood assistance for anumber of pilot financial and technical education as acentral or projects wi hearly childhood for mass There has beensome support secondary e -ent. in early childhoodlevel (especially media work a,1 the And there hasbeen televisionprograms). development of doing research orrunning financial supportfor agencies programs attnis level. to note thatonly a fe',!international It is important (or specialization) staff memberswith expertise agencies have C7 morethan cursoryknowledge childhood education, inter- in early field. A few officials of what is beingdone in the government for pianninj oranalyzing host viewed responsible and persons did not knowof activities plans in education their countriesof working in earlychildhood education In ability to This lack mustinevitably impede responsibility. investmentdecisions. work in this area ormake planning supportirg international agenciesare actively A few childhood educationat the research and programsin early for InternationalDevelopment is present time. The Agency Portage's program inPeril using Project funding a pilot through "instruction, methodology inwhich parents, home based to be moreeffective teacher,:: modeling andreinforcement, learn 1976). of their ownchildren" (AID, with other by Portagewill be ompared The model esed education ongoingwithin Perd's approaches toearly childhood base (Initial Education),and a conceptual national program strengths andweaknesses of of datadiscussing the costs, should emcrcjc fromthe selected earlychildhood methodologies effort. pecitically set have a endnIet orprc3ram ITNICEF does not but it isfunding a aside for earlychildhood education, program efforts. -he most prominant number of localprogram EducationProject is the PunoNon- formal Ea_rLy being supported supported are the"Escuela, deBanco" (PROPSDEINE). Also being Child Develop- Cartagena: andthe Preschool -bench schools- in of the WestIndies, Some smaller ment Center atthe University, incorporated into education erfortsare early childhood programs inBolivia, and UNICEF's integratedrural development Panaml, and a fe4other counts :e,. The Ford Foundation,through its policy ofs-;,-37,o-tin.c: educational researchinstitutions and generalsc;_lal cl,--:,,I=107,- has supported a numberof pilot procra:"s ment institutions, particularly ac-ive with evaivati "e elements. ford has been 'cal and finansial in Colombia, where ithas provided te, ,_.;.amining effects of support to two majorresearch projects intervention (the projectof tne nutritional and educational ICEF project Human Ecology ResearchStation in Cali and the in Bogota) and to afew smaller scale,but nonetheless (such as the CentroEducative de significant, pilot efforts Ford is Educacion No-Formal program,Ninos Inteligentes). project exai-, .ing the natureof also funding a research programs deprivation in young childrenin Latin America, and young currently operating, orplanned, attempting to meet children's needs. international agencieshave played smaller Two other education, bit have rols in supportingearlv childhood impact. One is the Inter-A:llerican nonetheless had some States. Childr'an's Institute of theOrganization for American and courses around This institution hassupported conferences young child themes ina number ofLatin American countries, and books. The second is theBernard and also published papers This Foundation Van Leer Foundationof the Hague,Netherlands. earl' childhoodeducation In dev lop- which has been supporting sucport to a ing countries rIce thesixties, has provided number of interestingpilot projects inColombia, V--.,n,,,zu_21a, Brazil and other countries.

Other internationalagencies, such as CARE, Poster Parents Plan,indirectly suocort 'elief Services, and Latin America countries e rly childhoodeducation programs in contributicns of food,building materiels, ti ough in-kind These auehcies eaucational materials andhealth supplies. plans of their own tosupport t: -ievelor.27,?nt have no policy or in wnich tLev of early childhoodeducation in the countries simply responding torecuests for operate. Th,-- --pear to be material support from,lost countries. been involved Children's TelevisionWorkshop has since 1972 series to theneeds of in effuLcs toada-t its Sesame Streect cnildren. Star,-.ing with "PlazaSesaro" Latin America'::. young of Sesame Streetin a in Mexico Cit.:, tnereare now variations While effects of andreaction to Sesame number of countrieh Lesser, 1976),the wide Street have varied(Pa,mer, Chen, and results of the prc7frar inurban areas adoption and (tentative) with and throu;c. rass ./ndicatcs tiLit trioseaghcies woring

111

I.) 62 in thedevelopment will have arole to play media strategies education inLatinAmerica.1 of earlychildhood actual effortof international the total development ofearly In general, in supporting agencies inLatin America contrast to minimal,especially in childhoodeducation is being spentto supoort of millionsof dollars the hundreds social developmentareas. basic needsin other for the nextfive years, When askedabout their plans agencyofficials interviewed none of the25 international of action tosupport were able tocite anyspecific plans education, and someanswered "none". early childhood Views of ProgramImplementation International Agency Effective Programs Problems andCharacteristics of problems in views ofimplementation International Agency plans intoaction ranged getting earlychildhood education cited werethose common across a widespectrum. Most problems unique to projects. A few are to all kindsof development early childhoodeducation. problem mentionedwas Perhaps thebroadestimplementation young child officials: lackof a concrete one voicedby UNICEF duplication andlack of This leads tofragmentation, policy. programs thatgenerally do not of services; efforts that donot mutual support children most inneed; and reach those young funding. It also makes than thelengeh of external last longer to targetspecific-funas to governments not supposedly met it easier forchildren's needs, asthey are meeting young through indiv-dualsectoral policies. were: lackof trained Other commonproblems mentioned t' our programs; of materialsand physical space personnel; lack involvement ineducational programs lack of atradition of parent level); lackof important at theearly childhood (but most framework for programdevelopment; over- theoretical coherent and Europeancurricular models, reliance onNorth American

widespreadapplication 1 deny theconstraints on to This is not to efforts as SesameStreet, or of such expensiveeducational of reaching media as theonly logical way for suggest mass to suggest alegitimate role millions ofchildren; only apparent n rural Constraints maybe especially mass media. is particularlyharsh. in communitieswhere poverty to the areas and adaptieg themedia strategy Nonetheless, thekey is in operate. context inwhich it will

63 7C evaluation instruments, etc., often inapplicable in ;ran? marginal urban and rural settings; too manypsychologs working in the area; not enough people with training in other discipl:nes, brin9Thg in otherbases for program development; too mush bureaucratic structure, causing tne majority of funds slotted for a program to neverreach tne children; tendency for many early childhood programs to he custodial in nature; lack of intersectoral cooperation at the operational level (including "rigid"budgets that cannot be adapted to the needs of early childhoodprograms); and a generally low level of awareness amongboth professionals and the population at large about the importanceof adequate experience in the early years of life.

When queried about what hypotheticalcharacteristics an effective preschool program might have,international agency officials offered a variety of often sharplycontrasting answers. For example, one official statedthat preschool education should be geared to theelementary system preparing children for first grade, andshouldn't create unrealistic expectations (for educational quality?)in young children. Another official felt strongly that agood program Prepares children for succss in their environment,and does not "react" to what may be a dysfunctional primarysystem.

A few officials noted that earlychildhood prog-eams should have strong, highly structured basicskills components and should teach children to read. These officials, even mug: narrowly than those concerned withreadiness for first grade (which includes social skills) viewpreschool education as basic skills training in readingand writing.

Many officials indicated thatgood programs would actively involve parents (or be aimed directly atparents); would make full use of availaule community resources(and wouldn't be dependent on heavy external investment);and should reach children most in need. Also indicated was a strong nutritional component, an evaluative component, awell defined theoretical framework, and respect for thesocial-cultural context.

Some officials questioned werreither not interested or did not know wnat characteristics_n effective pre school proaram might have.1 A few felt that early onildnoodeducation is a

1The majority a officials In'-erviwcd had dirpotrefaponsibill for working in tl,e fiela, inclu proc;c,173 Lor ohildru_n.

I' fuzzy field where issues, strateciesand needs are not clear. There is a general feelingthat more researc" needs to be done, to determine potentiallyefficacious strategies. (Pew officials, in describingcharacteristics of eff9ctive early childhood education programs,viewed their potential contribution to meeting non-intellectualneeds of you'1g children). Expectations for early childhoodeducation are ,tlearly boundcd by traditional views of whatearly childhood education has been.

Role of International Agenciesin Evaluating Early Childhood Education in LatinAmerica

The extent of the evaluativeeffort in early childhood education by internationalagencies has been limited bytheir lack lack of investment in earlychildhood programs, and by a of tradition of evaluatingthe programs that exist inLatin actually being done in the America. Two surveys of what is field, the present study and aFord Foundation study, represent by the sum of formativeevaluation work being supported of ministries international agencies. A number of pilot programs which includes and semi-private agencieshave received support, funds for evaluation. The broad purpcse of the presentstudy, supported by the elsewhere in Agency for InternationalDevelopment, is describca directed by Dr. Ernesto this report. The Ford Foundation study, Institute of Technology, isexamining Pollitt of the Massechusetts children in the socio-geographic basesof deprivation in young specific causes Latin America (generaleffects of poverty, and and effects of infectionmalnutrition and retardedintellectual development), current early interventionefforts with education demand being at least a major component,and factors influencing providing for early intervention. Both studies are focused on guidelines for (1) international agencyinvest- a data base and and Lalin ment, and (2) policydecisions by international agencies American governments. Both are trying to map outoxistanc information and informationneeds for purposes of policyforretion.

At the program level, afew internationalagencies--notably UNICEF, Ford and AID--haveprov:_ded financial andtechnical UNICEF has support for evaluationof promising pilot programs. for Punols Non-Formal EarlyEducation supported evaluative effort (Day Care Project (PROPEDEINE), tneHocares de Cuidado Diane de Banco (Bench Schools),toth in Cartagena, Homes) and the Escuelas funds for Colombia and a few otherpilot efforts. AID has provided of PLOPEDEINE, ana issupporting a pilotproject an evaluation Peru that has a being run by Projert Portage(of Wisconsin) in tor,-,pc,rt_f!,1 clearly defined evaluation component. Ford has indlr,2tiv evaluation work, throughsupport of educationalrci-ear,--h ,-,J=>hcies conducting pilot picgramswitn evaluation c-w,00hent_(Clu- Chile, with its ProgramaPadres e CEDEN in C,)Ipmei=1, with it Niflos Inteligentes). evaluated his b,-en None of theeducational pilot projects or.1-: a :Lei.; intended to be 't.r.ictlyexperimental in nature, and hav-. satisfactory instrumentsfor evaluating program success of most projects havebeen been developed.' Thus, evaluations acknowledged by programdirectors themselves tobe tentative some of itsevaluative effort efforts. In the case of UNICEF, descriptive. Most evaluation of current has been strictly being carefully programs has alsobeen retrospective, only thought out in the laterstages of a program'sdevelopment. discussed by internationalagency Constraints to evaluation , support, personnel of agencies moredirectly involved in program mentioned constraints arecost, are numerous. Among the commonly personnel with evaluationskills, lack of a lack of project programs, lack tradition of evaluatingearly childhood education framework for evaluating programs(including lack of a conceptual base) and a resistance of clear programgoals and theoretical among programJersounel to beingevaluated. Agency Viows ofCentral Issues development of Certain issuersrelating to the future education in Latin America.,'ere mentioned early childhood These issues repeatedly by internationalagency personnel. strategic and philosophicalcomponents of would be central in Latin America. early childhood educationstrateaies developed to be central concerns. One is the need Two issues appear for vouna for integral involvementof parents in any proaram importance of meetingthe nutritional children. Toe second is the the educationalneeds of vouna cnild:en. arv,9 nen14-h, as well as the greatest There is strong feelingthat the family, having child's development,should not be influence on tne young of early cnildhood "replaced" or sabstituLedfor in development value of parents -5teachers, the programs. Also argued is the siblings when parents gainnew skillsand spinoff to other in parents as knowledge, and thelower cost of strategies uc teachers, or aimeddirectly at parent:;.

the selves, whofeel This Is thr? vl&-Arof program di rector gtandardized tests at theirdispoal, even that none_ of the have been apie to normed for targetpopuletiess invely-2d, the roa;t oift-Tts ci i their prog;roos

7,) 66 kj ,1 reZlected in the The second issuementioned above is demand for integrated services,and intersectoral coopera- interdependent and tion. Children's needs and problers are it is argued. Given scarce _eseurcee cannot be sectorallzed, for health, it is wasteful for thereto he separate programs nutrition, and euucation. agencies is A third issue of concernto international childnood educationalinvestment. the economics of early particular Questions of the effectivenessand efficiency of strategies, the short and longterm cost-benefit"picture", of investment fromother the value of re-distribution remain unanswered. educational and non-educationalprograms, all of affairs for As economic "crises"become the normal state countries, and asinternational agency many Latin American social sector funds become less plentiful,the economics of any investment become a majorconcern.' expressed by Related to the economicissue is the concern that early childhood some internationalagency officials education should not 1,edeveloped though heavyexternal investment, but rather throughself-motivated and initiated (1) rational- community level efforts. The strategic tools are to better meet youngchildren's ization of community resources in the Orly needs,and (2) capacitationof community members siggestion that early childhood area. There is an implicit be an area of extensiveinter- childhood education will never and national agency investment(capacitation of families communities to solve their ownproblems).

Another central issue, orconcern, orinternational agencies is to knowbetter potential shortand long terr.! This ties in to theeconomic issue effects of programs. is present). (when choice of alternativeinvestment strategies in terms of choosingalternative But it is also important childhood area, and strategies to supportwithin the early knowing wnat results canbe excected. officials inter- Other issues mentionedby a number of p:Inticular program set- viewed were the needto assure that physical environment for young tings offered an adcquete those children children; the need to assure 4 .at programs reach that programs are most in need of services;the need to assure with resneut forlocal and regional planned aed implemented strate(jic cultural systems; theneed to think ar.-t distinctive

( Le The whole economic issueis treater in 'TT.- chapter V of this reprJrt. for rural areas; the needto thin about h(_):/ Intervntron more effectivelyincorpora-1 late early projets; ahu tn<2 ne.-:.d to assur? that 1.-2,1-,:-;ca3o1 ease the transitionto pt_',_ aro schoolfor 1,-,ora. culturally different children.

Conclusions The overall impact tothe present ofinternationnl childhood educatio n agencies in thedevelopment of early The only agency in Latin Americahas been very modest. largely committed to meeting youngchildren's needs is childhood educa- UNICEF, and withinUNICEF's strategy early tion per se is only asmall component. Other agencies c,-,m- children's needs as al-,ser nart of total mitted to meeting the areas of nutrition program strategyhave worked largely in intervention and meetingbasic health needs. childhood The level of knowledgeand awareness of agency personnelis generally education among international AID has minimal. Exceptions can .1a, found --for example, officl,,,' with expertise Inthe area, and a recently hired an staff monhors other ac:encies have atleast one or two World Bank and with a knowledge of thefield (including the The fact remains,however, that most agency Ford Foundation). done in Latin officials know little aboutwhat work has been of the world, whatthe important America and other parts can take. issues are, and whatforms rarly childhood programs international agencies In a broader sense,the impact of lack of concrete policy withre-,ect to has been limited by An agency with no investment an early childhoodeduce _ion. considering significart goals at this levelwill generally not be Early childhood ed cationhas simply not been invest...LI-lent. develop, eat considered by manyinterrationa_ ncies in their strategies. and int :-est ln ear Lack of internationalagency impact has to some extentbeen a reflectionof childhood education this area in Latin lack of nationalgovernment interest in American governmentshave been America. Recently some Latin interest in and commitmentto early childhood showing greater interest on the This has beenreflected an greater programs. Ford, A:11) and UNICEF part of internatrcnalagencies such as efforts. The impact of this in supportirgearly childhood future, and will only be apparentin t _ support, noretheiess, on taeir current only if intei:nationalagencie, fellow up develcping in re-t.

68 THE ECONOMICS OFPRESCHOOL :DUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA

Introduction

should Economic theory indicatesthat, in general, one particular opportunity aslong as continue to invest in a better returns thanalternatives. it continues to yield education. This "rule" of resourceallocation applies also to whatever level is a complexsocial Though education at economic product, and thereforedifficult to quantify for purposes, in oworld s.here resources arescarce it is look at goals, processes,and returr__;, and clearly valid to reality, just argue that educationmust answer to economic like any other sectorof society.

In this chapter economicconsiderations pertainincj to of preschool education willbe explored with the purpose (1) trying to establish aframework fo/ future economic the most fruitfuldirections analyses, and (2) suggesting n into for such analyses. The chapter will bebro,-en The first will examinethe econoiucration,71e five sections. The second andthird for investment inpreschool education. and some approaches tocosting out will examine the problems Section four and analyzing benefitsof preschool education. 1' _i_ _ 7-"I . _ _ _ =-1 1---114'0C.111,_)/),t 1:-.)1 = iti" t_iji)3-:(1,ir..iti.") in in cinc -r- ...: _..111"1".4 t i CLJDOCi ,nc: 7r1.1 in\ :rocir -)r otht-r ot-ne._r C:.iti.cat._-_Lor-,Et t. ar-f-,'111'1 n rn C ,one y nor unaffor;Lably _" L a:711 1 -(_ ':,2 "-

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to note -oi Co_ r_ var: in wnion nn-ib c- co.7,t.s per cer:_.zr 6C,11-17 krni5 cf ace ec--1- r alj In7utr;, "_ZIt" 1'7, inI:orTaticn ,are..d or purcas:'Ji, 11 tfl

dtsc-rlon proJ,c- 1E -:;pprtant .f,xpencItturef, and total,i4CtUAI projra: cc,e,ts. br_tweca hutlgetary ,111:ler- t.-fl tn- formiir r_er-.;resent only t_L-12 :7n;ney to'al ,2CGT10:- takin a -1.1-r=c1. latter rorirc.:_;_aL -Le 2 n

4:7_1H,=IL] co7,p1_, for .=4,1e, cdpt:,IL clre-z'rrcrt col ,t of snArJ .osts; aiL,3 exiJ;t ' Si Analvzinr ftts While costing c:t on-school 7regrmn em- _lud'rment in terms e which componnts co inglun_ :tad 1c. a value social cost the costing Pr-ses.:: L very sure rd com2ari:d to analvz,nc: b000cit5. Edu-1',nh ,n rra1. and preschool education in particuiar, is a comlgx. yielding complex products, many of ah_Lch are very di_fficult to quantify in economic terms. Yet, for purposes of allc'T, of scarce public resources "th,, econonia rate of return te only criterion which is comparable across all sectors of the economy" (Grawe, 1978, D.65). Thus, for rJuroos,2,s of in rood decision makinc the calculation of benc-f.ts wnen,-ver ar I wnprevc_r po_isiidle Is both useful and necessary (Crwe, 197&).

In general. benefits from educat,o.-1 are said 4-c. to individuals and to society. With resp,,ct to ear' child:ioso education, a iiucooer of tri-L,social benefits do no antecr un',1 many years in the future, and there is notonly a jadgmental element ln their caiculatiun but rojective,h'ec'theto element. Also, a number of bnofits accrue ',-Joth to and to society.

Benefits to -individuals in earl:, ed.i..-a'1':- progr,E,ms are generally seen to coot re tothe child hartl _paling, parent,, and to siblings. Tne m2a li? rec Tf fir ,t tw- deben'as on the Thooe siblin:Ts appear In the form of E.riLh-orf from onnhges i o2.ILnt7.1 kn,swledge, behavior, and/or atteatlen or in c-lanocsof m:tcrlil status :n the

Whenever broramT: focus on iirvlce:_ to vourn 'd-en tnere is a long chain of impact to he mei_sured. Tne child', irldiate is geh.erall nicalwelfare ( health and nutritional statusJ improved, then possiDly reducing healun care cont. Toe ability and incentive to absorb scnoolin,: isoo:e'roI thus Improving efficiency and reducing wastage int-_e :or7aL school system. Ultimately, as a resair of b,etrer health and sectoreducat:_inn, tno child's future earnings oreirirro

One bencit usulliv att,-IJ)utd. to ..-Jci-ent-.3f-en t,ar'y childnood education pregrams is liberated to w-rk,i irtic-lar7yfor toe mother cr older dauchter. How this uer-'_ is ca'culnte depends on a nuttier of factors: whetner Jr notthe -Job sne nr-duir_n, is at the excense of anothei petit,her rennhq-i. litrt-- to car:_ for other chil3ren in the he 2, toe type of loU she msoo oo-tain, the fact that she aireadv FIE,- nave a lob wni.,n enroll-, In tne program, and numh:_rof n-drn frJd e-ion dil and toe mother t-lere _re For both thechild particioatina benefits (psychic,attitudinal., a o :moerof less tangible and related) ,tnat affect p,:rson1 behavioral, knowledge take advantage o=tu'ure family satisfactieo ,the ability to aspects oflife. While in 1, opportunities, and otner benefits when exa:-,h,e1 clearly important toconsider these prociram, toe':generall:: c the cost-benefitpicture of a in monetary terms. Generally, benefits be auantified difficuli to quantify. accruing tosiblina- are also working (=ectlywith parents, For home-based programs, and children of benefitsaccruing to mothers the combination center-based programs. Not only would obviouslydiffer from benefit, mothe's time of toemother" not be a would "liberated opportunity cost. toe contributionwould be seen as an spin-off may be morelikely. Since nutritional How_ver, sibling the child and the educationalprogram for and nealto services, general h-Te improve- diffused ifreceived through might be more to cuantifyfor the child ments, they couldb-i more difficult involved. of the particitating Calculating thedifferential earoin,_Ts consider- coild over thelone run reeuires tnon-participating factors, amongthem the "disceuoe" ation of anumber of economic future is less peso receivedin the rate,(since a dollar or be received today,fat :re gains must desirable than one emoloyment by an appreoriaterate factor) , 1 discosinted differentials in variousprofessions, opportdnities, earnings In the developing 1 toe str tune of theeconomy. and cnanges in not stable intitt.til 1._ttern countries many ofthese tactors are fact makescalculatior of earnrnt77 of change overtime, and this toe future veryhypo'7n,--acal. 10,20, or 30 ve-irs in usually considered in One benefit toindividuals not ana cost-benefit analysisof early cr.iidhocd c.i..lcillation of to of govern- educatioohl progra,ms is re-di striUution primary Wnile increasedfuture ea,zoinas ment servicescod resources. education oroerar:, participating inearly cnildhood for children also a measureof in=e targeted at poorchildren ray mean future in f,ivorof thesechildren, the re-distribution in the to earlyonildhocl re-distribution ofsociety's resources orc-:..eht children can be seenascontributioa to l'orams for poor true when resourcesfro:. i.mrovad CCTdItli. T:115 is ,,_sbeciallv taraeted at activitie; notsoecifically aer=al social sector intervention orotter are divertedto earl,. noar families r, _r low inco:e poierty A number ol economic ipnefits to society arepostuiatdd to emerge from earlye:eildhood education programs targeted at low inoome Ono is incroasd "L :Li. of participating cnildren when they enter ttelabor fc-e-, due to their boinq healthier ai:d,better educated. :-ina intermedtat_ reps her would be that participating children are betterable and more m.)tiveted to take advantageof oher er'ucational opportunities.) A second is greater effioiency in the primar-, education system cue to lower 1- -vets ofrepeating and dropping out or children participatino inearly childhood programs. A third is lower cost fo- remedialnutrition, health, educational and social welfare services forchildren participating when tnes2 would be supplied. A fourth is the previouslymentioned immediate rE-distribution of resources, andlonger term re- distribution of income. resulting in a moreequitable society.

All of these benefits remain hypothetical at this poent in time in Latin America. Th,J:-,2 is no Latin American evidence that these 1-2nefits do infact accrue to sooietv from early childhood education programs uai'eted at poor children. A broader approach to conslderat=of i,hocial benefits of early childho ed12cation programs ontaiis examtnationof social benefits a whole and of the benefits with tnose that :right emerge from :.=e investmenu. The uueEtion of rate of return to society from ah_nve,tment it ureschool education tamer tnan an investment infa-lily planning or nstrilicn intervention, or maternal and cniidhealth, or eve_ remediEal progrms at the 0rimar education level, is quite importantin scarce human an financ.al resource centexts w;.ere anumber of serious soc ui problems exist.

Analysts must currently ett) icy :sng-'erable creativity in tran:ilating atd ;2en:-fl-,: of ear'y childhood education pr-'grams into monetary terms. So' e benefitsdi:fen:rt._ :1 long term earnings for chfidren,fre.-e time of tae..eLh- for working, decreased educatinal wa'stage--eanbe translated into money terms without toomuch diticult-,. Others, such as Imi)rsved health and,h-utrition of a child, est,m,ar-e;= of tl'o diagncitic and remedial care if the euild were to Pc IL or .7-aibr14-1011, and as:=1)-:n 'Ut 4- _ that the c_.11:1 wod1U recelve 2Jr

Bec.:_se tte "market value represents a ?7_.;t park.Itic% for quantIfyin:; t-lat bt'r,eftt, two -lot t or.s ii u 1),! / ihd,vidual, hated. First, wen the pr:1-1,71 a cost-analyht mIst no caet-J01.s in parent ;;,,rt] willilgr 's good or service. What is measure: as a b_lefit (or cost avoLdd) must be relevant to the realities andcapacities of the chil-2, his or her family and the country's public sector.

Opportunities for imnrovement _Ln analvzino costs benefits of Dre,,choel education

A number of problems that makeeconomic analysis of preschool education in Latin America adifficult task will be discussed in this section. The problems appoar to be of three sorts: (1) those related Ao lack of accurateenrollment and cost data for current preschoolefforts, and (2) methodological problems, pertaining to the difficulty ofQuantifying many benefits, to the lack of standardization intechniques used to conduct cost analysis, and to ambivalenceof causal connections stemming from the complexity of education a:. asocial process and product, and from the complexity anddynamic nature of the social system in which preschool programsoperate.

The scarcity and unreliability of data oncosts and enrollment of preschool education in LatinAmerica has been one factor hindering serious efforts at costanalysis of preschool education. Because, until recently, preschooleducation was considered principally a consumptionrather than an investment activity, little concern was shownfor economic effectiveness and efficiency. As early childhood's role in humancapital formation has become more widely recognized, sohas the need for data to analyze early childhood programsin investment terms. The three cost studies carried out as partof this survey are a first step in forming abadly needed data base to workfrom in analysis of earlychildhood programs. The experience of the investigators was that (1) even fairlystraightforward cost data were verydifficult to acquire;(2) many costs are hidden in monolithic ministerial budgets, and cannoteasily be separated; (3) available enrollment data may notreflect true participation rates for young children andfamilies; and (4) program administrators are not always anxious toreveal the costs of their programs. The solution to pour data andinadequate methodology will require a greater commitment toanalysis of early childhood education from economists and educatorsthan has been in evidence in the past. Longitudinal studies tracing the actualinteraction of short, medium, and long termbenefits are needed, so thatthe current hypothetical models canbe tested with empiricaldata.

83 Methods for weighing less tangiblebenefits along with guaetifieble benefits MUF be developed, so that cost-benefit studiesreflect a truer pic,eceof early childhood ed,cation's economicviability. The complexity of education as asocial process and product, and the dynamics of the largersocial system, contribute to t,,e methodological problems discussed above. However, as empirical data begins to validate or re:ectcurrent hypothesis, information on the benefitsof early childhood programs canbe more confidently and systematically presented. Economic viability is of course, only one of many criteria used inevaluating the worthiness of investment in preschool education,and efficiency is only one of society's many --als. Yet, thoughtful economic analysis canbring calculation of preschool education'sbenefits to the level of sophistication that other developmentprojects in Latin America are achieving, andquite possibly interest Many government planners in supporting earlychildhood programs that they once considered a luxury for the elites.

The existence of the p,roblemsdiscussed above indicate that ''nimper of levels ,to refire economic much effort is needed, at ? analysis of preschool education tothe point at which it will serve as a reliabletool for Incision makers. More specific suggestions will be discussed in thefinal section.

Discussion of the three ccnIntryreports

This section will present theresults of the three economier- analysis conducted for the presentstudy. These analysis were conducted in Bolivia, Chileand Colombia, and are availablein their complete form in the countryreports. . The three surveys are basedalmost entirely on macrodata, as collected bypublic.agencies. Even at this macro level, there are problems in usingthe data. On the enrollment side, it is not always clear exactlywhat constitutes "preschool" education. For example, it isdifficult to believe tnat the figures on percentage of population(aged 4-6 years) enrolled in Colombia (5%) and Bolivia(27%) ale conceptuallycomparable. And on the cost side, eachof the surveys faces insuperable problems in the attempt to convertbudgetary data into social cost estimates. As a result, no more thancrude indicators ofpreschool costs could be expected to emerae. The estimates of cost per student per annum tnat appear inthe surveys are,translated $18.42 (at official exchangerates) into 1977 U.S. dollars, for Colombia, $182.92 to$453.81 for Ch:,le and$92.56 to provided in $141.63 for Bolivia. The fact that the services

98 84 preschool programs are not the samewithin and between these countries may account for someof these huge differences.

Another problem with macrodata is that it hides, through aggregation the very informationthat is ultimately really interesting from a policy viewpoint. Each of the surveys makes efforts to indicate thedifference in costs per student according to the kind of preschoolprogram--according, for example, to size of school,degree of public sponsorship or extent of services offered -butthe macro nature of thedata currently collected greatlyundermines the efforts.

The surveys have not attempted anexhaustive listing could be --not to mention quantification-of the benefits that expected to ensue from preschool programs. But all discuss at length what they apparently feelis potentially the most important element of thesebenefits: the reduction of primary school drop out and repititionrates. Since both these problems appear most significantlyin the earliest primaryschool grades our hypothesis is thatpreschool programs can be partof the solution to formal education systemwastage.

More detailed summaries ofthe three-.-urveys follow:

Bolivia There were 74 thousandchildren enrolled in preschools in 1974,1 more than onefourth of the total populationaged sharp drop 4-6 years, 271 thousand. With the exception of population in 1975, the enrollmentshave kept close pace with the (aged 4-6 years) growth ra'eof 2.2% over 1967-76. The enrollment rates reported for Bolivia aredramatically higher than thosefor Colombia and Chile. Roughly 77% of matriculatedpreschool children attended public preschools in 1976. This percentage has grownsteadily growth since 1967 (at a rate of2.8% per annum), due to the slow of the private sector. which washampered by teacher shortages due to and public policy. The growth of public preschools was an increase innumbers of establishmentswith the enrollment per preschool remaining around100. Student-teacher ratios were 23:1 for public preschoolsin 1976. Estimates of costs per studenthave been made forBolivia, capital costs for public an,3private but the divergences in estimated preschools are difficult tounderstand--such costs were

1 due to the The figure had dropped to45 thousand by 1976 suspension of rural preschoolsin 1975. to be more than fourtimes higher for private than 'orputli- student preschools. The resulting estimates of annual cost per in 1975 were $I-J2, 514 (orabout US$126) cur private Drescb.-)ols and &b1,643 (US$82) for publicschools.

There is little evidenceavailaole on which to es4-iTa-JP quantitatively the benefits ofpreschools except, again, of high drop out and repeat rates inthe early years of primary school. Only 67% of those who startfirst grade in Bolivia progress directly tosecond grade, with 28% dropping outand 5% repeating.

Chile Enrollment in preschooleducation (under the Ministryof Education) was 110 thousand in1977; this was 4.9% of the number enrolled at the primarylevel, 2,242 thousand. Of the preschool children, 74% were inpublic institutions, afraction only slightly smaller thanthe 82% of primary schoolstudents receiving public education. For Chile, data arealso ayailaltl on teachers by typeof education. The student-teacher ratio was 36:1 in publicpreschools and 32:1 in privateorescnoolf (compared to 32:1 for all primaryschools).

The public preschools ofChile are operated underb;c, different Ministries, andestimates of cost per student were In each case, theestimating procedure began made for each. then nada with the actual budgetaryexpenditures per student and adjustments (upward) to allowfor certain non-budgetarybut The resulting estimatesfor 1977 were clearly social costs. Ministry of the 9,770 pesos (US$450) forthe preschools under the under the Interior) and 3,938 pesos(US$181) (for the preschools these two Ministry of Education).1 The great difference between estimates is due almostentirely to the fact thatthe Preschools under the Ministry of theInterior provide extensive non- health and educational attention(particularly with respect to nutrition) to their students. There is also some indication that the size of the Treschoolmatters. For the Ministry of the Interior data, the cost perstudent was 9,320 pesos (US423) children and 9,969 pesos(US$459) for for preschools of 96 probably preschools of 216 children,suggesting--surprisinglv buL investi- not significantly--scalediseconomies that bear further gation.

1 The Chilean peso was worth about US$0.046 during1977. Colombia

In 1975, there were97 thousand children enrolled in preschool education, outof a total population aged 4-6 thousand. And of those in preschool programs, years of 1,833 in the four 69% were in privateinstitutions and 680 lived major cities of Colombia. Many different programsand institutions are involv-d,and it is thereforeimpossible activities to describe with anygenerality the orientation, program. or coverage of"the" Colombian preschool In the public educationalsector in 1975, preschool enrollment and children comprised 0.7%of the total school received 0.2% of thepublic education budget. Accordingly, student was quite 1,7,w 510 pesos the annual average cost per (US$34) for the (US$16) for preschool,compared to 1,054 pesos The preschool budgetallocation has, however, primary level.1 1970, the absolute been growing rapidlyin recent years; since increased at 76.8% per annum,and the preschool peso figure has has increased at fraction of the totalpublic education budget 35.0% per annum. There are few data on(or estimates of) thebenefits But one produced by Colombia'smodest preschool programs. Currently, only 54%of those who enter fact does stand out. grade; of the rest, first grade movedirectly on to second repeat first grade. (For all primary 24% drop out and 22% public school grades, repeatersmake up about 15% of the schooling is roughly twice as enrollments). Since primary thee is a prima facie casethat, if expensive as preschool, repeat at the preschooling could reducet e propensity to primary level, it couldbe highly cost-effective.

Next Steps needed to In the short run,four types of efforts are contribute to a baselineof data for moreanalytic studies. examining the cost structureof particular One is micro-studies The second is preschool programs,(or delivery methods). of enrollment and costdata from program improving reliability to When even average costs arenot reliable,trying studies. impossible. make decisions forparticular settings is

1 during 1975. The Colombian peso wasworth about US$0.032

10 87 Corollary to thefirst tyna of effortabove would the costs of particularoutputs in a studies Enalyzing the proar:71 icvels. preschoo: program, atthe center and at components of costpertain to ..nice That is :1) which of total cost can be of output, and(2) what percentage attributed to particularoutputs. analyzing the structureof Also needed wouldbe studies programs:formal, center-based, costs for different paraprofessional teachers; using professional'eachers, using with parents;community supported progr-.:.s; home based, working schools. Capital separate centers versusthose tied to prJmary labor, and relatedfactors and labor, skilledand unskilled Least to some extentinterchangeable. within programs are sought out, andtheir potential cost inputcombinations must be examined. to maintaineffectiveness must be that provide a In the longer run,studies are needed examinelongitudinal projective focus. These studies would programs,replicability ofmodels from an effects of preschool for intersectorally economic point ofview: the prospect activities; and broadquestions funded early intervention efficiency of investmentin early)childhood pertaining to A second area education as one of manyinvestment options. in future studiesmight be the economic for economic ---Llysis the family. effects of earlychildhood education on analysis of earlychildhood educati2n The economic formative and become an integralpart of all programs should At present, only anarrow range summative evaluationactivity. I. Q. data--quite oftenlimited to individual of performance and used forplanning and and achievementdata--are collected an Collection of economicdata should become quality control. impact broader effortsanalyzing the social integral part of communities they serveand of early childhoodprograms on the at the nationallevel. total annual budgetto serve In a world inwhich UNICEF's spent by allcountries on 102 countries,$207.5 million, is June 7, approximetely five hours(New York Times, armaments in snould not be thatdifficult to 1978 Letters tothe Editor), it to increase in investmentof "scarce" resources justify some makers and children's needs. But many policy meeting young examination of earlyinter- planners remainskeptical, and the key wal to viability will probablyprove to be a vention's economic international decisionmakers call the attentionof national and to programsfor young children.

102 88 Beeby, C.E. Thequality of education indeveloping countries. Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress, 1966.

Berg, A. The nutritionfactor: Its role in nationalcl--,Iopment. Washington, D.C.: BrookingsInstitution, 1973.

Bloom, B.S. Stabilityand change in humancharacteristics. New York: Wiley,)1964.

Bowles, S.; Gintis, H.;and Simmons, S. Education, I.Q., perspective. and equality of oppoi-tunitv: a new Washington, D.C.: WorldBank Staff WorkingPaper, 1975. world pr9blem. Brinier, M.A.; Pauli, L.Wastage in education: a Paris: UNESCO/IBB,1971. London: Oxford Coombs, P. The world educationalcrisis. University Prep , 1968. investment. Davis, J.R.; Morrall, J.Evaluating educational Lexington, Mass.:Lexington Books, 1974

in An economic analysisof the Ypsilanti- Grawe, R. Commentary P.W. Foster, and Perry preschoolproject, by C.C. Weber, Educational Research D.P. Weikart. Michigan: High/Scope Foundation, 1978 reassessment of theeffect of family Jencks, C. Inequality: a 1972. and schooling inAmerica. New York: Basic rooks, in Latin Jones, C. Cost Analyses ofEarly Childhood Programs America. Mimeo. Fall 1977. educator. Moock, P. Economicaspects of the family as Teacher's College Record. 1974, 76, 2, 266-278

Planifidacitin Nacional). Atenci6n integral GDEPLAN (Oficina de Santiago, Chile, 1977. a menores enextrema pobreza urbana. investment in human Selowsky, M. A note on preschool age capital in developingcountries. Economic Development and Cultural Change. 1976, 24, 4, 707-72C. children: Selowsky, M.; Taylor,L. The economicsof malnourished human capital Economic an exampleof disinvestment in Development and CulturalChange. 1973, 22, 1, 17-30.

89 Simmons, J. Education, poverty and development. a.3hington, D.C. World Bank StaffWorking Paper, 1974.

Weber, C.U., Foster, P.;Weikart, D. An economic analysis of the Ypsilanti-Perry preschoolproject. :lichi:..-an. High/Scope Educational ResearchFoundation, 1976.

10'4 ___-.- .... ______-- - ._ _ - _ - ___ -- have beenidentified as In this chapterissues that implementation ofpreschool central to theplanning and will be discussed. The issues programs inLatin America They were will be presented inth form of questions. of (1) importancegiven to them by selected on the basis in their interviewees in Bolivia,Chile and Colombia investigators,(2) importance discussions with project analyzed for the given to them inbackground documents (3) the experiencesof the project literature review, and education in Latin investigators themselveswith preschool America.

Key QuestionNQ 1

Who should preschoolprograms be serving; how canthey best be reached?

in this reportand The data from thecountries studied indicate thatpreschool programs a numberof other countries of Latin reaching between5 and 10 percent are currently As was alsomentiored, America's young childpopulation. almost population is growingrapidly -it will this young child most rapidly double by the year2,000. And it is growing among LatinAmerica's poor. of this rapidlygrowiny young child Within the context themselves. of strategicquestions present population a number themselves a goalof complete Do countries wantto set for If so, in the near ordistant future? - preschool coverage constraints, are there given human andfinancial resource difficult goal of interventionthat make this any strategies investment in earlyinter- possible? If not,to whor should criteria for most- vention be directed? On what basis in-need be set? seek out strategiesthat There appears tobe a need to countries to reach morechildren living in not only enable children most inneed. poverty,but to reachthose poverty born to of children in Ltin America are Perhaps 80 percent poverty children What criteriafor selecting of poor families. should be used? Income level to be targetedfor service mother? and sisters? Employment of family?Number of brothers

1 Condition of housing? Nutritional status? All these potential criteria are valid and do not always correlatehighly. Using different criteria could leaf, co selection ofdifferent populations for attention.

The tendency among the broader, nationalefforts has been for them to reach a population ofchildren wLich, though poor, are not those most in need bynutritional, health, and psycho-social criteria. These programs appear to be retching those poverty childreneasiest to reach, not those most in need. The reason may be that it is easier to implement intervention programsin communities or regions where there already exists some social sector rid educational infrastructure. The populations of these communities are generally already benefitting from varioussocial development programs. Finally, the issue of coverage is closelyrelated to resource availability,including financial support, administrative systems and infrastructure,replicable program models (showing some evidence of effectiveness), andcapable,apprc- priately trained people to staff the system. In this report we have seen that there are severelimitations it each of these area. We conclude that there iscurrently little chance that the majority of the needy childrenof Latin America will be reached through existing preschool education sewthe mLchanisms within the forseeable future. Further, we are of the opinion that the available data base on programeffectiveness, and cost-effectiveness, is not strong enough to support anargument that the existing preschool servicemodels deserve the increased investment that full co-eragf. wouldrequire. We would suggest that public preschool education policy inthe developing countries, in recognition of thissituation, should not pretend to attempt "full coverage" as a short or evenmedium term goal.

On the issue of coverage, wewould recommend that

Ez7isting early childhood educationservi-2 programs be more carefullytargeted to the neediestof thepcor ropu:ation. This should include clear definion of the ex:envand

92 location of this p.ri3r-Itypopula-:;ion aJ has been done in CI-u7.2o. Not on2u is this suggested from c7".ar:a.!Ltarian reint cf view, but the simple fact isthat, earl? childhood education research hasrepeateaLy demonstrated that the mor., disadvantagedthe treatment group, the morepowerful the effects ofthe treatment. Or in other words,the neediest oenefit the most. Existing preschool education programsbe modified to incorporateincreased self-help stretching the institutional components,the,-3by dollar invested andfacilitating moderate expansion. This might start with acareful analysis of program costsand an inventory cf how these could besl!nrlant,2 or supplemented by local donalic's or contributions.

New monies be madeavailable to suoport carefully designed action research programstwat test innovative and potentiallylower cost early childhood education programs, orprogram components, that might furtherincrease coverage within resource constraints.

Finally, internationalagencies should examine the current range oftheir activities to see howearly childhood education mightfit into broader social development plane. Theemphasis should on integrating early childhoodeducation with other programs, notcreating new ones. Existing food distribution, health andnon-formal education projects-might be especiallyappropriate places to look for theseopportunities.

Kez Question Ng 2 Who should haveadministrative control of preschooleducation programs?

At the national levelthere appear to be twobroad developing national courses a country cantake with respect to early childhood educationnetworks. One is to plan and implement one national programfrom the center--that is, through a Ministry or agencyheadquarters. Such a program would becentralized not only inadministration, but in content and strategyemployed. The other course is to that permits aad encouracres develop an administrative system and diversity in stratecies employedin different regions different communities withinthose regions. Each broad approach has implicationsin terms of targetpopulation reached, types and extentof effects, costs,ability to and the role early " cd adapt to local conditions, efforts. programs will playin general community deve:'.' that a It was generally agreedby survey participants significant expansion of preschooleducation as part of the of preschool national formal educationsystem, the development education in a manner similar tothat in which primaryeducation has developed in recent yearsin Latin America--linear' expansion of an alreadyexisting infrastructure,slight modification of curriculum,but no basic structuralmodifica- exists to learn tions--is not feasible. The potential still expansion if from the problems broughtabout from rapid linear often inflexible, and a primary systemrecognized as wasteful, for millions of poorchildren. It is possibly dysfunctional of and work generally agreed, also,that active involvement with parents must be acentral component of anyearly childhood America has generallybeen program; theformal system in Latin isolated from parents andcommunity.

or from-the resourceconstraints In other words,even aside expansion of a newlevel of the formal preventing significant there are anumber of education systemin Latin America, that this mightnot be thebest approach. strategic reasons One is developmentof options nonethelessremain. A number of under the auspicesof an agency one nationalpreschool program A second is todevelop other than theMinistry-of Education. structure under one or anumber of ageneies an administrative ane L,tracegies the developmentof diverse programs tnat supports Both apprcachesoffer in various partsof the country. advantages anddisadvantages. developed centralized program --such as is being A larce advantage ofvisibility and in Chile anderthe JNJI--has the of its responsibilitiesand mandate. widespread recognition It offers to securefinancial support. This makes it easier it to target centralized administrationand planning-enabling

1 ( 94 resources to a selectedpopulation. It facilitates con:rol of quality through,--setting of normsand standards or the classroom.1 Such a program, under an official agency, cart compete politically for governmentsupport. And it offerL potential for better coordination withother agencies, ministries, and programs.

One potential disadvantage of anational preschool program outside the Ministryof Education is that the educational component may becomeminimized, in order to concentrate on the nutritional,health and social welfare components (this has happened, to someextent, in Colombia with the CAIP program). Another potential disadvantage is inflexibility--inability to adapi- strategy,content, human and financial resource requirements tospecific conditions in various local settings. Inflexibility translates into less efficient and effective useof local resources; it is generally more of a problem in countrieswith wide variations in regional and local resources,socio-economic conditions, cultural patterrs, geography and socialprDblcms.

Inflexibility of centralized programsis part of a lar'er pattern that can be described as"bureaucratization". Wnen institutions reach a certain size theytend to function more to assure their ownperpetuation and survival, than to serve a particular population orattack a particularproblem..-Also when the chain of command forimplementation of decisions involves a number of administratorsand supervisors, there is both a delay and the possibilityof disruption witn regard to implementation. It is not clear if thesetendencies have begun to set in the few large programsongoing in Latin Ararica; but, as has been mentioned,those respoqtible for de.eloping national preschool education systemsin:Latirt America are still at the point where they canlearn from the mistakes of previous social development efforts.

The third option that existsfor devel,woment of earlychildhood education in Latin Americais very different from tne two centralized options just described. This option is based on development of a national systemof somewhat autonomous programs and strategic:, implementedin specific regions andcommunities to meet local needs and totape advantage of local resource

This is only true to the extentthat quality controlhas some impact at thelocal level.

1 165 contexts. The "system" would possibly be under thepolitical (in the broad sense of the word)and administrative direction of a national agency created tocoordinate ciforts in behalf of the young child (such as ICBF inColombia).

The emphasis on diversity, planned ordeliberate variation, would permit context--specific programplanning, and perhaps more accurate targetirg of servicesto those children and communities most in need. It wouldpotentially enable community members to take a more activerole in program planning and implementation. National centralized programs tend to emphasize the distinctionbetween professional and nonprofes- sional through the creation of anextensive administrative support network made up of technicians. Theoretically, middle level technicians, often closerphysically to communities receiving services than higherofficials, are an ideal source of technical assistance to communitymembers involved in makinc child care decisions.

Under a diversified national system,divergent early childhood education strategiescould develop in similar settings providing policy makers and plannerswith data on which to bad future decisions for investment. This potential researchbenefit cannot be overlooked given thelack of data in most Latin American countries about whatworks and d-osn't work in various settings. The need for flexibility among programsin developing a national early childhood educationsystem is also present within programs. To the present, limited evidencesuggests that locally developed efforts,mostly pilot programs, tend to have more internal flexibilitythan centralized_ programs. The ability to use continuous feedback tomodify various comrionents of a program is particularly importantwith respect to preschool education at this point in time inLatin America. A local program, not tied by norms,standards and regulations to a centralized ministry or agency, canmodify itself much more rt easily than a program that is partof a centralized effort.

The difficulties in implementingand supporting a diversified national system would be numerous. First, if there were a national coordinating agency, the questionof control of decisions would arise. If this agency controlleddisbursal of funds to support local efforts,the question of controlwould be particularly sensitive. The auestion of "lifetime"of programs becomes pertinentwhen many local programs aredevel- pilot efforts, and oping. Some of these efforts would start as would die out after a few years. Some mechanism forassuring program continuityparticularlyfinancial support--wouldbe crucial.

96 Many community level programswould develop as efforts or oi particularlocal comlunity development agencies programs, and thequestion of relationship toand coordination with other relatedefforts in that communitywould be pertinent. As with centralized programs runb.' other a-,-encies the Ministrylof Education,tne dan.er of or ministries than in progra7s the educational componentbeing minimized is present run by non-educationalcommunity development agencies.

We conclude that bothcentralized and decentralized ,problems and national early childhoodeducation systems offer "diversification of services" prospects. Within the key issue The constraints withinwhich pre- is a key concept--flexibi2ity. America, and school education mustinevitably develop in Latin the great diversity in socioeconomic, cultural,institutional, within countries, suggest at a mini= and geographic concexts effort is enough necessary elementfor any national preschool built-in flexibility to assureability to respond toconstraints and context. We recomend that eve-1in those cases centralize' program structures are cenao a functional or politicaln.,3,:_csit?,the proc..2 of development Cri31.-2divcrsity and ov6.'" attempts toimplant r.7jid uni:forniti_i or definition of pr -gram contntand delivery procedures. It Lc obiou :hat r.:;one has able to demonstrate thatths,y hai'e found ;he early childhood apPlica,ble to the divr;,e, opportunities and constrainsin any country. In this situation, wewould encourage decision makers to make every effort toPromote diversy of carefully planned andmonitored activities, rather than allow any one systemto escailish itself which would have little mornthan an administrative decision for support.

(ey Question N23

How can the fell range of the child'sbasic needs be met?

The growing interest in meetingdevelopmental needs of has led young children inLatin America through intervention to increasedexami:Lation--both ir,pressionistic and more

97 112 scientific--f the actualsituation of the youngchild. ?n ,s examination has revealedthat the problems of youngchildren must all be form a complex ofinteracting variables that be a significanteffect on any one of attacked for there to disease, and infection- - them. Physical problems--malnutrition, performance and socialbehavior. These affect cognitive nonmedical physical problems themselveshave both medical and causes. nature This awareness of themultipleanU interacting that is of young children'sproblems has led to a concert currently the basis ofmost action on behalfof young children "atenci5n throughout Latin America. This is the concept of integral," or interalattention. There is no one conceptual definition at:ross countriesfor this term. And or operational implications of integral even withincountries the operational action have not beenworked out.

Problems in defining thisconcept appear in goalsetting (whether to define a programas primarilynutritional or balancing and educational intervention,for example,) in and in staffing. The concept of coordination of components, of integral attention is verybroad, and can cover the range nutritional interventions from custodialcare with a few cursory and expensive and educationalelements to sophisticated The danger is in usingit to zcaze experimental procrams. of a responsibility for definingclearly the focus and scope program. Currently in LatinAmerica, early interventionprogra:ns and orientation of tn.:se irs shaped verymuch by the training Psychologists, educators,nutritionists and running them. their tend, with notableexceptions, to orient health officials The two ma'or pri-grams in thedirect. on of theirspecialty. influences appear to.be the psychologistsand nutritionists.

central componenL For example,educators insist that the intervention program mustbe carefullyplanned of any early Non-educators, for examplenutrition- educational activities. of a out the dailyeducational component ists, when working pedagoaioal program, mightnot think in termsof a particular planned curriculum,structured activity framework, a carefully two a day of more centers, but ratherin terms of an hour or Unfortunately,nutrition programswith less random activity. vice-versa, isthe poorly plannededucational components, and rule. The administrative structureof organizations working with coordination of services young childrenalso contributes to lack of and/or monofocal interventionprojects. To cite a case, international agency nutritionoffice staff are sensitive tothe most fact that their mandate is improved nutrition, and are cautious about supporting programcomponents not clearly and directly in the mainstream oftheir program responsibility. Education officers are notfilling the gap, so far theyhave focused their concern on the problemsof the traditional educational system, or non-formaladult education.

One way in which the barriers canbe broken down is by working with thoseresponsible for all the youngchild's needs--nutritional, health, cognitive,social-that is, with parents. The parent is naturally involvedin all these areas, and is vhe most natural agent,generally, for meeting the young child's needs. Although most programs working withparents to the present have beeneducational--working with parents on children's physical and psycho-socialneeds--the effects of such programs have been integratedaction by the parent to better meet young children'sneeds. We conclude that the conceptof integral ..ttention at the very least conveysthe necessity of developingearly childhood programs that focus on morethan just one variable within the complex spectrum of problemsfacing Latin America's poor example, from the children. Limited evidence available--for longitudinal projects of the HumanEcology Research Station and ICBF in Colombia--suggeststhat when nutritional and educational components are combined,they not only reinforce but magnify each other'seffects.

We recommend thatthose charged with and implementing programsreaching young children, both in developingcountries and internaz:ional agencies, establishad-hoc multi-disci,-Zinary working groups toexamine from theperspective existing and proposedintervention of "basic needs", child and and research effortsreaching the young detailed his family. This would first imply a listing of objectivesand desirable program compo- It would also implypursuing the issue at nents. Because it the level of programimplementation. of singular Zack ofexpertise, seems to be an area child- international agenciessho:7d recruit early consu:tan-s to workwith their hood development and potential staff on some of theissues, purposes,

19194 stratgir2s in t;le early education(77. components.

Key Question No 4

What should be the natureand extent of intersectoral cooperation in early childhood cducation?

The idea of integral attention as abasis for 'program development has its counterpartat the macro-level in the concept of intersectoralcooperation. This concept implies the cooperation andcoordination of the various ministries and agencies responsiblefor meeting the young child's needs, in the planning and implementationof intervention activit'_es.

Quite often, the basisfor intersectorai cooperation is found in laws, decrees, or"convenios"--agreements drawn LID between particular ministriesoutlining the broad forms- cooperation might take. Sometimes cooperation is mbre inforral. two agencies mightwork together to develop a specific program. In-this latter case, the programis usually the idea of officials in one agency, who inviteother agencies to assist in various program aspects. Only rarely are there likely to be foundtruly joint programs, conceived,-plannedand implemented by, an intersectoral team from the start.

The rationale for intersercoral cooperation lies in the multiple and interactingproblems affecting young children growing up in poverty in LatinAmerica, and the reed for multiple interventions; in the need toavoid duplication of services,. often a problem whenvarious sectors act on their own, and especially serious within a scarceresource contet; and in the need to develop a consistent,uniform young child policy, so particular agencies and ministries arenot acting at cross- purposes with each other(e.g. aiming at different target populations). Problems in the actual functioningof intersectoral cooperation have been numerous. In a broad sense, there has been moderate success incooperation at the planning level in a number of countries. But cooperation has often brokendown at the operational level. Institutional and individual resistance to intersectoral cooperationhas manifested itself in a number I 15

100 While we see d.ntersectoral cooperation as a key to the future of early childhood education we have not formulated any specific recommendation on the issue. The opportunities and constraints are so varied that observations or recommendations that we as a group have been able to come up with are either too general or too obvious to be useful.

Key Question No 5

How should the role of parents be defined?

While it has become increasingly clear to early childhood program planners that involvement of parentsin preschool education programs ought to be a central concern, the kinds and levels of involvement envisioned by those planning and implementing programs vary considerably. The reasons given for the importance of parent involvement also vary. None- theless, all agree that parent involvement should be a key element in any future early childhood education programs. Among the most important bases for involvement of parents in early childhood education programs are (1) theparents' broad role as primary caretakers and most important influence on the course of_ the young child's development;(2) the potential spin off effects on the quality of family life effective parent involvement can bring;(3) the impossibility of directly reaching the large majority of young children in need of intervention; (4) the specific roles of teacher, nutritionist, and health caretaker played by the parent and (5) the traditionally strong role of the family in Latin America.

Among the roles parents play in early childhood programs are policy maker, teacher, program organizer,non-instructional aide, and learner. To the present most parent involvement in early childho ducation programs in Latin America has been superficial. tentsmay contribute money, join weekly discussion groups, occasionally work as aides. The exception to this trend has been in the programs aiming their services directly at parents (mostly pilot programs), a few parent and childprograms,'

1 Among these two groups of programs are Chile's "ProgramaPadres e Hijos,' Bolivia's "Programa Padres e Hijos",Colombia's "Programa Ninos Inteli,gentes ", and Project Portage's Home Based Intervention program in Pera.

1021 1 6 The tendency has beenfor the and a few home careprograms.1 to have much lessparent involvement large, national programs efforts. than the pilot programsand community generated learner. In almost all programsthe parent has been a concert applesmostly to tne home based The parent -as- teacher structure and content programs, but evenhere the program how to be betterteachers of their stresses parentslearning and policy The role of parer.-.s asprogram organizers children. of curricula for their makers and partnersin the development children has been verylimited.2 have been a Within the large,national programs there parent participation. number of factorsconstraining more active of knowledge on thepart of classroom One has been a lack in their teachers about how toeffectively involve parents apparently lack theconfidence and programs. Some teachers teachers prefer adults, In many instances,, skills to work with to parents. that the school andclassroom remain off-limits time for working withchildren are clearLy While objectives and with parents areoften laid out, objectivesand time for working described in only themost genera3 fashion. tc involve The inability of"formal" preschool programs has led to a view amongmany parentsand parents effectively preschool education community leaders inLatin. America that to the family. Involvement of parents in acts in opposition activities would decision- making andother integral program school-community barriersthat often exist help break down the throughout all levelsof not only at thepreschool level but the formal educationsystem. involvement pertain to Some of the constraintsto parent of the parents them- social and economicfactors in the lives . change In be amenable toalteration through selves, and may not and mothers) must program strategies. Many parents (fatners a living, orwork far from wheretheir work long hours to earn generally mothers. children are attendingschool. Many parents, in the home. Some have other youngchildren to attend to themselves as deliberateer!ticatoi=s of their parents do not view as responsiblefor young children,and view the school system education (although notfor their children's their children's traditional socialization, in somecases). In many rural areas, patterns of child careare viewed asadequate.

1 Diario" inVenezuela For example, the"Hogares de Cuidado 2 Equals" by and Educators:Experts and The article "Parents 1975-76 Reportdescribes Dolores Z. Lambie inthe High/Scope parents into the which might betaken to bringing one approach well as being policy and curriculumdevelopment process, as the agents for servicedelivery. 103117 of Another constraint maybe parents' and teachers' views of preschool education. These viers often the central purpose Both revolve around preparationof the child for first grade. may see this as moreeffectively accomplished throughformal, witn professionalteachers working center based programs explain directly with thechildren. This expectatfon may helo directly with parents--parenteducation why programs working for children programs-- tend tofocus on stimulation and care 0-3 years of age. parents are a greatlyunder-acknowledged We conclude that education in Latin and under-used resourcein early childhood of the home has amuch greater America. Because the environment child's development tlanall but the influence on the young teachers and care- most powerfulintervention, parents' roles as children cannot be ignoredin early child- takers of their young practical reasons, hood program development. For both ethical and parental and program goals,values and possible variance in planning behavior must be dealtwith at every point in program and implementation. Involvement of parentsin more than marginalprogram and financial activities would alsohelp to solve the human problems faced by mostearly childhood program resource constraint children, parents America. In programs aimed at planners in Latin roles. number of instructionaland noninstructional can play a this involvement When they are involvedin playing these roles, lives and the livesof their families(for often changes their and their example, with respect toaspirations for themselves enormous numbersof young family). The problem of reaching resolved by workingdirectly with children can be partially in the :some parents, as theyoften have 2,3 or 4 young children influence 80 or 100children). (a "class" of 20parents may directly

We recommend that programdevelopers be especially sensitiveto the issue of parent involvementin, and even ntrol of programs servingthe preschool tjechild in Latin America. The question of howto involve parents mosteffectively is being actively worked out by anumber of promising- pilot efforts throughoutLatin Imerica. The problem will be in either expanding these efforts, orincorporating their findings into the largeinstitutional programs of for72l educution The history -- including kindergarteneducation--in Latin America provides iittlebasis for active parent Nevertheless, the potentialimpact involvement. will of preschool educationin the coming years be closely tied to successin this very area.

10118 Key Question Na 6

Who should be the "Educational Agents" in preschool programs?

Educational agents are those that have a potential role to play -n promoting, organizing, teaching,assisting, facilitating, extending and supervising learning in young children.l They are, in other terms, the available human resources for a particular educationalactivity. Their effective and efficient use must be a central concernto early childhood educators for economic,pedagogical, socio- cultural, and a wide variety of other reasons. Yet the major programs, the large national programs thathave existed to the present, have demonstrated onlyt',2 most limi ted ability to make effective use ofeducational agents.

The clearest example of inability to makefull use of educational agents at the preschool level is thefailure to actively involve parents, discussed in theprevious section. With respect to other informal agents, fromwhom the young child acTaires many of his or her behaviorpatterns, values and knowledge,'most are not consideredwhen examining the learning context of the young child. These may include older siblings, relatives, non-relative caretakers,and cormunit7 members involved in various trades, to whomthe child is exposed. Perhaps the most common non-professional agentinvolved in preschool education is theparaprofessional (also called auxiliary, teaching aide, monitor, etc.)responsible for playing a teaching role in many programs. For economic and strategic reasons, the paraprofessionalteacher is coming tc be viewed as the central educational agentin a number of ongoing programs. Even in the large, national programs teaching roles for paraprofessional araincreasing.

Yet in most Latin American countries,training and preparation of educational agents at thepreschool level is oriented strictly towardtraiang of professional classroocm teachers. There exist very few programs for regulartraining of paraprofessionals; and there is littleinclination among

1 La For a more comprehensive definition see"Los Agentes Edu9ativos en Educacion No-Formal", Centro para elDesarrollo de la Educe.- cift No-Formal, Bogota, Colombia,1976.

1 0511;1 education faculties in manyuniversities to assume such a formal educators does notprepare role. Even the training of with paraprofessionals; orto make them to train or work in the effective use of thevariety of educational agents communities in which theywill teach. implementation of preschool programs In the planning and combinations in the coming years thequestion of most effective vis-a-vis degree ofprofessional training,is of staffing, The optimum one that willhave'to be consideredseriously. paraprofessionals, the roleseach ratio of professionals to classroom and in thecommunity, the kindsof might play in the considered in relation support each gives theother, must all be constraints, communitysocio-eccnomic needs to goals, resource need of services. and cultural norms,and number of children in

education We would recommendthat in early childhood profes- the trend move away fromusino highly trained sionals for providingservices directlyto,childr2n,- (hcpefully in to using theseprofessionals as -trainers in-service settings) of2:araprofessicnal staff who In become the front-lineeducational agents. formulating this recommendation werec:,gnize that in reliance on paraprofeesionalsthere may education content of a tradeoff between the formai a programfor young childrenand other objectives. But in a broader sense,the training of thepara.: professional him or herselfleads to a betteredii-oated and able community.

The considerationand recognition of educational agents in theplanning and implementation the of preschool programswould serve to increase professional educators'sensitivity to the large number of sources,thatinfluence the youngchild's Too little considerationhas been development. of given traditionally tothe values and strengths :nd the community inplanning preschool programs almost no recognition tothe fact that the 7:..-ent of the child. Many e,--zu,nity is the primary educator ciously members -- parents andothers - -have not been c- educat -nal aware themselvesof their votential as recommendatio-, could agents. Implementation of this do much to change this,and if this wereeffectively be felt far beyond thewalls done the impact might of the of the preschoolclassroom and the early years educational process. Key Question N2 7

What is the importance and what are the mosteffective modes of community participation?,

The issues of parentparticipation and roles for educational agents form partof a broader issue that must be considered in theplanning and'implementationof preschool programs. This issue is supportand participation of the community at large. The need to considerparticipa- tion of parents and othernon-professional educational agents will not be discussedfurther in this section. The emphasis discussing the need to considerand will be rather on programs consciously plan strategiesof support for particular and preschool educationin general. when There are probably threeelements to be considered planning strategies of support. Tne first is promotion- - making the community awareof the kmportance ofpreschool education in general, andthe purpose of anyparticular program (answeringthe question: What isthe program doing children?). The second is mobli:- in our community, with our of zation of communityresol/rcos--through more effective use the tapping of technicalexpertise educational agents, through raising of and coordination ofintersectoial activity, through and through generally identifying roles funds and materials, play in that various institutionsand individuals might activities. The third element is more supporting preschool of the conceptual than operational. That is, examination socio-cultural context inwhich the program isdeveloping, of that context. This process is and planning in terms when considered an element ofstrategies of support because is not likely to it is not takeninto account the community mobilize its resources onbehalf of a program. is important not only to assure . The promotional task understanding of the purposeof a program general community but to assure the and the importanceof preschool education, professionals from other sectorsand educators understanding of Resistence to from other' levels ofthe educational system. prestigious preschool educationsometimes comes from the most members of a community. The question of how topromote preschool educationdepends and on the natureof a community. In small towns, semi-rural

1s) 4 14.1 107 for the rural areas there areusually social meeting points the church). In larger communities whole community (e.g. There are school there are barriocouncils and otherbodies. television, associations. The use of media--zadio, parent of a community. the press, posters--a2so depends on the nature also depends The task of mobilizingcommunity resources of a community, andthe institutional baseof a on the nature to support particular program. Mobilizing community resources can be viewed morein the context the large national programs agents from the com- of finding rolesfor various educational munity than in afinancial context. In locally generated central issue. programs, financialsuppcct may be a recognize that differentcommunity It is important to different kinds of members can usuallymake, most comfortably, with some prestigein a contributions. Also non-educators enthusiastic and veryeffective resource community' are often program's devel mobili,sers, and shouldbe included early in a note that themobilization of ment. It is important to process in community resources is alegitimate and important well as those with moreresources. The poverty communities as their poor have just asmuch interest inand commitment to children as those less poor. planning strategies ,Dfsupport from a With respect to responsible for community for preschooleducation, those have noth a positiveattitude towards preschool education must community initiatives. and operationalstrategies for supporting to be most difficultto give in thecontext This support appears Centralization is notgeneral- of the largenational programs. local communityinitiative. But those working ly congruent with be prepared to in preschool programs atall levels ought to importantly, provide act on communities'ideas, and more technical backstopping oncea program hasbeen implemented. strategies of support The third, moreconceptual element of communities With respectto preschooleducation fr,,m and for Nonetheless, it will be discussed as aseparate sectionlater. context, that infusesthe is this element,the socio-cultural fact forms part ofthe frameworkof all others. This element in decision making withrespect to programdevelopment. of other key issues,the issue ofcommunity As with a number scarcity participation is rootedpragmatically in the support and available to support of official humanand financial resources not likely education. This scarcity is development of preschool countries inthe dramatically in mostLatin American to change resources areavailable, near future. Nonetheless, even where

108 22 implementati-)n of programsfor young children incc;'.7unities, participation of tnose without first :,..ee'Kingthe support and inevitably inhibit program success. Aaln, co7,munities, would other with this issue we naveno specificrecommendation to 71.:!] trio issue thin one which might encouragemore sensitivity to among programplanners andimplementators.

Key Question Ng8

What might be therelation ofpreschool4education system? to other levelsor the educational

education becomes IT:.e widespread,the cuestion As preschool pertinent. the total educationalsystem becomes of its role within with the primary systemversus For example, thequestion of "fie itself must beresolved. Also, ssible importance in and of education and other programmatic connectionsbetween preschool programs can beconsidered. speaking to optim-,,mdeyelooment cf the In spite of goals actuality many preschool child across a varietyof areas, in child for firstgrade. programs focus onpreparing the young that there is pressureon preschoolteacners In fact, it appears basic skills andbehaviors to do so. This day -to -day_ focus on grade is mostobvious in the yearbefore necessary for first of poverty children primary school begins. A large percentage America, includingthose fe-/ who begin primaryschool in Latin will not complete morethan a who attend preschool programs, becomes: should few years.I Thus, anotherimportant question concentrate on preparingyoung poverty preschool programs to be in schccllong? children for school,if they are not going emphasis and childabilities and If not what kinds of program behaviors should bestressed? other te,-eis of Another asoect of therelationship of preschool to to numar, and edu,-ration pertains toinvestment decisions with respect

1 there is no evidencefrom Latin Ame'-ica As of the present, sIgnificantly indicating that attenancein preschool programs decreases primarywastage.

1''s 109 of redistribut- financial resources. What would be the effect ing funds and personnelfrom other levels to thepreschool level' Are there communitycontEe,,ts in which preschool education will be viewed asthe basic educationthat cnildren tnus would be will receive, perhaps inprice of primary, and deserving of greater resourcesfor that reason?' Would grce -r investment at the preschoollevel contribute todecreases in primary level wastage?

If preschool education is tobe implemented within the than strictly context of integralattention--dealing with more educational needs of youngchildren--thcl it would seemthat preschool-orimar:ifit need not be thatclose. At the same time, programs with strongnutritional and healthcomponents might help eliminate medical reasonsfor repeating and dropping It is only at thepreschool level, out among primary children. is a basis nonetheless, that the conceptof integral attention for planning educational programs. Another way that a policymaker might view thepreschool/ is through theperspective of the primary school relationship that educational innovation process. There is limited evidence introduced more easily innovative educational practicescan be systems. Being into preschool programsthan formal educational field of endeavor,_ theprotective bureaucratic a relatively new there is at least structures are not asdeeply entrenched, and *mpressionistic evidence thatpreschool tea curs are more their elementary sensitive to the childdevelopment rrocess than successful school counterparts. Thesefactors may facilitate Similar co the experienceof "Follow- preschool innovation. of a "demonstration" Through" in the UnitedStates, the existence carefully concerted effortto extend setting, combined with a than these into the elementarysystem may enjoy more e,ccess formal educational structure. more direct attemptsto modernize the between The qUestior of possiblerelations or coordination other than the preschool and ley: is cfthe educational system considered. One area of natural primary level is rarely Adults are coordination might be withadult basic education. content pertains generally highly motegated to learn when the to their concrete to some knowledgeand information pertinent

1 Cartagena, Colombie For example, the"Escuelas de Banco" of of as a preschool program,have many ch_'ren formally conceived attendance. 6-13, with no schoolsavailable to serve them, in take on economical- In rural areaschildren sometimes begin to as early as 6 or7 years of age,and ly productive activities educational activi- may thus be mostavailable for organized ties at 1 earlier age. needs. Limitedevidencel suggests that parents have a strong interest in knowledge andskills relating to various aspects of childrearing. Thus, content base'', on nutrition, health, and st:Imulation of Youngchildren could be one aspect in adultliteracy and basic skills programs. Indeed, it's surprising to see that there is so little being done in tnis area. It could be argaed that the ability to appropriately supportthe broader developmental processes of earlychildhaod is the most basicof basic skills needed by the adults of a society. college tudents are potentialeducational high school and for example) in agents (as volunteersreceiving course credit, programs. The trend in secondary early childhood education is to make that education in many LatinAmerican countries concrete societalneeds. Training, education more relevant to to work in programs and actual service, byhigh school students for young childrenfits well with thistrend. need for the care In conclusion,there appears to be no children to be isolatedfrom other and education of young It is not levels and programswithin the educationsystem. education should beresponsive to theneeds only that preschool should be resoonsive of the primary system,but that both levels Especially within thecontext of the previous to each other. kinds of educational discussions on makingfuller use of all networks of supportfor preschooleduca- agents, and developing within of the preschoollevel to other levels tion, the relation It cannot be the educac_onal system Lsan importantques+-4^-. and implementation process. Nonet:-7eless, ignored in the planning education to he the historical tendencyhas been for preschool from the rest ofthe system, or befully almost totally isolated and Lilt-. goals. absorbed by the formal syst,-:n,its methodology

We would recommendthat the preschcol/elementar:. school nexus be acentral focal pointfor future applied research programs. Sinc extensive forric:Z school systems arein existencethroughout Latin 11.4erica, expansion ofpreschool education Programs some of the may be oneefcective way to address major problems ofthese systems. The broader as- childhood develormentshould also pects of early for non- be studied as animportant cow tent area formal adult educa;ionefforts.

Chile in from the program"Padras e liljos" in For example, vocationally oriencedsecondary a few ofPeru's ESEPs, in the Lima area,there is already schools, particularly for this purpose;also limited use ofhigh school students in Colombia. in the INEMvacational schools

111 14.);) Key Question Ng9

What are thesoci.)-cultural bases of program development?

programs must beplanned within To say that educational expecta- the framework of language,values, behavior patterns, population, tions, and competenciesneeded among a particular would seem to be a statementof the obvious. But large without explicit numbers of educational programsare planned socio-cultural bases. An example might be attention to these Indians in the the education receivedby Quechua and Aymara Andean highlands. bases of procram Until recently, concernfor socio-cultural of preschool development has not beenobvious in the planning Latin American countries. This is because such programs in many class urban populations. programs reachedlargely middle and upper of re-focusing actiontowards marginal With the recent trend these bases become urban and rural poorchildren and families, more pertinent. traditional socio-culturalvalues and While respect for preschool inter- patterns is an obviousnecessity when planning linguistic minorities, vention programs withand for ethnic and obvious among seeminglyacculturated pooule- it is often not so dete=ined not only Yet values andbehavior patterns are tions. environmental demands. by cultural tradition,but by immediate patterns--for examplechildrear.tng behaviors-- Thus, many behavior stresses and threats. are functional responsesto en-ironmental increasingly ccermon goalof early intervention For example, the seemingly narmful and programs in LatinAmerica is to modify parental'goals and behaviors. Yet, anthropological dysfunctional behaviors are usually evidence indicates thatparental goals and to unique environmentaltnreats to infants functional adaptations be harmful to and young children. While individual behaviors may the child, thetotal pattern isfunctional.

A preschool program might have as oneof its coals tc give the young child abilities that would aidhim or her in being more effective in acting onhis or ner environment_; the same goal would be pertinent to workwith parents. It is not at all clear that the goals of preschooleducation for the poor should relate totally, or even primarily, to preparationof children for first grade.'

Quite often it is parents therselves,particularly parents of poor children, whodemand teat a preschool program prepare their children for success in first rade.

112 126 A counter-argument isthaL by affiriaing values, and the goals and behavior patternsof ethni7 minorities are beim7 poor througn apreschool program, these groups reinforced in values andbehaviors that will keep them If the out of themainstream socially andeconomically. only path to adult successis through theforma] school concentrating on preparingyoung poverty system, then not that they children for success inthis system is to assure will remain marginal tosociety. By not inculcating in which, though contrary tothose them values and behaviors, modern of family and ethnic group, arethose demanded by the this sector, these children areeffectively excluded by burden fall on these youngchil- sector. Yet, why shouldthe d:en and their families? Perhaps one way tobalance respect fortraditional cultural patterns and theneed to attack youngchild problems understand the roots through intervention isto try to better This j.s one reasonresearch on the young of these problems. key issue in child in Latin America isbeing considered a malnutrition in preschool educationplanning. For example, has its roots notonly in particularparental young children of distri- behaviors, beliefs, andknowledge, but in patterns in general. bution of food in thecommunity and in society dropping out and repeatingin first grade The phenomenon of and in some cases has educational,socio-economic, cultural, political, roots. Perhaps the conflictingdemands for culturalsensitivit,, the necessity to preparethe child for and realism vis-a-vis by viewing the success in formalschooling can be reconciled mandate as workingwith parents to provide preschool education of tne poverty cycle. young childrenopportunity to break out not replace, butrather complement Preschool education should the child a and support tne familyin its efforts to make opportunity for academic competent adultcapable of maximizing and economic achievement.

Key Question Ng. 10

What are the research needsin ea9,y-childhood education in LatinAmerica?

effective decision makingin the above One constraint to Latin America and many other areaswithin'pieschool education in of research data onthe young has been lackof an organized body

19 "

113 child. any individual areas of research remainlargely unexplored; in other areas there is adequate data, but this data is either not accessible or nas not beeninterorc,t=-4 into forms suitable for use by nonspeeialiscs andcducatn,.'l policy makers. A common com-)laint among man.; concerned w:th the young child in Latin America is that "wedon't know what we know". Thus, there are two broad needs with respect toresearch. One is for more research. The other is for systematization and dissemination of what has been done already.

With respect to the former, a nuxber of areas inneed cf further exploration stand out. One area is anthropological research on the young child; included would be research en current childrearirg patterns, socialization processes, competencies required in various settings, parentalexpectations, language development, cognitive styles in various settings (problem solving orientation, etc.), social bases of young child nutrition and health care, and distinctiveand con :on threats to the young child's psychological andsocial dave137.7,e.-.t in various environments, in part.icular povertyenvironments, in Latin America.

There has been little research on patternsof young child deprivation within the contexts of rural-urban,highland-coastal and ethnic differences. This data, along with anthropolocical data on demands placed by various kinds ofcommunities on the child, would provide an as yet unchartedsocio-geographic framework for intervention decisions. Research is needed on factors actually influencing de-nand for child careand early childhood education in various countries.On an inter-country basis, there has been much more research onthe situation of tne young child in some countriesthan in others. This includes research identifying the location and size ofthe young child population in need of -intervention.

The problem of systematization of availabledata, and development of mechanisms for dissemination, appearsto be amenable to solution using basic systems ofinformation sharing and storing available in theUnited States and Europe. There are a number of educationalresearch agencies throughout Latin America capable of working on the problem ofidentification and organization of available data. The idea of national early childhood documentation centers in each country,and for the region, is not too far fetched. The interamerican institutefor The Child resource center in Mcntevideo,Uruguay mav present a useful resource to build upon in this regard. Would early childhood policy makers and others usethis data if it were available? There seems to be more interest,

11412b at present, in data onthe effects andpotential of various relation to intervention strategies. Planning programs in concrete needs of youngchildren identifiedthrc--ah research This type ofplanning would be appears to be unopmmon: internal particularly important incountries with significant countries. socio-geographic diversity,such as the Andean investment in earlyintervention progra6s In conclusion, as of young children increases, concrete knowledgeof the situation becomes an important tool fordecision-makers at national, regional and local levels. To say that therehas been enough research, and that it istime for action, is tosanction continued decision making onthe basis of convenienceand have done political expediency. Small pilot programs that environmental analyses andused the results toplan their pro- collected very valuable. grams have foundthe baseline information conflict between continuingresearch on the There is no inherent plan programs of young-child, and using whatis already known to action. We would make tworecommendations in this retard.

First, special priorit:r should begiven to n.=soarc7! projects which createadditional data on:

the longitudinal effectof preschool on the formal educational process.

the key variablesthat differentiateindividual programs and whatis known about theeffective- ness of alternativestrategies in different settings,

what is acually of,currir:i betweenadult and child, an., child andenvironment and famild and program in existingpreschool programs; does the quality ofservices warrant continua- tion or expansion?

how the mass mediaand other non-forma: educational techniques canbe used to Iriridjethe 902 gap that currentlyexis;:s in preschool educational service. in Second, internationalagencies should assist the development of aninformation-sharing system in the field of among LatinAmerican countries development. This might include a early childhood journals central documentationcenter, libraries, and probably a seriesof policy papers. ConclUsioa broad discussed in thischapter provide a The key questions program plan- issues centralto preschool representation of While all the implementation inLatin America. ning and conditions andconstraints in the issues arisefrom actual are all surveyed in thisstudy, by no means three countries made to developprograms. considered seriouslywhen plans are review basis of interviewsand literature It does appearon the issues among increasing awarenessof the key that there is policy makers. But actual Latin Americanearly childhood the authorsof presently made, or soit seems to decisions are consideration oftaese issues. this report,with only minimal large, expensive in spite ofevidence that For example, levels ofprofessional center-based programs,using high very small be able toreach more than a personnel, will never of services,all three percentage of youngchildren in need the basis rely on suchprograms as countries arecontinuing to Efforts to changepatterns education activities. participation to more of preschool member of parent andother community community level resourcesand to support fully use community limited in scope. generated effortshave been very define little effort isbeing made to In another area, spite of of intearalattention, in more clearlythe concept to inhibit its lack ofdefinition continues the fact that strategy andcontent. Yet effective formulationof program planning remains a keyconcept for program integral attention and decisionmaking. focused including thosethat have Internationalagencies, concentrateeffort:: improved welfareof children, for decades on notable exceptions,policy provision. With a few on physical of awarenessof the broader makers reflect ageneral lack of these processes development andthe effects processesof early intervention is seenas a human growth. Preschool on later 3-year developmentprograms are "long shot" in aworld where around for problems thathave been still attemptingto resolve centuries. of early the momentumof past patterns To an extent, programintervention and development significantly childhood education conceptualize orimplement difficult to awareness. makes it on newknowledge and differentstrategies based to thoseoutside the certainly areof no help mold These patterns the traditional,institutional field tobreak through support thebroaderdevelopment about ways to operation when thinking life. Changes in in the earlyyears of and take processes have tendedto beincremental, of existingprograms Even whenbasicreorganiza- slightmodifications. definitionhave the form of structure andprogram tion ofadministrative 130 1

has tcnd.3d to emergingfor the child taken place,the program New and truly significantly frompastmodels. not differ few and farbetween and viewed initiatives are to the innovative dec2sicn makers asquite marginal by humanresource responsibilities. central thrustof their program and/or'interest onthe awareness Much of thislack of educationaland lies squarelywitn the to do policy makers the thingswe attempt part of communities, do, and how we educationalresearch describe what we children, theway we socialdevelon::.ent with the Thereasonable conceptualize ourresearch. that themost urgent might notbe convinced hinterlands is decision maker sickly childin the need of amalnourished or learn thecolor yellow, toinstitutions to or howto to beturned over how to singa song, to handle apencil, or goals andlever of or how Theinstructional preschool follow-the-leader. reflected inmost existing activity advances indevelopmental intellectual far behindrecent procedures programshas lagged training andstaffing Theorganizational, rather thanreinforce, the psychology. often workagainst, of the more wedevelop too thrust of many participatoryand self-help Our curr'culu7 strong developmentstrategies- faTiiv convincingnational importantcultural, ignore the determine thecuE;Litv of modelsalmostcompletely inevitably influencesthat and community development process- the earlychildhood

131

117 ATTACHMENT A

THE VARIABLES

variables that have In this attacament wewill discuss the influence the decisionmaking process in been identified that Like the key early childhoodeducation in Latin America. the last chapter ofthe report, these questions discussed in evidence from variables were selected enthe basis of (1) (2) importance data collected inthe three countrystudies, the backgrounddocuments analyzed jnthe given to them in of the project 1-terature review,and (3) the experiences investigators. identified have beendivided into three The variables reality, the "gIvens" groups: one groupincludes the objective second group includesthe variables that within a country; & filter as evidenced mediate the objectivereality, the human attitudes; and a third groupincludes the by knowledge and early childhood administrative andprogramatic reality of education as it currentlyexists. three variable It is through theinteraction of these created. Individual variablesfr'm sets that programs are from other groups. each of the three groupsact on variables variables No 1 and 2interact because the poor For example, children than thewealthy. in Latin Americatend to have more interact with variableNQ 18, the socio- These two variables population currently economic breakdownof the young child receiving services.

118 132 A. The Variables

B. An Annotated Bibliography

13'..1 Following are the variables:

The oblective reality:'

(1) The rate of growth of the young child population.

(2) The percentage of the young child population_ growing up in poverty.

(3) The particular set of priority problems of young children in a country, or within regions of a country.

(4) Effective demand for child care due to social and economic change factors: labor force participation of women, changing childrearing patterns due to urbanization and new technologies, etc.

(5) Existence within a country of significant (in influence) ethnic and/or linguistic minority groups (e.g., in the Andean countries, the Quechua and Aymara populations).

(6) The urgency of other (not specifically young child related) problems of human concern.

Knowledge and attitudes

(7) The level of knowledge and awareness with respect to:

a) the importance of adequate experience in the early years;

b) how various family and community environment influence early experience; and

c) how early intervention programs can influence early growth and development.

(8) The prevailing socio-cultural context that determines childrearing goals, practices, and attitudes about the role of the home and of institutions in tne provision of services to the young child.

(9) The availability and use of research on the situation and needs of young children.

(10) The availability of evidence concerning the short and long tea effects of various early childhood programs within different environments.

1Pertaininggenerally to the situation of young children and their families.

134 119 (11) Implicit and explicit views about the purpose of preschool education (i.e. preparation for first grade, provision of child care, as an investment or as a consumption activity).

Administrative and Pror-ramatic Variables

(12) The existence or lack of a clearly identifiable policy for meeting young children's needs.

(13) Historical pattern of development of early childhood education.

(14) The specific goals of current early childhood programs.

(15) The content and extent of plans for early childhood education; the nature of the planning process (who is involved, resources allocated for planning).

(16) Locus of administrative control of action on behalf of young children.

(17) Locus of financial control of action on behalf of young children.

(18) The proportion of the young child population currently receiving ser-; 7es; the socic-economic breakdown of the young child pop-lation receiving services.

(19) The public-private breakdown of current total preschool enrollment and the role of private preschool programL in meeting young children's needs.

(20) The level of activity and priority concerns of international agencies working in a particular country; the influence of these agencies on early childhood program decision making.

(21) The general level and kinds of involvement of parents and para-professionals in formal and non-formal early childhood education programs.

(22) Availability of human resource Lu develop early childhood programs.

(23) The extent of current early childhood education infrastructure.

(24) The types of curricula already developed and/or potentially available to be used.

(25) The influence of early intervention activities in other sectors (i.e. number of children reached, political support, popularity).

1 :3 5 120 (26) The professional backgroundand traininT of ,_hose makInz decisions concerning earl cnild1-10,Ddeducation in a co,:n11-v (e.g., education, sociology, law,politics, nutrition, health).

Discussion Since each of these variablesinteracts in soma way with every other variable,there are a total of 625 individual interactions taking place when planningand program decisions are being made. (See Figure 1) No planner or policymaker is goina to be conscious of the largemajority of these interactions; nor will he or she wish to co-Is iderall of them when making decisions. What is important is to be awareof these variables and their dynamic interactions as the structurein which decisions are rade.

For example, variable Ng 4 "Dc-7-zmdfor child care due to economic and social change factors", influences and is influenced by variable Ng 8,"The prevailingsocio-cultural context for cnild- care." Both of those influenceand are influenced by variable education . No 15, the "Content and extentof plans for early childhood To get a broad perspective tnedecision maker would go downthe above related-list and use it as aform of check-off: did i consider this, this and that, and how itwill influence such and such programmatic decisions. Specifically, as a first step adecision maker would wa. to describe briefly the statue, of eachof the variables within iJS or her country. Table 1 provides a picture of howthis might atnear, using the three countries analyzed inthe present study. Then he or she would want tosystematically examine eacn variable-pair interaction, flagging those interactionsdee7ned i:-Iportant to the particular decision being made Figure 2 provides the total picture, with each interactionnumbered, so a decision makercculd and mark those interaction nairs tobe a deliberate consideration, those forming the secondary, orbackground, context.

136 121 FIGURE 1

and Bolivia Status of "Variables InfluencingDecision Making" for Chile, Colombia

Variabi(!s Countr Chile Bolilia Clombia

(1) rate of growth of y,lng 3.2% child population 1.4 % 2.6 %

(2) percentage of young eh_ d 60-70 %(est.) growing up in poverty 30 %(est.) 80 %(est.)

1. nutritional set of priority problems of 1. psycho- social 1. health (3) 2. health young children 2. nutritional 2. nutritional 3. health 3. psycho-social 3. psycho-social

moierate level of I low level of (4) effective demand for child fairly high level care due to social and of demand demand economic change factors

yes (Quechua, nonL (5) existence of significant none number. of ethnic and/ Aymara Indian or lingui. is minority population) groups

none relatively health and nutri- health and nwriticnal urgency of other problems situation highest of human concern more urgent than tional situation education highest priority priority problems problems.

1 :3 c., Figure 1 page 2

Country

Variable Chile Bolivia Colombia

(7) 1,,!vel of knowledge and high among opecial- low among special- high among special- awareness of importance of ists low among popul- ists and population ists low among adequate early experience ation. population. and influenc., of family and community on that experience

(8) prevailing socio-cultural context of child caring goals, practices, attitudes

(9) availability and use of research on situation and moderate low high needs of young children

(10) Available evidence Dncern- ing ,:hort and long term moderate leW Moderate eff-cts of various early childhood pr( grams

(11) Implicit and explicir chdnging from preparaLton for from consumj of purpose of preschool consumption to first grade tlon to investmont education investment on crient ition; prvnara' preparation tion for first tirade fol. first qi ide

(12) Existence or lack of broad gu!dollues noue cle,irly identifiable young child policy

1 3 1'1O

slAffra,maam111111,711M01111111M1011.1...... Figure 1 page 3

Country Colombia Variable Chile Bolivia

(13) Historical pat*----n of recent history development c .arty long history recent history childhood education

provision of not clear vary by program, but (14) Specific goals of cu- -ent centered on concept early childhood programs "integral attention" preparation of chil- of "integral attention dren for first grade

(15) Content and extent of short range plans (long range plans none plans for early child- medium range plans hood education; nature in discussion) of planning process

centralized, in the centralized, in decentralized, in the (16) Locus of administrative public and private coLtrol of action on public sector the public sector sectors behalf of young children

centralized, public ar (17) TOCIIS of financial control centralized, publici centralized, public semi-,1 )rivate of action on behalf of and semi-private 1 young children

9.4 7.9 5 (18) Proportion of young child 10-20% low SFAS population currently receiv- l!')-50 % low SES (no data) ing services; socio-economic breakdown of this population

1 .1 2 14 1 Figure 1 page 4 ...../a Country Variable Chile Bolivia Colombia

(19) Public-private breakdown of public -0 81 % public - 75% public - 31% current preschool enrollment; private 19 %; private - 25%; private 69 %; role of private preschool in small role private small role private large role private meeting young child needs preschools preschools preschools

(20) The level of activity and priority concerns of inter- slight none moderate national agencies working in a country

(21) Level and kinds of involvement for para-professionals slight slight slight and parents in formal and non-formal programs

(22) Availability of human resources to develop early child- high low high hood programs.

(23) Extent of current early child- fairly widespread limited widespread in urban hood education influstructurc !areas

(24) The type of curricula already developed and/or potentially available to be used ,--- ''t r (25) Influence of early interven- qtrong, well limited moderate tion activities going on i:1 developed other secf)rs

(26) Professional background and training of those making decisions

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AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

In the following pages,the numbers in parenthesis after the bibliographic entriesrefer to the following categories:

and priority needs of 1) Studies on the situation young chlldren indeveloping countries. investment in 2) Studies on the rationale for early intervention indeveloping countries efforts currently 3) Studies on early intervention underway in Latin America,chiefly education?,1. and trends in 4) Studies examining broad progress early intervntion in NorthAmerica and other areas, relevant toLatin America.

1 4',-

127 Bernard van Leer Foundation. Advisory mission to Colombia on Early ChildhoodEducation. The iia?,u0, Netherlands, 1976. (3)

After providing a backgroundof Foundation activities in early ceildhood education indeveloping countries, and discust,ing some broadtheoretical issues relating to early intervention programs,the report reviews the potential and constraintsof "Lev 27",-ColOmnia's Law mandating the creationof a nationalsysteMof Integral Care Centers. A plea is made forflexible interpretation of the Law, inorder to better meet needs in varying circumstances,and a warning is provided against under-emphasizingthe educational element of the plannedingral careprocram.

Berrueta-Clement, J; Angel, B. de;Christiansen, N.; Labrador, L.; Mora, J.G.; Navarro,L. de; Ortiz, N.;. Vuori, L., Herrera, M-.G. A home-visit-based parent-infant interaction programfor children of urban low income familiesin Bogot5, Colombia: Description of the programand some resultsfrom the first year of child life. Bogota.: Institute Colom- biano de BienestarFamiliar-Harvard Universit: Research Project, 1977.(Draft Report)

This report describespartial results of anongDing longitudinal study of theeffects of various combinations (psycho-educational,nutritional, health), lengths, and timingof intervention with 456 families in Bogotawith social situationsputting young children atrisk of malnutrition. ine educational comronent consistsof a weekly home visitor who works withfamily members on theirstyle of interaction with andobservation of the infant, with the aim of developing incare-takers, behaviors and attitudes conducive to theinfant's intellectual and physical growth.

Study children wereselected before birth from mothers in the secondtrimester of pregnancy, :ho had already malnourished youngchildren. The nutritional supplement goes to the pregnantmothers, and then to the rest of thefamily.

Early results indicate thatboth nutritional su=le- mentation and infant stimulationhave significant effects on infants' cognitivedevelopment, with the former tending to have moreeffect on motor development. Birch, H.G., Malnutrition, Learning and Intelligence. American Journal of Public Health, 62, 6, 773-793, 1972.

The author analyzes the (causes and) effects of nutritional and related environmental factors onthe cognitive functioning of young children from populations at risk of malnutrition. The author demonstrates the difficulty of identifying causes for poor intellectual functioning usingretrospective (follow-up) techniques for studying malnourished children.

Also analyzed are the inter-generational effectsof poor nutrition--women at risk as youngchildren are far more likely to have children at risk or actually suffering from malnutrition. Final the author warns of the danger of over- simpli.J.cation when analyzing the effects of environmental influences on the intellectualdevelop- ment of the child. It is a complex of interacting factors that affect early development.

Brazelton, T.B. Implications of Infant Development AIrona The Mayan Indians of mexico. Human Development 15, 90-111, 1972. The author examined the development ofinfants of the Zinacanteco, highland Mayan Indiansof southeastern Mexico. He used qualitative and quantitative measures to observe physical growth, central nervoussystem development, cognitive development, andchildrearing behavior of the mothers, beginning with theprenatal period. The author found that although the environment poses physical hazards to the childthere wasevidence of subclinical malnutrition, frequentinfectJn and hypotic effects (due to altitude)-- theinfants of the Zinacanteco develop in a parallelfashion to U.S. infants in the motor, intellectual andsocial areas (though about one month delayed) He suggests that childrearing techniques, and the children'sorganisms, have adopted to environmental demands. Young children's behavior, characterized by conformity andunquestioning fulfillment of roles, was a functional response necessary for survival in thatmilieu.

Implications are that particular child-rearing strategies and competencies in infantsdevelop as a response to environmental demands.

149 129 2::onfenbrenner, Urie. Is EarlyIntervention Effective? Teacher's College Record. 76, 2, 279-303, 1974.

The author analyzes thefindings from selected early intervention programs that haveavailable follow up data on trends after terminationof intervention and also data on a matched control group. Seven projects are analyzed,including center and home based,infant and preschool programs. The highlights of the findings of these projects are discussed,and the author attempts to put the findingstogether in a series of recommendations scattered through thereport, including support for the idea of"massive ecological intervention"-- The author finds the family asthe most economical and effective system"for sustaining the child's development", thus indicatingintegral parental involvement as a key to program success.

Loncitudinal Studies Brozek, J., Coursin, D.B.;Read, M.S. of Malnutrition,Nutritional Supplemen- on the Effects Bulletin of the tation, and BehavioralStimulation. 11,3, 237-249, 1'77. Pan American HealthOrganization. available data from sixlongitudinal The authors review looking at the studies ongoing orrecently completed, of effects oi variouscombinations and lengths intervention on the mentaland physicaldevelopment of young children atrisk of, or sufferingfrom, been undertaken by malnutrition. The studies have Institrte of FamilyWelfare in (1) the Colombian Research Station Bogota, Colombia;(2) the Human Ecology (3) the Instituteof Nutrition of in Cali, Colombia; Guatemala; Central America and Panamain Guatemala City, Mexico City, (4) the NationalInstitute of Nutrition, (5) the Children'sHospital, Mexican Institute Mexico; Colombia of Child Welfare,Mexico City; and (6) University School ofPublic Health, NewYork City. analyzed, but Data on theprojects is still being indicate that bothnutritional preliminary findings have supplementation andpsycLo-educational stimulation behavioral effects lastir- upto 3-4 years after termination of intervention. Nutritional supplemen- the infant. tation of the motheraffects birthweight of Effects very based ontiming and length ofintervention.

130 11- and Chi _ ter 197-- , of EdceLacn,e:York, 1.,;.W. 1\er`._, , the effects s: The author revie--:the cvidencc on entid. poverty ce thedevelopent of the wing majority cf theevidence exa,rlined isfrem tnh:, States, bot teere aree number ofstudies frb- The autnor argu' develcy:hg countriesmentioned_ effect on teedevelc.---nt that povert,i h- a harmful acilitle:, and onnotivhtieh of various coqui poverty C7211C7- g,Jal seeking,paicularly wcien this ment is compared tothe middle classen'r2roement. There is a briefdiscussion of tee"context-fre"- -?xt-sensitive asrectsof a-v.elb-:-)-eet universal and col cisceses early 2n the youngchild. Also, the author jn terms ofinculcation into childhood intervention effect,ve'y poor childrenskills tha -dill enable them which lead to theirnoverty. to change he environments The Rationalefor Early Bettye. Sems'er, -xcer,tional Children, Ynune Cnilcren. i970. The aa. ea reviewsthe literatureoffense children. for intezvention inthe lives of young She identifies twoclasses ofrationale-ieferentidl e. animal studies and empirical-amongwhich are (1) the behavioral effects ofearl: ex7eiiDece, dealing with the (2) tee particularly theeffects of denrivatioe; develoomantal studiesof children compF.,:ative and (3) the major reared indifferent env_ronments; of the role ofexperience in conceptual analyses _hd Hunt); and development (e.a.,the work of Bloom efforts. (4) -ctual studiesof intervention is presented aulnst A tnouhtful warning and teen the potential effectsof early interven:,ce, bersg judged onthose Promises.

Edecaci,ne No-Forlal/Fuedsicifh Le-,tro delDesarrollo do la # (1) Desa- pare laEducaci6n. Permaneete anColombia. rrollo infantil yeciacacion no-formal: Di4a; un estedlopilot°.(2) Desarrolna\de progreso de ninos do u-24 mese-, atrays un modelo no forma1_ ennutrici6n, led y estimulacin. Bogota, 1977. proect an -r-tion of e on-f=a1 ecucation berries, see''..,nq todetermine tee ciffectivenss of a programof parent eh 15j stimulation, nutrition,and health of iant.:, The esdel uses groupmeetings, bornevisits, months. mothers to a: mass m,,:dia totry to motivate intellectual and physicalgrowth. A ticir infant' results the,far, mi( point evaluation,citing mixed

1 1'41 ,s de:3cr, bed .

rjt Centro de v Deirrollodo la Ed'ic,t(-1_ (1)Infcl-oF (CIDE) . Proy.cte ' -,nve:,tjec::c_._n en (2) Prosentacinre5umiri (3) acci6n en el irerural Limach y San Santiago, Chile, 1976.

A report of a parenteducation project in arural to fet,ter the area of certralCnile whose purpose is intellectual and physicaldevelopment of yoang rural to develop inthe children. Specific object_ives are parents, in particularthe mother, skillsfor conducive to stimulating the youngchild, attitudes atmospnere forchildrearing, and creating a heal' benalf of motivation to act ontheir environment on The project, oncroing, usesthe primary their children. The work with school teacher as parent educator. venerating themes parents revolvesaround certain child's developmentalneeds. concerning the young in There are bothexperimental ..11,1 control grnnps and c.):- she parent:, the project. Evaluation of children control croups isdone before, durirc in treatment and Inteilicence and after to cproject, usInuthe Weschler for a populationof urban Chilean Scale standardized the Chancjes in behaviorsand attitudes of children _JrLon- mothers are to be7,easurcd by a structureU c naire developed bythe project team.

Licordre, Elsa. TheEffect of Mel Craviato, Joaquin; De --1 nutrition on 111-.2Indlvidual. In A. B,-rg, N. Mitration, nationalDevelop- and D. Call (editors) , (1) ment and Planning,Camloridge. MIT Press,.1(17.

This study e}.rinihesthe effects ofmalnutrition, inUivdu,:41 particular protein caloriemalnutritior, on the interdctioh (early) humand2velopment, and al_ of malnutritionwith en,:ironmental the of frctors. Particularly valuable is malnutrltion on learningand intellectual the effect of loss of development. Malnutrition is shown to cause critical developmentalpriods, learning time during Since and also motivationaland personalicvchances. children particularly malnutrition affects y(unc; in and since the majorityof young children harshly this developing countriess_:ffer from malnutrition, study provides an ITI-ortant conceptualba9i,', for planning of earlyin'er-,-,_:ntion activities.

1 32 Zard;nes Infahtiles, Plaza Yundasin de (Pro-c: Dircpur: Santiago deChile, 1977 Di. Sam_elNate;,=!cn). Descrintion of aprogram in oneof Santio' socio-conomic status barriadas for 'ow used children 2-5 yearsold. The program provide a programof dlrected professionals no low cost educatIonal activit,s, in and free a.led land isthe centers built oncentrally ens inthe program barriada. There were 88 se moor tests ofpsycholoc;ical and and pre ard post children development wereconducted on the involved (200)and a controlgro_lt). and Brunetscale; The tests useu werethe L'_!zino development for the2-4 year old of psychomotor intelligence test groups, andthe StanfordBine,: aid group. The onlysignificant for the 4-6 year reported arebetween differences in testscore., group scores forthe treats pre and posu test exp,e=ental scoresfor and post-tes'control and the 4-6 yearold group.

on Germani, Celia,Edu-acin Prers,ner for Studios inEaucar.ion and Cambridge: Center 1973. Development,Harvard Universit, trend., reviews historicaland present This study Latlh America unto the in p_eschooleaacation in An exainationof historical early seventies. principally influencles on currentdevelopments-- steps in tne influences-- ismade, and four European throughout LatinAmLrico are evolution of programs (throuah law and Current policies Bfazil, described. described, with casestudies on programs are Specially emphasisedis the Chile, Cubaand Peru. arscnn ware:sal for developmentof nroarams urgent need Rec=endations aremade urcanpopulations. develorment, concerning variousaspects of program need for diversi'vwithin s:untries, including the sod orn:ariz. and the dangerof

153 133 Childrr,n: Product4vitv Grawe, Roger, Abilitiesin Presc!.00l Effects and FamilyEnviron7ental Deterinancs, Staff v';orkina Paper,1977. Washington D.C., 'v;orLd Bank This study deals withthree issues: the principal deteriination of adult earnings,in particular the family influence of ability onadult earning; the children related determinantsof ability in young mother's education,birth order); and (e.g. income, and international the implicationsof United States findings on earlyintervention ecfectiveness. that: methodological problems The author concludes shown to not withstanding,cognitive ability is role in determiningadult earnings, play a significant ability to take especially throuchits influence on significant family related advantage of schooling; ability are influences ondevelopment of (cognitive) family income, andfamily mother's education, to offer demographic factors;andwhile it is too early effectiveness of earlyinter- any conclusionson the vention in develops nucountries, certain programs-- Education Project- such as the Punoi,on-forma'. Early provide examples ofpromising approaches. lack of d':ta (forpolicy makers) on There is a serious countries, intervention programeffec in the develooln(_3 be a priority. and research inthis area should

A. (editors). Protecting the Preschool Gyorgv, P.; Burgess, London: TavistocK Child: Procrams in Practices,. Publications, 19E5.

National Develoo- Halpern, R., EarlyChildhood ECI:cation and Initial Education InPerz]. ment: A Case St.:dv of Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State UniersitY, unpublished Ph.D.dissertation, 1977. childhood edu- The author examinesthe national early developed by Per as part ofthat cation program of country's educationalreform. Important components goals, administration,teacher training, the program-- planning and curriculum, materialsand facilities, evaluation-- are desc bed, and theirfunctioning that the authorview, analyzed. Program elements central to theprogram's futuredevelopment are These include parentparticipation, con- discussed. and formal activities,intersectoral coordination, mobilization of supportfor the pr..iram. Also

134 a case stu,dof included as one ofthe apn,endices is developrid in therural ni_gn'an4 a non-formalbrograid Per11, sane of wnoaeaspects are department of Pun:.', ceintr_Ls. potentially replicablein otner Andean prooram's ability to The author suggeststhat the children in PerC1most in need of reach those young orunwillingness services has beenInindered by inability and flexibl,,,adinis- to seek outnon-formal strategies in a conducive to functioning trative patterns more resources,and context such asPeril's (i.e. scarce cultural-linguistic diversity of livingconditions and patterns).

the Cen+-rs: Tneir E,asls in Hunt, J. McV.,Parent and Child Educational Sciences. In J. Frost Behavioral and education. Yew (editor), Revisitingearly cni3dnood and Winston,1973. York: Holt, Rinehart, the rationalein social science The author reviews - theory for earlyintervention in tne research and bias toward tne with an em-Jnasison and United States, less competent on literature findingthe poor as of variouscognitive abilities mainstream measures finding the poorccripet.s_nt (rather than onthose studies The or "culturallydifferent"). in different areas, clear explanationof value of thearticle is in the intervention offeredby the the rationalefor early the poor as lesscompetent from t'-le school viewing argument used bymost early non-poor. It is the same interventionists in thedeveloping countries. interventionists as Competence isdefined by these and standardsof conduct abilities, motivations, success within required foracademic and occupation increasinglytechnological cultures.

Subtr.opics and Infant Nutritionin tb.. ,, Jelliffe, D., Organization, 1.68. Tropics. Geneva: World Healtn problems of youngchildren in the The rs!tritional The authordescribes developing countries areanalyzed. for infant feeding the socialand ecological bases for programs practices, and somegeneral considerations Must valuable aretne annexes of nutritioneducation. specific actionstnat can be take which describe of youngchildren deal with thenutritional problems in the developingcountries.

155 Jencks, Christopher. Ineualitv: Irlass-esTent of the Effect of the and Scnooln: 'p Basic Boor-_s, 1372. (2; 1111-rica. Nei York: base, and caL-hr,ring Using the Colemanreport as a data additional data, Jencksand colleauu,,s some of their own various variables analyze the interactionand effects of and achievement. Both school and on adult competence With respect tothe nonschool x,arlables are With former, inequality inutillzation are examined. and environmental respect to thelatter both genetic influences are examined. report to anexamination of the The value of this children in situation and interventionneeds of young is the broad patternof findings developing countries influence on adult about factors thathave relatively ntre In particular,Jencks and colleague,: competence factors have a greater find that theearly, nonschool t:e influence on adult competenceand acniever,eht t_an They also suggestthat educ tionL1 later school factors. brcaK intervention per seatany level,doss little to patterns of sock-economic down inter-generat)_cnal inequality.

R., Cross-r-ul-u.-:al Kagan, J., Klein, 2s, II, Development. American PSVc.CLqLST_ 1973. level of cognitive Based on data onthe profile and highland Guatemalanand L7ericaa abilities in rural f:rst children gathered at variouspoints duri.m.g toe of ac;,i,tne year of life,and then at 10-11 years (1) retardation inthe emer3e-.ceof authors find that infa:.!: (found universal cognitivecompetences during infants), is notpredictive of latE2r in the Guatemalan t:.0 deficits in cognitivefunctioning. They posit resiliency of cognitivedevelo-o.neat: concept of lead to deficit deprivation in theearly years does not of co7nitlye in laterfunctioning; rather the onset delayed. Ex-Jerimental taL,ors abilities is simply itself of influence time of emergencebut not emergence of the authors' cognitive abilities. The implications interver-tion are that(1) en.viron- findings for early reversible, and (2) mentally producedretardation is contexts lead toParticular particular socio-cultural natterns of developmentin trio early years.

136 National Planning Kalakdina, Margaret, Critical issues in 25, 50-61, 1974. (4) for Children. Assignment Children. The authoi develops asche,me for planningthe development of earlychildhood reoglaz-,-. Particularly valuable Is an anal sisof what should beccnsidired when developing such programs,and the various factors that interact inprogracm development.

New haven Kessen, William (editor), Childhord in China. Yale University Press,1975. (4) This is the report of tneVisit to China by an. childhood American delegationspecializing on early There are articles onthe Chinese family, development. China, and preschools and otherforms of child care in factors. Perhaps the principal health ur-1 nutritional with wlue of In_F; hookis the pot trait of a country and professionallytrained human scarce financial of early resources committingitself to the provision childhood services tomillions of vouncchildren. Described clearly is theclose fit .Jetweenthe kinds child care andeducation and the and goals of early political goals of China as asociety. The economic and of early childhood servicesare motives for provision join the work- also described(e.g. freeing women to revealing component ofthe study is force) . Another of young children the power ofcollective socialization through the preschools.

irn: Pay Care in Leiner, Marvin. Children arc tJe ReYo Cul,a, New York:Viking, 1974.

Cross-cultural View. Levine, Robert. Parental Co,lis: Teacher's College Record76,2,226-239, 1974. values and The authordemonstrates that parental behaviors with respect tochildrearing areinevitably environmental stresses and a functionof particular threats to the youngchild's well-being. Although particular behaviors maybe damaging to the young pattern is invariablyfunctional child, the general him or her for for protectingthe child and preparing competent adultfunction ng in thatenvironment. that early childhoodinterventionists The implicat,on is the reasonsfor must be cognizantof and sensitive to especially ars one ofthe go is of parental behaviors, these behavitkrs. early intervention isoften to modify

1 137 5I Experimental deEsti-_1,,,c1:5n (1) Prourama dr:17.a Magluf,AlegrIa. de tosPueblos J5-enes para Ntnosde 5 Anos :prendiz ,'2); Inmadunsz Ce aueEvidencian Ampliacian delProg_ma Continuacion v E7idencian (2) Pueblos Jovenesaue paraNihos de Lima, Per:1: el APrendizaie(1974). Inmadurez cara Direoturate ofBasic Re-4ular Ministry ofEducation, and InitialEducation. studies report on anexperimental rrogram These two Education Centersin carried out inselected Initial marginal urban Jovenes (shantytowns) and the Pueblos and control croups Lima. The experimental zones of who hpdde:.-onstrat:::d consisted of 5 yearold cnildren and low I.Q. scoreson a intellectual immaturity both studieswent battery of tests. Treatment for and 1974, andconsisted from May toNovember it 1972 individualized attentionand a special of regular c.-.11Cren continuedastendin; curiculum. The control regular I.E.classes. administered tobot croups Pre- and post-testswere consisting of abattery of tests of children, aspects ofintellectualde7e1cpa-ent. measuring various significantly largerMav to Results demonstrated =red wiFh for excerilanPaicnildr,=.,1 as rent November gains toe testDatte-:. control childrenin scores on would be consisted ofattenti.:1 that The treatment to offer on a1P-ger extremely difficult financial and humanresources given Pertl's scarce the earlychildnood area.

t:,2 C'nild forMod:_rnization: Mandl, P. E.,Preparation of Geneva: UnitLd intellectualleculrE7-ea7s. Skills and SociaA_ Develcp_nn-L. Nations ResearcnInstitute for traditionalc:ild-r-,,aring The aathorsuggests that are notpre:Jarihg practices andsocialization patterns child in developingcountries for the young urbanizing societies. Tne demands ofmodernizing, reculre7lents, skills, motorabilities,intellectual orintacions thatprepare younc and affective rural environ- children for successin traditiona, not the situations of urban tJvertv, are ments, or for success informal same asthose necessary orvocational work.

138 H.; Llorc.da, P. McKay, H.; Sinisterra,L.; McKay, A.; GOmez, Cognitive Growth inColombian MalnourishedPreschoolers. Station, 1977. Cali, Colombia: Human Ecology Research

A report on theresults of an experimentalmultiple intervention program inCali, Colombia amonglow SES malnutrition. preschool childrensuffering mild to moderate Different combinations ofintervention (nutritional, psycho-educational, healthcontrol) were given for different lengths of time. The program began the The interventions when thechild was 3 years of age. total treatment period was3 years.

The authors found thatafter 3 years thecomprehensive treatment group (psychoeducational stimulation, nutritional supplementation,health control) had cognitive gains inrelation to manifested significant and a low the nutrition andhealth treatment groups control group. In a recent follow- SES well-nourished of gains up uo report theauthors report persistence to 2 years of acze.

Early Childhood Experienceand Later Mead, Margaret. Diamond. Education in ComplexCal:ures. In M. Wax, S. Perspectives and F. Gearing(editors), Antnropological on Education, New York EasicBooks 1971.

The author analyzes, attheoretical and case study _-er the long termof particular levels, the effect by patterns of earlycialization and education parental parents and community. She suggests that sets of abilitiesand emphases on particular thinking, and orientations towardliteracy, abstract language learning, have apowerful effect on the of formal child's later abilityto take advantage preschool children in schooling. She suggests that particular groups witnin anysociety "may be learning ways of dealingwith life that areradically opposed to the expectations anwhich the school --,'tem is built."

Preescolar en el Mundo. Mialaret, Gaston. La Educaci6n Paris: UNESCO, 1976(also in English). (4) This study is a broadreview of the stateof early childhood education inthe world. Questionnaires were sent out to alarge number ofcountries,70 were prevalent educationalphilosophies are answered. and examined, varietiesin objectives, methods, materials, kinds andlevels of parent andcommunity involvement, kinds and agesof childrenattending, Little attention and potentialfutures are examined. is paid tononformal type activities. 159 Ministerio de Educacion(Chile) . (1) Ant?.provecto Integ,-al, 1976. (2) Prove. to se Centro de Atencion 1977 . Jardines Infantiles:Extr,eto del Preeee, Santiago, Chile. (3) describe Chile's programof These two documents begun in Centers of IntecralCare, a national program that will provideearly childnood 1976 in pilot form, living services to urbanchildren 2-6 years of age It will be run bLthe Junta in extreme poverty. supposed to Nacional de JardinesInfantiles, and is eventually reach140,000 children.

Rodriguez, Soledad; Lira,M. Isabel; Montenegro, Hernan; Programa Pilot° Haeussler, Isabel M.;Bralic, Sonia. de Nivel Socio- de EstimulaciOnPrecoz para Nil-Ms economic° Salo entre 0 v2 aflos: Inferme de Salud, 19,77. Santiago, Chile:Servicio Nacional project directed This is the finalreport on a pilot Montenegro andcolleagees of Chile's by Dr. Hernan the rrogram Service. The purpose of National Health based trainingfor was to analyzethe effects of home status mothers inearly stimulation low socio-economic of the of infants on thepsychosocial development and control groups infants. Mothers in the treatment at random from amongpregnant womenvisiting were chosen slum. National Health Serviceclinics in a Santiago bi-weekly home visitsby specially The treatment was Manuals weredeveloped trained para-professionalnurses. for each of thefirst 24 mcntns of for the mothers to life, eontainingsituations and approaches infant's psycho-socialand physIca1 stimulating the no some development, guidlines onchild care, etc. the use of sse visits were usedfor inetruction in manual. differences in psychologicaltsst scores Sir :_ficant trea:_men' aroJL)s oc the infantsbetween control and at 3 months, andbecame statisricallv egan to appear tentativelv significant at around12 months. The authors treatment did havesignificant conclude that the of the positive effects cnintellectual development in'ants involved.

Ootimos doInterw,n_ion en a Mora, J.0., Periodos In Se:-,Lnario Alto Riesgo deRetardo en elDt1:5arrollo. Estimulaclon Psico-SocialPreco2 Internacional sobre of a conference del Lactante yPreescolar, proceediegs held in Santiago,Chile, November 1977. I io This report p-eserts a broad reviewof the theoretical bases and practicalconsiderations wlen respect to early irhervention orcerars. A! se diseued are selected current interventi_eeifoits 1.n Latin %:_ _'rites_..

The author describes threebroad categories of hicih, risk in infants and youngenildren-- tablisiad rI,K, biological risk, and eni,irenmentalrisk-- and sugge-its the kinds cf early interventionapprortate for eacn c the three categories. Also discussed aie tre outimem period of intervention, whichdepends on the kind or risk the young child issubject to, intervention aimed at the causal factorsplacing the young child at ris, and potential effects ofintervention. A brief discussion of intervention programs inCall, Colombia, Guatemala, and the United Statesis offered, and sore comments on cost-effectivenessof early interventisn programs are offered.

Morley, David, Pediatric Prioritic=. 'en World. Lond-,n: Butterertes,

An examination of priorityproblems and necesary services in child nealth intne deelobingcountriee. It includes a discassionof :ealie,f,- and attitudes and towards child-rearing anddesease, a descripteon discussion of "at risk"children, clinical manifestations of various problems,and home-based care and record keepinc4. This study cent insinformation essential to anyone planningearly intervention programs in any sector inthe developing countries.

Nordberg, 0.; Phillips, P.;and Sterky, G. (edil)rs). Action for Childrel: OptIm.).-r Package !in 1,frica. uzensaie: 'i'._ Foundation, 1975. (i, 2) Although basically an examinationof tte problems and needs of youngchildren in developing countries, this study alsopresents a clear argument for the interrelatedr-ssof young children'sproblems in developingcountries, and tne need to act preventively in all sbneres. An underlying themeis economic and social wastethat occur:, in developing countries when investment in youngchildren is not made. The authors establish the cijld as tee basis for young child plannimi rather indr. a pareicular problem or need. The ne for integrated services is argued.-

141 Di,apeei=esed._ Nureombe Barry, Ch'jOren of the Eait-West Center,Culture Leatnin,T hawaii: 1976. (4) Institute, Universityof haaii, pr:yid-s a clear, thc,i7_,'htcl oy,-711n,,,tlon The author early ch,ldhood beliefs aboutthe nature of of various approaches toearly inter- deprivation, and various develcbment A conceptualframework for the vention. children isdevelued, from a of competencein young position. The author also cultural relativist program forrural de.. Bribes anearly intervention Austzalia, usingthis case aE, a Aborigine children in intervention. basis for discussingthe ethics of

(ODEPLAN); BancoInter- Oficina dePlanificaciOn Nacional Atencinn Integral a americana deDesarrollo Santiago, 1977. Menores en ExtremaPobreza Urbana. that examinesthe grsals, This is afeasibility study and potentialcosts ofChile's potential benefits, Integral Care;Centros national programof Centers of Integral) for youngchildren in urban de Atencian an analysisof the size poverty. Also included is of the potentialprogram target and location children) using as abasis the population (Young Poverty", developedby Chile's "Map of E:-:treme outlining the n=berand lc;,--.ion Catholic Unive-sitv, of Chile'spoverty population. analysis forthe Formulefor carryingoutcost-benefit pilot stages) arclaid out, progra_(still in its day versus full including costsand benefitsof 1-1.1f. benefits to childrenthrough higher day programs, benefits and economicac'sievemenc, future cognitive of time towork outside to mothersthrough liberatisor future refits to societythrough increased the home, be_ etc. Costs of productivity ofcnildren p,,,rt,cica,--ing, percentaces ofthe voingchild reaching various .r` in borty(e,timated to be uopula-:_ion livingin cYtrerle 220,030) arealso inclu2,3.

Cuidade U' eric Maria de. Hgeare-: de Mentesinos, Ana =h11(1,-en 3E, 27-9"), enVenerula. Assiunm.nt describes a home carecregram forworking The author by theChildren's mothers inVenezuela, imAlemented Nino). A group ofvolunteer Foundation(FundaciC,n del day in for 5 childreneach during the mothers care nutritional andnealth their home:3,r_,roviding basic nurses and the assistanceof a team of care (with provided by theFoundation. . resources doctors), wi- apparently beingprovided Educationalstisaulation is trained by a from the communities, by young wnmen woo spendfree hours supervisingkindergarten teacher, providing care. The in the homesof toe mothers P32 program is runningin barrios of Caracasand in other areas of the country.

1,71

anA Pollitt, Ernesto, On the Timing of Psychoeducattohal ietervehtice. In Seminario intrr- nacional soure EstimulacionPsico-Social Prz,coz del Lactante y Preescolar,proceedings of a conference held in Santiago, Chile,No,rember, 1977. differences The author argues thatthere may be important vulnerability of the human in the sensitivity and effects organism to adverse orbeneficial environmental and at various times duringthe prenatal, infancY, of various early childhood years, t: at the effects interventions may thus ;)emaxi7:Lzed or minicid depending on when they a-eartlied and towardswhich teat at different abilities. It 13 demon; developmental stages in seeearly years different "psychological demons tons_nteracU with theenviren- meet"- ter, author analyzesruifiElt, To apply his argument the intervention pros. canes inBocot, Gua±emala, and tneorefieul and pyoram United States. As a result of tentatively concl4des evidence tne author liely to psycho-educational interventionsare r'ore '.hen applied late- du= ice have beneficial effects of life, and the second ratherthan the first year when continued over aiier,od of tine. Loec-rtudinal findings reveal a consistent"wasn out" efferi in toss studies.

4- 'n. C',' Puffer, R.R.; Serrano,C.V., Pattern, hood. Washington, D.C. Pan-Am_,ri-ah Scientific Publication No22, o' the inter-Ameri-aninyesti- This is the final report f,eld kgation of Mortality inChildhood, a combrev.en=:ve study of the causesof youn<7 C2111 death in Nontn, Central and South America. :particularly relevant are the findings as to thesocial bases of nice_in'aht mother's education,availanslity of health mortality: finding and other social services,etc. A signf'cant of hutritinnal J.e:icir,ncvas an is the centrality content of underlying or associatee cau3r;n over young child:deaths in tea America7, Richardson, S.; birch,H.; Hertzig, M.,School_P-,-r-formanee Were SeverleNalnourished ln TnfTr7cj-. of Children Who 77, 622-632, American Journal ofMental Deficiencies. 1973.

Conseouences of Formal Scribner, S.; Cole,M., Counftive Science 182, 553-559,1973- and InfernalEducation. of their ownfield work in Based on the findings the authors Africa, and evidencefrom other countries, value system, dominan'- suggest that theknowledge base, and functionallearning system of learning situations, with those ,f the school (formal) areoften in conflict The demands of the home and community(informal) . the child arediscontinuous with formal schooling on unreasonable to those of every daylife, and "it seems children to copesuccessfully" with expect masses of have important the demands ofschooling. These findings implications for thosecontemplating earlyintervention countries, particularlyas these in the developing contact with thefornal programs arethe child's first learning system.

Preschool Ace Investmentin Selow,ky, Marcelo, A Note on Developing Countries. Economic Human Capital in 24,4, 707-721,1976. Development andCelterel Change. develops an areementfor greaterinvestment The author the assumption in early interventionprograms based on abilities andpotentialities whenhe that tee ,a_d's factors in enters school arethe most influential determining how wellhe will be ableto take adwantage his eventualadult of the schoolenvironment, and thus eauatipn representing achievement. He develops on production of coanitieand non-cognitiveperformance which he demonstratesthe influence at adult aqu, in and later adult of early factors onscnool achievement analyzes thecomponents of abilities. The author also schooi by youngchildren, and ability brought to amenable demonstrates that atleast some of them are to early intervention.

The Economicsof Mal- Selowsky, Marcelo;Taylor, Lance. in A Example of Disinvestment nourished Cheldrcn: and Cultural Human Capital. Economic Development Change 22, 1,17-31, 1n73. the potentleladult earnings The authors examine life under profiles of Chileanchildren beginning They find that various environmentalconditions. malnourished children arelikely to earnconsiderably than well nourishedchildren from less over the years decreasing similar environmentalbackgrounds (thus

A A ry) f ihr..cj--;are LoYr-initi.11 a.tility due to al-- a:;i_lity to ta.:e in tne idcae: t_. r_iffec.:tis ofearly The al.it:-,or:7i.;ro.-i,o.3e that:_tiltir_e young ci-ildr:inis a form ot7 re f-cnliation in

(edit-_-_;,'). The Nee-lc a-i toFree Prass,L53. (I) of nt r :lough the heeds o:ittlinc,1 inthe stukiiv nave _ of the study is a 11 . 7..ne fi rat second cartont_ains T rf Social! nutr tion:11, Dar: three an and sti fact that infnat rtait 7 r. -d are act ohiy r, net .,.c,,i-sehed =

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>17 1 ;: .f I' tr evidence on c: Syr,;-,_21---'. c(-triLltin-_-T tore-dasnrcceoien cc t ' i in IC 000 t- ace more. 17.0 toro rY3 a-hieve:e:_-_ In oar in, finds :het "ear:- fcc

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plaL-ing progra-s f'cr th= ar presert,i1. slrong and clear ar.j.im,in- for greater- Inve5, in 77,eetln-7 coildrer_'s ic t.rc,ug :a, , , = Th- importa- e of coordinatedn:t1--,nal

tnifyino AT_'proac!o: "lahning for o.:-' 1c en. Assignh,eht Chil-:en 14, 17-27, 297_

The author discuss(_1 to -ip-aedimeot-, to integrated planning and programming for youngchildren in developing countric-,, and toe urgent neces:::1tvof integrated planning and programming, given the soereeresources allocated to meeting young children'sneed:.

Isolated actions, according to theanther, do provide a solid basis for long termsocial devcIctil,lent, based on provision of service to the most disenfranct.ized. As the author writes in and problems we stress the linkage-,; hat 4hch we act, weact in isolted hi anj pieces.

S:--ilanskv, M. p=rior_: ,-1 andCorr'_ ions . Aa W-r:c We) r 4 .

The aith9r iav1ewa cv:_deh'_a -a i cogn_Lt_,VC efles cfe_triy ihterv,-nt_lon the Usi ted Staten, anH, fi,,dsthat col 'ithose u_si, with very scihisticated and brought about signi:lc_ot in on claillre involved, and even in taes- progr-ims ccato, fade 2-11 1,e3rs t:i-rinatIon of More promise of saster-teof heia w.th proar_r-s i.ar,ant it Integra: rale (generally iii_Ju.2rL). The ,iut- _r flnL. not addresT: L.ne long tr,rr:; ,)r "1, r t -41116.111

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41 s,- Chi I dr, 7.-1'."1. Adnlo :c, n to rt Decade: Pf.1_,'rn is for PL.ors :nu ic_ien. - 1973. (1)

This report nrovido, an ot.111-Ir of ,r,o'lht,a1 act_10,-; on behalf of youn,g c*ildr,-7n to L and vir_ou, daning the s(4ventres. identifies prchle,T, and suagefts Loon to meet those prez)lcms. The rnport anos-ars to he a policy state:lent :;orKinj prn r..2ICEF. The YoJna Cnild: An; cocoon to .1,cion in the Develop:n7 Countries. New York, 1.9-4. (1) A report examining the ri-c faced 1-,v young children in developing countries, the cw-rent situation of these young cr-ldren, and roe kinds pf sc-iYices needed to ar,..si o scar: children's needs. A general c.std for 'icon: sucjgested.

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Countrie.=,. Pa; cr DrecLor . , York, 19 ,r,,

Too repe:t for actips the Fru-,71:-,a--r1 c, wclIch has hoe:;u3-.:;H,-' an , ny the U.fl. General Asserdol:. Thrs concept muon cnrrent U.N. act:on on hch,--lif of yo,:ng children anL mothers, and is gonra"y (1) ini.eqrat,_:, (2) coPi-, initietleh and ri-irt,cil)atIon in all actions; H; orison a,;eG o:ena-,t C no:: need, of laral

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Th:, sr::: sector,: and aocInh -2Tfart wun adopLed by rjiTc= partly :,:n ta tsn evo-la--ln; nrec nat_:te, of cl1dr,_h':: s nnd -1-o ner.a_,e in many 'devn-ot,ina ceuntr]_ ta-o redLi-.tsni or pr-ograma .7-or womoh.

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Particularly inter=1:3tIn:: a cc "or,_,strrs: the child", which rev,,ews 1;teratur, oh tne of ind,vicual socidlizatien and nocietol mnd.-rnLza-1011, 16-