Concurrent validity of scores from phone-based caregiver reports on early childhood development: Evidence from the Early Childhood Development Index 2030 implementation in Nepal

The Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) is a caregiver-reported tool designed to monitor progress toward Sustainable Development Goal target 4.2, which aims to ensure universal access to quality early childhood development (ECD), care, and pre-primary education to prepare children for primary education and inform national policies. Using the ECDI2030 through phone-based administration for remote data collection is expected to contribute to efficient evidence generation. However, the existing evidence for caregiver-reported ECD measures are exclusively drawn from studies on assessments through face-to-face interviews. We conducted a validation trial in Nepal, comparing randomly divided in-person and telephone interviews groups. The results support the concurrent validity of phone-based ECDI2030 scores for measuring ECD at a group level while highlighting administrative challenges specific to the phone-based method. This study contributes to the literature on ECD measurement and provides insights into the practical implications of different modes of data collection.