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Pilot Development and Preliminary Validation of a Holistic Early Childhood Development Scale for Ethiopian Children Aged 6 Years

Dereje D · 24 Jun 2026

Abstract

Abstract The holistic assessment of early childhood development, spanning social-emotional, cognitive, language, motor, and creative domains, is crucial for identifying strengths and needs. However, there is a need for culturally and contextually grounded instruments that capture this multidimensionality. This study describes the development and initial validation of the Early Childhood Holistic Development Scale (ECHDS), a 39-item teacher-report measure for preschool-aged children. A pilot test was conducted with a sample of 50 children. We assessed the instrument's internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), inter-item correlations, and underlying factor structure using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation. The ECHDS demonstrated acceptable overall internal consistency (α=.778). Subscales showed good to excellent reliability: Social-Emotional Competence (11 items, α=.892), Creative Arts (2 items, α = .800), Language and Literacy (6 items, α=.710), and Physical and Health Development (10 items, α=.855). The 10-item Cognitive and Environmental Awareness scale showed acceptable reliability for exploratory research (α=.644--.690). PCA revealed an 11-component solution explaining 77.33% of the total variance, with items loading meaningfully onto theoretically coherent factors. The ECHDS shows strong initial psychometric properties, including good reliability and evidence of construct validity. It is a promising tool for the holistic assessment of developmental competencies in early childhood. Further validation with larger and more diverse samples is recommended.