Whether you’re going from big to better or small to big, it’s necessary to spend a few cycles learning what you want to take to scale. This presentation looks at several of those cycles asking what is worth taking to scale. To look across program types and sites, we use a common measure – IDELA. It’s internal consistency and reliability is good and its structure shows four domains that contribute uniquely to an overarching domain you might call school readiness.

Our evidence for taking quality programs to scale for children ages 4-6 years suggests that:

1. The enabling environment: spans from policy to parents;
2. Duration of both the intervention and its impact merits consideration;
3. Optimal dosage must be understood alongside quality;
4. Need to investigate variation in participation of dosage;
5. Among delivery mechanisms tested to date, parenting programs hold promise for improving children’s development whether they have access to ECD centers or not.