A Community-Based Participatory Approach to the Development, Validation, and Use of the Evaluation Capacity Needs Assessment (ECNA) for the Early Childhood Field

Building the evaluation capacity (EC) of individuals and organizations in early childhood and broader social-serving fields is key to enhancing their practices, programs, and policies and maximizing the impact of limited resources. While access to psychometrically valid tools for strengthening EC is growing, many existing tools were not developed specifically for early childhood. This paper details a community-based participatory approach to developing and validating the Evaluation Capacity Needs Assessment (ECNA) tool. Our work engaged a sample of 329 participants across diverse early childhood and social-serving organizations responsible for evaluation in a western province in Canada to ensure its relevance. We describe the two-phases involved in the development and validation process, including the exploratory three-factor models for individual and organizational EC measurement, scoring and interpretation. Practical guidance and case applications demonstrate the ECNA tool's value in informing evaluation capacity-building strategies in early childhood and beyond.