Links to Early Learning Evaluation

dandolo was engaged by a philanthropic funder to undertake an independent evaluation of a program they had funded for the previous three years. The program connected families experiencing significant disadvantage with early childhood education and care services (ECEC), with a focus on identifying and overcoming barriers to enrolment and attendance. As part of the evaluation, dandolo consolidated, cleaned and analysed the data in their client register and tracked patterns in program engagement, barriers experienced, demographics, referral pathways and children’s enrolment and attendance in ECEC; interviewed program staff, ECEC centre directors involved in the program and referring agencies; reviewed the effectiveness and impact of the key stages in the program’s theory of change; and benchmarked their expenditure and enrolment rates against similar programs and estimated their return on investment. The evaluation was well received by the organisation and the funder.

‍