Thrive by Five Index 2024
The second round of South Africa’s largest survey of preschool child development, the Thrive by Five Index, will take place in 2024 and results will launch to the public in 2025. The 2024 Index will collect high-quality data that allow for reliable measurement and monitoring over time of key child development outcomes for a nationally and provincially representative sample of 5,200 4-year-old children enrolled in 1,300 early learning programmes (ELPs) in all 9 provinces; key child development outcomes for a test sample of approximately 540 4-year-old children who are not attending an ELP; and the characteristics of ELPs and homes that influence child development outcomes.
Expanding on the Measures used in 2021
The design of the 2024 Index is revised and expanded to measure additional factors that may influence development in the early years. For all assessed children, the 2024 Index will examine relationships between children’s learning outcomes and their nutritional status, social-emotional functioning, socio-economic status, caregiver characteristics, household stressors and learning activities that take place in the home
For the 5,200 children who are attending ELPs, the 2024 Index will also examine the relationships between children’s learning outcomes and –
- The amount of exposure they have had to the programme;
- Characteristics of the ELP, such as registration, infrastructure, and resourcing;
- Characteristics of the ELP leadership (through interviews with principals);
- Characteristics of their teacher / practitioners (through interviews with practitioners);
- The quality of the learning environment, including teacher-child interactions, educational materials, curriculum etc.
The South Africa Medical Research Council will partner with the 2024 Index team to test for lead and other metals in a sub-sample of ELPs because exposure to these substances can adversely affect child outcomes. The 2024 Index will examine differences in early learning outcomes depending on environmental factors such as metal levels and air quality.
Key Developmental Domains Assessed
The Thrive by Five Index 2024 will present data on the proportion of 4-year-old children who are On Track for their age for learning, social and emotional functioning, and physical growth (height and weight for age)
As in the 2021 Index, children will be assessed using the Early Learning Outcomes Measure (ELOM) 4&5 Years Assessment Tool and the ELOM Social-Emotional Functioning Rating Scale. These locally developed, standardised tools have been rigorously tested to ensure validity, reliability, and fairness. Further information on the ELOM tools is available here
Multi-sector Partnership
The Thrive by Five Index is a multi-sectoral partnership, led by the Department of Basic Education and coordinated by DataDrive2030.
The Index team comprises technical experts in a range of fields including sampling and weighting, psychometrics, assessor training and inter-rater reliability, survey technology, fieldwork management, data quality assurance, and data analysis. In the development of the survey instruments, leading local and global experts were consulted to ensure that the Index measures what matters, and that data are reliable and valid.
A steering committee provides strategic oversight and includes representatives from the Departments of Basic Education, Health, Social Development, Treasury, Statistics South Africa, and the Presidency.
Yellowwoods, This Day, the FirstRand Foundation and Lego are the funding partners of the Thrive by Five Index 2024.
