tablets using ODK-X software (Brunette et al. 2017). Pre-piloting of the instruments took place in Egypt in ten classrooms and with 30 children and adjustments to the tools were made based on the pre-pilot as well as feedback in the subsequent training.

# _4.1.4 Training_

The international experts (members of the author team) trained the master trainers, who included MoETE officials, KG supervisors, and Egyptian academic experts, in January 2020. There were different training programs for the QAS tool and the diagnostic research tool. Training of diagnostic research tool enumerators took place over 10 days, while training of QAS tool enumerators took place over 3 days. The shorter training was designed to both reflect the shorter tool and what would be feasible and affordable for MoETE for training QAS tool enumerators at scale. Training started in late February 2020 and included piloting in schools for both groups. Enumerators were graduates of faculties of Kindergarten education or child psychology, or Kindergarten teachers or supervisors. For the QAS tool, the plan was for half of the QAS tool enumerators to be hired by the data collection firm and for half to be current MoETE employees (similar to those who would eventually implement and scale up the QAS). Before moving to data collection, all supervisors and enumerators were required to pass a written quiz regarding tool content and training procedures and a classroom video quiz with at least 80% agreement with master codes.

# _4.1.5 Data collection_

Data collection was planned for mid-March 2020. On the day data collection was scheduled to start, schools were closed due to COVID-19. Data collection was thus delayed for a year due to COVID-19. After schools reopened in October 2021, a repeat training was held for enumerators.<sup>7</sup> Data collection in schools took place from November 6, 2021, to December 8, 2021. Parents were interviewed over the phone through December 15, 2021.

For the diagnostic research tool, which was a lengthier and more detailed tool, enumerators in the schools were specialized into one of three roles: supervisor (who undertook the director interview and logistics), classroom observer (who also did the teacher interview) and child direct assessor (who also did the teacher report of child development). QAS tool enumerators entered the schools with the diagnostic research tool teams and started classrooms with the classroom observer and child enumerator to have the same (random) sample of children. Since they also did the child direct assessment and teacher child report, they may have observed a different portion of the class and would have been assessing children at different times than the child direct assessor.

# **_4.2 Sample_**

The sampling frame was Egypt’s Education Management Information System (EMIS) database from 2018-19. We stratified the sample by school type (public versus private), region,<sup>8</sup> and

> 7 Enumerators were mostly new, so the full training was repeated.

> 8 Regions were divided into: Urban Governorates, Lower Egypt, and Upper Egypt. Frontier Governorates, which have only a small fraction of the population, were not included.

9