"Research Findings:" Despite the prevalence of integrating early childhood education (ECE) into formal schooling, there is limited evidence on how school-based ECE affects children compared to other types of ECE, particularly in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Therefore, this study examined school-based ECE programs compared…

Early childhood education (ECE) is important to provide the necessary support for children's healthy development during the preschool period. We evaluated whether ECE positively impacted early childhood development in Lao PDR. We pooled two rounds of nationally representative cross-sectional household surveys -- Lao Social Indicator Surveys…

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) conducted a landscape evaluation of early childhood programs in Indiana (IN) between the spring of 2021 and the summer of 2022. The evaluation included assessments of infant, toddler, and preschooler children's developmental status in multiple domains at two time points to measure growth.…

Background/context: Exposure to community-level violence in childhood is a strong predictor of developmental and cognitive outcomes. Several systematic reviews, as well as meta-analysis have documented how being exposed to violent crimes in developed and developing countries predicts externalizing and internalizing symptoms (Löfving-Gupta, et al.,…

Research has demonstrated that federal Head Start centers, which provide preschool care to children from low-income families, have little or no long-term academic value for children. This "Backgrounder" adds to the evidence that Head Start has failed to achieve its objectives and should be sunset, not expanded, by demonstrating a…

Specialized preschool programs can enhance the development of vulnerable young children at risk of special educational needs (SEN). Less is known about the potential of early childhood education and care (ECEC) provided for the general population. This study includes 2,857 children attending 141 ECEC centres in England and 310 with no ECEC. ECEC…

The aims of this study were to gain insight into the quality of inclusion in mainstream classrooms involving students with Down syndrome and to reveal underlying predictors. A total of 39 8-year-olds with Down syndrome and their teachers participated. Via a survey, the teachers were asked to rate key indicators of inclusion. Their average rating…

Since the NC Pre-K (More at Four) Program began in 2001-2002, a variety of statewide evaluation studies have been conducted by the FPG Child Development Institute. These annual evaluations have included several studies of program services, classroom quality, and children's outcomes during pre-k as well as longer-term into kindergarten and third…

We have many reasons to invest in preschool programs, including persistent gaps in school readiness between children from poorer and wealthier families, large increases in maternal employment over the past several decades, and the rapid brain development that preschool-age children experience. But what do we know about preschool education's…

As a result of public discussions regarding Germany's standing on international rankings of student achievement, increased attention was focused on enhancing cognitive stimulation in preschools. There are some concerns that preschool curricula that focus more on cognitive stimulation rather than on socio-emotional skills might neglect the…

Building on extensive feedback from the field as well as vigorous new research on how best to support infant and toddler development and learning, the authors have revised and updated the widely used "Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale." ITERS-3 is the next-generation assessment tool for use in center-based child care programs for…

This paper aims to describe the quality of play as offered by early childhood educators working with four-year-olds within an educational childcare service. It also aims to identify the correlation between the quality of play support and a child's cognitive, language and socio-emotional development. Finally, it focuses on the factors associated…

This paper illustrates how high-quality preschool has the potential to serve as an intervention within normal populations. Although it is well known that targeted Early Interventions can protect the development of young children from developmental risks, there remains less evidence concerning universal preschool education. To address this…

The main purpose of this study was to explore what Jordanian parents of children attending "traditional" kindergartens recognize as high-quality education programs. The sample consisted of 509 families ("N"?=?509) of kindergarten-age children. Data were collected using a three-part questionnaire: curriculum domains, teacher…

Collaborative and reciprocal teacher-parent partnerships have been established in prior research as vital in empowering ethnic-minority children to be competent learners who value their home background, culture, and language and also learn the language used by teachers as the medium of education. Such collaborative relationships may be challenging…