This paper explores the external developmental assets and how they manifest in specific youth programs from Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras. An evaluation process was created through a qualitative phenomenological with the youth programs' leadership. To triangulate the data, a survey was developed and piloted with a small sample from three youth…

Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) grants help states and communities improve early childhood systems to support child development, equitable access to quality services and supports, and family well-being. Truly interdisciplinary, ECCS promotes cross-sector systems change initiatives that focus on integrating health care, mental health,…

Quality early childhood care and education (ECCE) is important for young children's holistic healthy development. As ECCE scales, contextually relevant and feasible measurement is needed to inform policy and programs on strengths and areas for improvement. However, few measures have been designed for use across diverse contexts. Drawing on…

A growing understanding of the importance of children's earliest years has led to an increasing desire to measure early childhood development (ECD) outcomes. There are now nearly 150 tools for measuring ECD outcomes internationally, which can make it challenging to choose an appropriate measurement tool for a given measurement effort. This…

A growing literature supports the feasibility and validity of telehealth-based assessments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Better understanding families' experiences is crucial for sustained use beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. This study qualitatively examines caregiver experiences with the Telehealth Evaluation of Development for Infants (TEDI)…

This case study is based on a program evaluation of a professional certificate program that trains early childhood care and education providers to build and support young children's emotional literacy. The research project described in the case study will address approaches to methodological combination, justifying research design and changes to…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grants program, sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, aimed to improve children's access to high quality early care and education. RTT-ELC awarded more than $1 billion over three rounds of grants to help states develop and implement systems that rate…

Communication to the lay audience is a critical skill in academia. To equip students with this skill, we developed a new workshop and assessment. Postgraduate students attended a 1.5-hour workshop taught by a communication expert to develop communication skills and deliver engaging presentations. They were then asked to develop a 10-minute podcast…

High-quality early childhood programs aim to foster children's learning through developmentally appropriate practices and environments. Early childhood assessments, when well designed and well implemented, can support developmentally appropriate early learning experiences by providing information to guide instruction and support whole child…

Whether discussing the process involved in positive youth development (PYD), articulating an approach (or philosophy) of youth programs associated with PYD, or enacting a program aimed at promoting PYD, ideas derived from relational developmental systems (RDS) metatheory are pertinent. Accordingly, we discuss the RDS metamodel and explain the…

Early educators are the key to quality early care and education (ECE) services, and there is broad consensus that high-quality care and learning environments for young children depend on educators who are skilled at nurturing children's development and learning. Yet, inadequate working conditions and low pay routinely hamper educators in their…

Parents of young children who are in an early intervention (EI) or early childhood special education (ECSE) program, want to be sure these services are helping their child develop and learn. These services are designed to make the most of each child's potential, as well as to strengthen the family's ability to help their child. However, in what…

Engaging, focusing, and persisting in the completion of tasks are among the skills needed for school success. Tracking whether a child is learning cognitive problem-solving skills is essential in knowing if they are acquiring skills important for development and school readiness; and if not, how they are responding to early intervention. Use of…

Maternal and infant health indicators are often used to gauge the overall health of a nation. Understanding the current state of maternal and infant well-being, health behaviors, and social determinants of health across several domains offers the opportunity to kindle ideas for interventions to improve well-being. This report features indicators…

All Australian children and their families have an equal right to access quality early years education. To achieve this, rationalisation of the Australian early childhood (EC) sector in 2007 saw the introduction of mandated governing frameworks, including the National Quality Framework (NQF), designed to regulate and assure quality practices…