EDC supports the development of engaging and safe educational programs for young children.
From birth to age eight, children take the first steps in a lifelong learning journey. EDC speeds them on their way by designing, studying, supporting, and scaling up programs that enhance school readiness and success. We have a special focus on meeting the needs of children from disadvantaged communities and dual language learners, engaging and supporting families, and building the capacity of educators and communities to sustain improvements.
In the United States, we work to create strong, coherent preK-Grade 3 systems and advance knowledge of how to improve early science, mathematics, and literacy learning. Around the world, we implement innovative early childhood programs that build literacy and numeracy skills, excite interest in learning, and help educators, volunteers, and parents enrich early learning.
Read "A Fair Start for Every Child" to learn more about EDC's work to support early childhood learning.
Learn about EDC’s work with Family STEM Communities.
Learn about EDC’s work to strengthen early childhood interventions with Continuous Quality Improvement.
Learn about the work of EDC’s Center for Children and Technology.
Related Content
A New Language for Mathematics
Young children often struggle to write down their mathematical ideas. Could computer programming be an easier language for them?
EDC Talks: Making Time for Family Math
What are some fun, easy activities that families can do to encourage math learning at home? (Hint: You are probably already doing some of them.)
Tapping, Swiping, and Learning Science
Research findings on The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!™ have implications for parents, educators, and educational media developers.
Helping All Children Learn and Thrive
EDC’s David Jacobson discusses his ideas for changing—and improving—early childhood services.
Tools to Support Preschool Learning
New resources support educators on integrating technology and working with emergent bilingual learners.
The Other Side of the Screen
As a researcher, Tiffany Maxon gets to help develop the next generation of children’s television shows.
Projects
Resources
Here are a few of our resources on early childhood development and learning. To see more, visit our Resources section.
This monograph examines educational technology initiatives in Lebanon, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and the United States over the past decade and draws lessons that can help nations moving forward with their own national educational technology initiatives.
This executive report summarizes the activities of the project, recommendations and lessons learned of the Literacy, Language, and Learning (L3) Initiative, a five-year project funded by the U.S.
In this video, NSF-funded researchers Arthur Barody, Jere Confrey, Paul Goldenberg, and Julie Sarama discuss the importance of mathematics education in the early grades.
Inspiring Climate Action Now (ICAN) demonstrates the power of investment in science as a foundational skill set in low-resource contexts. In transforming primary science instruction, ICAN addresses gaps that limit later STEM opportunities for marginalized learners and motivates local action to respond to climate change. This brief introduces the ICAN initiative in Mali, Zambia, and Antigua & Barbuda.
Through the Home Visiting Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (HV CoIIN), EDC guides Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program awardees in using continuous quality im
In this summary report, the authors share findings and recommendations from their review of existing research, exploration of teacher professional development programs, and interviews with teachers.
In this research brief, the authors present findings from an online national survey of Child Care and Development Fund administrators, Head Start State Collaboration Office Directors, and State Departments of Education Early Childhood Specialists.
This tool helps Head Start programs better understand the link between their school readiness goals and their health service plans.
This study of Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI), written for the World Bank by EDC staff, shows that radio is an accessible and effective tool for active learning inside and outside of the classroom.
This toolkit is designed to support state, territory, tribal, and local teams as well as individuals in examining and acting toward advancing health equity in Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood