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 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.
In this study, EDC and SRI researchers explored how time spent viewing and playing with PBS KIDS educational, noncommercial media can benefit young children’s learning, especially those growing up
Published by Brookes, the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) pre-K and K–3 toolkits are research-based instruments that enable teachers, leaders, and researchers to observe,
This study analyzes data from the 2002/03 Head Start Impact Study (U.S.
This report presents the results of a first-of-its-kind national survey of parents, who were asked about the types of early science educational activities they do with their young children.
This paper describes the work of the Home Visiting Collaborative for Improvement and Innovation Network (HV CoIIN).
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.
The authors share the findings of an EDC study that investigated whether the Child Safety Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Network framework could be applied in the field of injury and violence prevention to reduce fatalities, hospitalizations and emergency department visits among 0–19-year-olds.
In this report, the authors share findings and recommendations from their review of existing research, exploration of teacher professional development programs, and interviews with teachers.
Learning team approaches aim for groups of education professionals that collaborate at every level—classroom, school, district, and central—to ensure learning for all.