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.
This brief describes EDC’s deep commitment to ensuring that all young children have the support they need during the critical early childhood window of time.
This report presents findings from a yearlong investigation of the Apple and ConnectED initiative in 10 preschool classrooms.
This study examines the effects of EDC’s interactive radio instruction (IRI) programming on student learning outcomes in classrooms in India, documenting the significant positive effects of the structured support for instructional improvement that IRI provides.
This report summarizes the results of the Time to Learn project in Zambia, which was funded by the U.S.
This case study walks through a town's response to developing an early childhood prevention program by walking through how they conducted a needs assessment and developed their capacity building plan.
This tool helps Head Start programs better understand the link between their school readiness goals and their health service plans.
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.
This study was designed primarily to measure learning gains among Standard One-level treatment beneficiaries of the Radio Instruction to Strengthen Education project in Zanzibar.
The Somali Interactive Radio Instruction Program (SIRIP) advances stabilization in Somalia by delivering education in a precarious situation and by giving children the capabilities they will need t