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 resource library from the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) contains policy reports, briefs, annotated bibliographies, and other tools targeted to help early childhood educat
This brief describes how EDC works with multi-sector partners to pioneer new ways to harness the power of digital tools to support families and enhance early teaching, learning, and health promotion.
Conducted by EDC and SRI International, the study’s goal was to understand the extent to which providing access to media resources focused on critical science and engineering concepts can help children living in low-income households learn.
This brief draws on research and development supported by the National Science Foundation to highlight important considerations about STEM educational experiences for young children and professional learning for educators who provide those experiences.
Education workforce: Summary of work in Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda to create greater action toward adopting inclusive, engaging, adaptive, and playful pedagogies.
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.
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
This report, intended for early childhood educators, offers five evidence-based recommendations for integrating technology tools, such as computers and tablets, into a variety of early learning settings.
This factsheet provides a brief overview of some of EDC’s work to ensure that all young children—especially those who live in low-income communities and are members of under-represented groups—can
This online guide provides Head Start and Early Head Start home visitors with effective strategies to assess, promote, and model good hygiene during regular meetings with families.