Early Childhood Development Programs Research Articles

Advancing early childhood development: The role of local government

This article details various interpretations of local governments’ responsibilities relating to their ‘child care facilities’ function in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. It concludes that municipalities have historically had the primary function of ensuring a healthy and safe physical environment for young children, and this function must continue. There is room, however, for a broader interpretation of this function – to include building and providing facilities to advance access to early childhood development programmes. Given the importance of these programmes to a young child’s development, these responsibilities should be mandatory. Based on several rights in the Constitution and a child’s right to development, local governments arguably have positive obligations to provide these facilities, particularly in poor communities. This requires enabling legislation and committing capacity and budget. A ring-fenced conditional grant should be explored for the provision of childcare facilities, and the Department of Basic Education must monitor and support municipalities in carrying out this function.

The right of children with disabilities to early childhood development: Is South Africa complying with international law?

Early childhood development is critical for children’s optimal development. This is even more so for children with disabilities who are often confronted with barriers preventing them from reaching their full potential. In this regard, it is estimated that only 5 per cent of children with disabilities are attending early childhood development programmes in South Africa. The rights of South African children with disabilities to early childhood development in line with international law against the backdrop of the Constitution and national legislation are evaluated. South Africa’s compliance with the rights embodied in these instruments are indicated. Suggestions for improvements are made.

Men care too: a qualitative study examining women’s perceptions of fathers’ engagement in early childhood development (ECD) during an ECD program for HIV-positive mothers in Malawi

ObjectivesIntegrated early childhood development (ECD) and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) interventions rarely target fathers, a missed opportunity given existing research demonstrating that father involvement improves maternal and child outcomes....

A systems perspective on early childhood development education in South Africa

South Africa’s basic education system is dysfunctional. It scores last or close to last in a myriad of metrics and delivers learners with some of the worst literacy and numeracy competencies worldwide. A bimodal distribution in the results exists when learners from the richest socioeconomic quintile are performing adequately well, while learners from the poorest quintiles are failing. This paper presents a system dynamics simulation model to describe the causal linkages between improved early childhood and pre-school learning practices on the education system as a whole. The paper investigates the difference in performance between rich and poor communities. Three interventions explore the research question of whether it is the number of enrolments into early childhood development programs that increases a cohort’s school readiness, or rather the quality of the early childhood development programs into which they were enrolled. The results answer the research question for the Western Cape province by showing that increasing the quality of the formal ECD programs leads to a greater percentage of school-ready five year olds than increasing the percentage of enrolled children, but that decreasing community poverty leads to better results than either intervention. The results show the simulation model to be a powerful tool to assist with policy setting and intervention testing for any other province or country by simply changing the input data and calibration.

Effectiveness of a home-environmental intervention package and an early child development intervention on child health and development in high-altitude rural communities in the Peruvian Andes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

BackgroundUnsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene, exposure to household air pollution and low cognitive and socio-emotional stimulation are risk factors affecting children in low- and middle-income countries. We implemented an integrated home-environmental intervention package (IHIP), comprising a kitchen sink, hygiene education and a certified improved biomass cookstove, and an early child development (ECD) programme to improve children´s health and developmental outcomes in the rural high-altitude Andes of Peru.MethodsWe conducted a one-year cluster-randomised controlled trial among 317 children < 36 months divided into 4 arms (IHIP + ECD, IHIP, ECD, and Control) and 40 clusters (10 clusters per arm). ECD status (socio-emotional, fine and gross motor, communication, cognitive skills, and an overall performance) measured with the Peruvian Infant Development Scale and the occurrence of self-reported child diarrhoea from caretakers were primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes included the occurrence of acute respiratory infections and the presence of thermo-tolerant faecal bacteria in drinking water. The trial was powered to compare each intervention against its control arm but it did not allow pairwise comparisons among the four arms. Primary analysis followed the intention-to-treat principle. For the statistical analysis, we employed generalised estimating equation models with robust standard errors and an independent correlation structure.ResultsWe obtained ECD information from 101 children who received the ECD intervention (individually and combined with IHIP) and 102 controls. Children who received the ECD intervention performed better in all the domains compared to controls. We found differences in the overall performance (64 vs. 39%, odd ratio (OR): 2.8; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.6–4.9) and the cognitive domain (62 vs 46%, OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1–3.5). Data analysis of child morbidity included 154 children who received the IHIP intervention (individually and combined with ECD) and 156 controls. We recorded 110,666 child-days of information on diarrhoea morbidity and observed 1.3 mean episodes per child-year in the children who received the IHIP intervention and 1.1 episodes in the controls. This corresponded to an incidence risk ratio of 1.2 (95% CI: 0.8–1.7).ConclusionsChild stimulation improved developmental status in children, but there was no health benefit associated with the home-environmental intervention. Limited year-round access to running water at home and the possible contamination of drinking water after boiling were two potential factors linked to the lack of effect of the home-environmental intervention. Potential interactions between ECD and home-environmental interventions need to be further investigated.Trial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN-26548981. Registered 15 January 2018—Retrospectively registered, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN26548981.Graphical abstract

Improving Access and Quality in Early Childhood Development Programs: Experimental Evidence from the Gambia

We evaluate two experiments of early childhood development (ECD) programs in the Gambia, one increasing access to services and another improving service quality. In the first experiment, new community-based ECD centers were introduced into randomly chosen villages that had no preexisting structured ECD services. In the second experiment, a randomly assigned subset of existing ECD centers received intensive provider training. We find no evidence that either intervention improved average levels of child development. Exploratory analysis suggests that the first experiment, which increased access to community-based ECD services, led to declines in child development among children from less disadvantaged households.

Tools to measure the impact of early childhood development interventions on maternal mental health in low- and middle-income countries

Low- and middle-income countries around the world are expanding investments in early childhood development (ECD) programs, but few evaluations of ECD programs measure impacts on maternal mental health as well as on other, closely associated psychosocial domains. One reason may be a lack of familiarity with appropriate survey instruments for measuring different aspects of maternal psychosocial well-being among ECD-focused researchers. We identified 478 empirical studies of ECD programs in low- and middle-income countries; 55 of them measure impacts on maternal mental health and related domains. In this article, we identify 22 instruments used to measure maternal depression, stress, anxiety, and other aspects of psychosocial well-being. We provide guidance on the uses of each instrument and examples of country contexts where each has been implemented.

Distributional effects on children's cognitive and social-emotional outcomes in the Head Start Impact Study: A quantile regression approach

Heterogeneity in treatment effects of the Head Start, a federally funded early childhood development program in the United States, has previously been found in the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS), a nationally representative randomized controlled trial. While individual characteristics have been extensively examined as sources of effect heterogeneity, treatment effects may vary as a function of outcome distribution (i.e., distributional effect). Using quantile regressions, we investigated distributional effects of the Head Start on eight child developmental outcomes for first year, second year, third year, and the 3rd grade year follow-up in the HSIS data. For PPVT and Applied Problems, the effects varied substantially across quantiles in the first follow-up, but they were positive overall. The effects at the lower quantiles were larger and were sustained beyond the first follow-up (PPVT [95% CI] at 10th and 90th quantiles: 8.74 [6.22, 11.27], 3.32 [0.82, 5.81]) in the first follow-up and 5.72 [2.66, 8.77], −1.66 [-3.69, 0.37] in the second follow-up). For Behavior Problems, the effects were only positive for the lower quantiles in the first follow-up, but they became null in the latter follow-ups. For Letter-Word Identification, Spelling, and Pre-Academic, the effects were positive in the first follow-up with moderate variation across quantiles. In the second follow-up, only the effects at the lower quantiles were statistically significant, although they faded in the latter follow-ups. For Oral Comprehension and Social Skills, effects were null for all follow-ups. The Head Start had meaningful distributional effects for a range of child developmental outcomes, and distributional effects should be routinely assessed for better understanding of child developmental programs.

The impact of COVID-19 on children: insights from the Western Cape experience

In the initial phases of the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa, children experienced relative neglect, as they were deemed to be at low risk for contracting and spreading COVID-19 infection. Overwhelmed by adult infections, the health system responded slowly to children’s complex needs brought about by the epidemic. This in-depth case study outlines the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic on child health in the Western Cape, and the subsequent remediating responses. The case study draws on multiple data sources including routine data, case examples of health system and organisational responses, and experiential evidence from practitioners across the health system. It draws substantially on a series of advocacy briefs that examine the multi-dimensional impacts of COVID-19 on children in the Western Cape. Approximately 12 000 children (persons under 18) contracted COVID-19 in the province (March 2020 to March 2021). Thousands more were affected by the illness and death of relatives, and by the collateral effects of the epidemic including increased hunger, violence, injury and mental health problems, coupled with the disruption of healthcare services, schooling, early childhood development programmes, and social support networks. Essential child health services were de-escalated and child-health resources were re-allocated for adult COVID-19 care, with both immediate and long-term consequences for child health. A proactive response from child health services, aided by the Western Cape’s relative socio-economic advantage, a strong civil society response, and a stable, well-functioning health system, helped to mitigate harm, but not before significant damage was done. The Western Cape experience signals that, even in a well-resourced setting, children’s needs may be overlooked in times of crisis and there is a critical need for ‘voices’ speaking for and alongside children in all decision-making spaces, and for pro-active, well-planned, child-focused responses.

A community engagement approach for an integrated early childhood development intervention: a case study of an urban informal settlement with Kenyans and embedded refugees

BackgroundCommunity engagement is crucial for the design and implementation of community-based early childhood development (ECD) programmes. This paper aims to share key components and learnings of a community engagement process for an integrated ECD intervention. The lessons shared are drawn from a case study of urban informal settlement with embedded refugees in Nairobi, Kenya.MethodsWe conducted three stakeholder meetings with representatives from the Ministry of Health at County and Sub-County, actors in the ECD sector, and United Nations agency in refugee management, a transect walk across five villages (Ngando, Muslim, Congo, Riruta and Kivumbini); and, six debrief meetings by staff from the implementing organization. The specific steps and key activities undertaken, the challenges faced and benefits accrued from the community engagement process are highlighted drawing from the implementation team’s perspective.ResultsContext relevant, well-planned community engagement approaches can be integrated into the five broad components of stakeholder engagement, formative research, identification of local resources, integration into local lives, and shared control/leadership with the local community. These can yield meaningful stakeholder buy-in, community support and trust, which are crucial for enabling ECD programme sustainability.ConclusionOur experiences underscore that intervention research on ECD programmes in urban informal settlements requires a well-planned and custom-tailored community engagement model that is sensitive to the needs of each sub-group within the community to avoid unintentionally leaving anyone out.

A behavioral economics analysis of the participation in early childhood development social programs promoted by civil societies in Mexico.

Based on a behavioral economics (BE) approach, we analyzed the decision to participate in an early childhood development (ECD) program implemented in Mexico by a non-governmental organization. We conducted a literature review and a qualitative study of four localities participating in the ECD program. Situated in the state of Oaxaca, these communities are characterized by high and very high levels of social marginalization. From May 20 to 30, 2019, we collected primary data through semi-structured interviews (n = 30) and focus groups (n = 7) with a total of 61 informants (51 women and 10 men). We then performed an inductive systematic analysis of the data to identify documented cognitive bias associated with the decisions of individuals to participate and remain in or abandon social programs. The interviewees were living in conditions of poverty, facing difficulties in meeting even their most basic needs including food. Program participants attached far greater weight to incentives such as the basic food basket than to the other benefits offered by the program. The four localities visited maintained traditional views of domestic roles and practices, particularly regarding child-rearing, where women were in charge of childcare, home care and food preparation. Problems linked to child malnutrition were a decisive factor in the decision of residents to participate and remain in the program. Testimonials gathered during the study demonstrated that the longer the mothers remained in the program, the more they understood and adopted the concepts promoted by the interventions. In contexts marked by economic vulnerability, it is essential that ECD programs create the necessary conditions for maximizing the benefits they offer. Our analysis suggests that cognitive load and present bias were the biases that most severely affected the decision-making capacity of beneficiaries. Therefore, considering loss aversion and improving the management of incentives can help policymakers design actions that "nudge" people into making the kinds of decisions that contribute to their well-being.

Evaluation in the field of early childhood development: A scoping review

Children’s early experiences and environments profoundly impact their development; therefore, ensuring the well-being of children through effective supports and services is critical. Evaluation is a tool that can be used to understand the effectiveness of early childhood development (ECD) practices, programs, and policies. A deeper understanding of the evaluation landscape in the ECD field is needed at this time. The purpose of this scoping review was to explore the state of evaluation in the ECD field across four constructs: community-driven evaluation, culturally responsive evaluation, evaluation capacity building, and evaluation use and influence. A comprehensive search of 7 electronic databases, including Canadian and international literature published in English from 2000 to 2020, was conducted. A total of 30 articles met the inclusion criteria. Findings demonstrate that some studies include aspects of a community-engaged approach to evaluation; however, comprehensive approaches to community-driven evaluation, culturally responsive evaluation, evaluation capacity building, and evaluation use in the field of ECD are not commonly achieved. This review will inform strategies for bridging evaluation gaps in the ECD sector, ultimately equipping organisations with the evaluative tools to improve practices, programs, and policies that impact the children, families, and communities they serve.

Parents’ attitudes and unequal opportunities in early childhood development: Evidence from Eastern India

Early childhood development is considered a crucial component for sustainable development, and parents’ roles in this regard is unambiguously acknowledged. However, the evidence is sparsely available from developing countries like India on how parents can influence access to the early childhood development program. This study, based on an empirical footing, investigates whether parental attitude may lead to unequal opportunities in children’s access to preschools in India. The study portrays that the negative or indifferent attitude of parents predicts significantly lower access to preschools. Also, parents’ education can be held responsible for the variation in parents’ attitudes toward early education and care. A two-prong policy measure is thus suggested by educating parents on one hand and involving them in the implementation process of childhood development programs on the other.

The Impact of Incentives on Early Childhood Teachers’ Proficiency in Lubombo Region, Eswatini

Early childhood development programmes have been found to be crucial in the development of children in physical, cognitive, socio-emotional and linguistic domains. For early childhood development (ECD) programmes to be effective, several factors need to be considered, among them human and material resources. Although the availability of the aforementioned factors is of the utmost importance, there is also a need to establish the unforeseen factors that can help ECD programmes to be more effective. Currently, there is little information regarding what can facilitate proficiency among early childhood teachers in their daily practice. This study focused on the impact of incentives on the performance of early childhood development teachers in the Lubombo region in Eswatini, formerly Swaziland. The objectives of the study were to find out the types of incentives given to ECD teachers, to examine the factors affecting the ECD teachers’ incentives and proficiency, and to explore the best ways of incentivising ECD teachers to improve their effectiveness. The research questions guiding the study were derived from the research objectives and the approach used in the study was purely qualitative. The study adopted a case study design and used unstructured questionnaires, cell phone interviews and focus group discussions as data collection tools. The research was confined to Lubombo, where a sample of 30 participants was selected. The sample included 10 ECD teachers, 10 parents and 10 administrators. The findings of the study were that ECD teachers are paid low salaries, which are not sustainable, and they are not hired by the government and so have no pensionable benefits. The study recommends that the use of incentives can improve the proficiency of early childhood teachers; ECD teachers should be paid salaries like any other teacher that are scaled according to their qualifications. Scholarships to further their studies should also be made available to them. More research is essential in areas of teachers’ proficiency and quality early childhood development programmes.

Assessing the effect of an educational intervention on early childhood development among Mexican preschool children in the state of Oaxaca: a study protocol of a cluster randomized stepped-wedge trial

BackgroundEarly childhood development (ECD) is essential in human capacity building and a critical element in the intergenerational process of human development. In some countries, social programs targeted at improving ECD have proven to be successful. Oaxaca is one of the States with the greatest social inequities in Mexico. Therefore, children in Oaxaca are at a high risk of suboptimal ECD. In 2014, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Un Kilo de Ayuda started to implement the Neurological and Psycho-affective Early Childhood Development Program in eighty marginalized communities of Oaxaca. In this article, we present the impact evaluation design to estimate the effect of this program on ECD.MethodsWe will use a cluster randomized stepped-wedge design with an allocation ratio of 1:1. Communities will be randomly assigned to each study group: four groups of twenty communities each. We expect that children from intervened communities will show better ECD outcomes.DiscussionThis study is one of the few rigorous assessments of the effect of an ECD program on the neurodevelopment of Mexican children recruited in their first 3 years of life from communities of high social vulnerability. Our study design is recommended when the way in which outcomes are measured and assessed depends on age, self-selection is present, and assignment is performed at an aggregate level. Implementation research will be conducted prior to study launch and quality control measures will be in place to maximize the fidelity of study design implementation.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04210362

Integrating an early child development intervention into an existing primary healthcare platform in rural Lesotho: a prospective case–control study

ObjectivesThis study evaluated a novel early childhood development (ECD) programme integrated it into the primary healthcare system.SettingThe intervention was implemented in a rural district of Lesotho from 2017 to 2018.ParticipantsIt...

Desain Video Vlog dalam Menumbuhkembangkan Karakter Anak Usia Dini

This study aims to understand the design of video blogs in developing the character of early childhood. This study uses a qualitative approach with the type of case status. Data collection using observation and in-depth interviews. This research was conducted in Raudlatul Athfal Umi Sundari Kraksaan Probolinggo. The results of this study indicate that the design of video blogs in developing the character of early childhood includes: first, determining video content. The video design used is attractive to early childhood. Second, the target character. Early childhood development programs that must be achieved through video vlog design in accordance with the basic competencies of early childhood. Third, public. The process of uploading videos that have been made in developing the character of early childhood. The implication in early childhood character education is that the use of technology and information media, one of which is a video blog, can make it easier for teachers to convey messages or character values ​​in it.

Economic Coaching: Addressing Poverty as a Means of Improving Early Child Development.

Economic Coaching: Addressing Poverty as a Means of Improving Early Child Development.

Association between Low Cognition and Low–income in Rural Pakistani Children

Objective: Numerous studies have concluded relationship of the childhood poverty to the impaired academic performance ultimately contributing to low wages and income in the adult life. Objective of this study was to assess the association between household income and the cognitive potential of children. Methodology: In this cross–sectional study, cognitive potential of 6 to 7 years old children (n=300) from a rural district of Pakistan was assessed through an indicator of the cognitive development called Intelligence Quotient (IQ) or Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) which was calculated by utilizing fourth edition of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI–IV). Data on the sociodemographic profile was collected through mother’s questionnaire. Results: Low cognitive potential or IQ of the rural Pakistani children was found to be associated with the low–income of the household. Conclusion: Early childhood development programmes in Pakistan ought to incorporate cognitive–stimulation strategies designed for the low–income children belonging to the rural place of residence in order to disrupt the transmission of poverty to the next generation. Keywords: poverty, rural, IQ, children, productivity, Pakistan, cognition, low–income, socioeconomic

Population-based approaches for monitoring the nurturing care environment for early childhood development: A scoping review.

Selecting indicators to monitor nurturing care (NC) environments that support decision‐making and guide the implementation of integrated early childhood development (ECD) programmes has become a priority globally. Several population‐based approaches have been attempted to create a set of indicators or a composite index methodology to measure the NC environment using existing secondary data. However, they have not been systematized. Our scoping review aimed to analyse the population‐based approaches for monitoring the domains of the NC (e.g. good health, adequate nutrition, responsive caregiving, security and safety, and opportunities for early learning). ECD experts, peer‐reviewed, and grey literature were systematically searched with no year or language restrictions. Data extraction used a standard predefined protocol. Thirty‐two population‐based approaches were identified. Most approaches were composed of a set of indicators (53.1%, n = 17) versus composite indexes (46.9%, n = 15) and had the country as their unit of analysis (68.8%, n = 22). Twenty‐seven approaches were applied in middle‐income countries (84.4%) and thirteen in low‐income countries (40.6%). Four approaches were guided by the NC framework (12.5%), and 56.3% (n = 18) did not include any indicator representing responsive caregiving. NC indicators (n = 867) were sorted into 100 groups of indicators. Twenty of the 32 approaches had some kind of methodological validation (62.5%). We identified six methodological challenges to build a population‐based approach. Standardized methods for selecting and validating indicators, and coordinated efforts to share findings/data with stakeholders should be prioritized. Given the great variability in methods and indicators used to measure NC environments, valid approaches should be flexible to work well across different contexts.