Early Childhood Education: Evidence and considerations for programming in Asia

• In Event: Governance, systems and policy for ECE programming

Proposal

This paper presents a landscape review of the evidence on early childhood education (ECE) interventions in the Asia region and presents analysis of considerations for future ECE programming.
There is consensus about the importance of providing a quality education to children prior to primary school entry. Longitudinal studies point to numerous benefits of ECE, such as higher secondary graduation rates, lower grade retention, later academic achievement, and a high return on investment (Duncan et al., 2007; Elango, Garcia, Heckman, & Hojman, 2015; McCoy et al., 2017; Yoshikawa et al., 2013). For the first time, the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals have an explicit focus on ECE in Goal 4.2 with a call for "all girls and boys to have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education” by 2030 (United Nations General Assembly, 2015). US Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) new education policy (2018) highlights the importance of pre-primary education in building foundational skills in reading, math and social emotional development.
There are several syntheses of the research from around the world that attempt to define "quality" in early learning environments. A recent report contracted by the Global Reading Network focused on the role of emergent literacy in ECE and reviewed the evidence base on best practices in emergent literacy (Manji, 2018). This report provided a high-level overview of the global evidence for why early education is important as it related to the development of reading skills. Manji noted that high-quality books and parental involvement are key factors in promoting early reading skills (2018). Other resources include ECE toolkits that describe best practices globally (https://www.r4d.org/education/early-childhood-development/), and meta-analyses from Western contexts describe components of an effective ECE intervention, such as supportive interactions between teachers and children (Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Other research points to the importance of quality ECE in closing the gap for marginalized populations (Lee, Brooks-Gunn, Schnur, & Liaw, 1990; Ready, 2010).
Although there is ample research and evidence from around the world on the importance of ECE, we also know that education is highly contextual, especially at a young age. Children come to school with various backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge, and teachers come to the classroom with various levels of skills and training. The capacity of education systems to support universal access to high-quality ECE vary from country to country. Given this, the purpose of this report is to focus on the available evidence from the Asia region on the current state of ECE interventions. In the Asia region, national governments have prioritized expansion of access and improvements in quality of pre-primary education (Sun, Rao, & Pearson, 2015).
In this paper, we use evidence from low and aspiring-middle income countries in the Asia region to answer: What are the considerations for effective ECE programming in the Asia region?
We answer this question through an in-depth review of the evidence across four areas. First, we review the policy environment and capacities of systems for quality ECE access in the Asia region to better understand existing strengths and challenges. Next, we review early childhood assessments in the Asia region, to shed light on how early learning and development is measured, and the various tools that have been developed and adapted for measurement. Third, we discuss various approaches to ECE teaching and learning, including subject-specific interventions such as emergent literacy and early mathematics, as well as use of the mother tongue. Finally, we provide evidence on teacher training, including modality and duration, to better understand how interventions have aimed to support teachers with the knowledge needed to teach young children. Each section discusses the available evidence as well as the gaps in the evidence base for the Asia region. We end with concrete considerations for future programming across the four areas.
References:
Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., ... & Sexton, H. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental psychology, 43(6), 1428.
Elango, S., García, J. L., Heckman, J. J., & Hojman, A. (2015). Early childhood education (No. w21766). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Lee, V. E., Brooks‐Gunn, J., Schnur, E., & Liaw, F. R. (1990). Are Head Start effects sustained? A longitudinal follow‐up comparison of disadvantaged children attending Head Start, no preschool, and other preschool programs. Child development, 61(2), 495-507.
Manji,S. (2018). Getting Early Grade Reading Right: A case for investing in quality ealry childhood education programs. Paper prepared for USAID Building Evidence and Supporting Innovation to Improve Primary Grade Reading Assistance for the Office of Education (E3/ED), University Research Co., LLC
McCoy, D. C., Yoshikawa, H., Ziol-Guest, K. M., Duncan, G. J., Schindler, H. S., Magnuson, K., Yang, R., Koepp, A., & Shonkoff, J. P. (2017). Impacts of early childhood education on medium-and long-term educational outcomes. Educational Researcher, 46(8), 474-487.
Ready, D. D. (2010). Socioeconomic disadvantage, school attendance, and early cognitive development: The differential effects of school exposure. Sociology of Education, 83(4), 271-286.
Sun, J., Rao, N., & Pearson, E. (2015). Policies and strategies to enhance the quality of early childhood educators. (Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2015, Education for All 2000-2015: achievements and challenges). Retrieved from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002324/232453e.pdf
Yoshikawa, H., Weiland, C., Brooks-Gunn, J., Burchinal, M., Espinosa, L. M., Gormley, W. T., Ludwig, J., Magnuson, K., Philips, D., & Zaslow, M. J. (2013). Investing in our future: The evidence base on preschool education. New York, NY: Foundation for Child Development.

Authors

• Katherine Anne Merseth, RTI International

• Yasmin Sitabkhan, RTI International

• Jennifer Spratt, RTI International

• Eileen Dombrowski, RTI International

• Tara Weatherholt, RTI International