National-level monitoring of quality of early childhood education (ECE) is key to achieving inclusive and equitable education. Most countries report structural quality while process characteristics are rarely observed at the national level. This study examined the associations between ECE and children's development in a middle-income country using…

Gender differences in early childhood development are under-researched in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where almost 90% of the world's young children live. This study examines the direction, magnitude, and variation of gender similarities and differences in 3- and 4-year-olds' early childhood development in 71 low- and middle-income…

The majority of the world's children live in low- and middle-income countries, yet the majority of early childhood cognitive research is done with a small proportion of high-income countries. These findings cannot be assumed to apply across all contexts. It is therefore necessary to confront entrenched systems of power and privilege in early…

An examination into the origins of rights' discourse and contemporary debates around child labour in developing countries, illustrates some of the problems with the discursive uses that children's rights is put to, and its weakness as a means of addressing issues of social justice. Addressing the discourse around child labour, and how this is…

Due to the lack of attention to including early childhood education in the compulsory education system, some families are even unaware of the option to enroll their children at this level. This study aims to estimate the chances of access to early childhood education and to analyse the advantages that pre-primary education offers in terms of child…

In this paper, we have a quick look at the profile of developmental research in terms of its study samples, and then turn our attention to the findings of research on the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, suggesting a notable increase in the number of people experiencing significant economic difficulties and a widening gap between the wealthy…

This report summarizes the findings from a two-year mixed methods evaluation of the effect of the Teach For Nigeria (TFN) teacher training program on whole child development, perceptions of teaching quality, and the school community. This report contributes to a growing body of research on Teach For All organizations across the globe and the…

Across psychology, there is increasing recognition that the experiences of children from minoritized racial and ethnic groups are underrepresented. Research on prosocial behavior exemplifies this systemic bias. This paper suggests that measures of prosocial behavior should be revised to be more culturally equitable, in order to reflect the…

Children's experiences during early childhood are critical for their cognitive and socio-emotional development, two key dimensions of human capital. However, children from low income backgrounds often grow up lacking stimulation and basic investments, leading to developmental deficits that are difficult, if not impossible, to reverse later in life…

This research brief is one of a series of six briefs, which provide an overview of available evidence shown in the Campbell-UNICEF Mega-Map of the effectiveness of interventions to improve child well-being in low- and middle-income countries. Five of these briefs summarize evidence as mapped against the five goal areas of UNICEF's 2018-2021…

Introduction: Inadequate caregiving conditions interfere with successful health and development outcomes. Access to appropriate information can result in improved health and development outcomes in children. Health promotion text messaging, a primary mHealth strategy, has been implemented in various countries to reach communities where the…

In this paper I argue for a necessary -- and possible -- paradigmatic shift in early childhood scholarship that embraces multiplicity, diversity, ambiguity, uncertainty and shared situated knowledge creation in response to a profoundly changed global context. The contours of the new paradigm are already emerging as three interconnected…

The Sustainable Development Goals mandate that by 2030, all children should have access to quality early child development opportunities, healthcare and pre-primary education. Yet validated measures of ECD in low and middle income countries (LMICs) are rare. To address this gap, a Systematic Review (SR) of measures available to profile the…