Zambia has a large, autonomous community schooling system that formed during the nation's transition from a socialist economy. The community schooling system has expanded during the past 20 years to increase education access in remote areas. Estimates suggest that the number of Zambian community schools has increased from 100 schools in 1996 to…

Contextual diversity in early childhood development present challenges and opportunities for holistic child development. This study explored home and parental factors associated with early childhood developmental outcomes in rural communities. Using purposive sampling, 175 families with children aged 0-8 (87 girls and 88 boys) were recruited to…

On average, over 45% of the population in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and Malawi is under 14 years old, making access to quality education imperative to improve the socioeconomic circumstances for this generation and those to come. However, children in rural areas are confronted with daily challenges, such as extreme poverty, violence (including sexual…

Despite increased investment in early childhood care and education (ECCE) globally, little is known about its effectiveness in low-income countries. Using kernel exact matching within a national sample of 1,623 Zambian 6-year-olds, we test the associations between ECCE participation and seven domains of children's school readiness. We find ECCE…

This paper aggregates the academic literature reviewing and reporting interventions for out-of-school children (OOSC) around the world to serve as a guide for potential interventions in South Asia and elsewhere. It complements the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children (OOSCI) South Asia Regional Study (2014). Thus the interventions reviewed…

Little research has been conducted on unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) despite their growing prevalence in Africa, including South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, and Uganda. In this study, researchers implemented a randomized control trial with over 2,500 households to investigate the impact of Africa's child grant program on…

While early childhood education has received increasing attention in the developing world in recent years, relatively little evidence is available from sub-Saharan Africa on its effects on child development and subsequent school enrolment. We use a prospective case-control design to evaluate the developmental impact of a community-based early…

Past research suggests robust positive associations between household socioeconomic status and children's early cognitive development in Western countries. Relatively little is known about these relations in low-income country settings characterized by economic adversity, high prevalence of malnutrition and infectious disease, and relatively lower…

We conducted a theory-driven process evaluation of a cluster randomized controlled trial comparing two types of complementary feeding (meat versus fortified cereal) on infant growth in Guatemala, Pakistan, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We examined process evaluation indicators for the entire study cohort (N = 1236) using chi-square…

Early childhood education has received attention from philosophers, educationists and psycho-analysts such as Plato, Avicenna, Locke, Pestalozzi, Whitehead, Carl Jung, Binet, Piaget, Montessori, Sigmund Freund, Howard Gardner, among others. In Africa, the backdrop of poverty, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in strife-torn countries, among…

Background: Previous research has indicated positive effects of early developmental intervention (EDI) on the development of children in developing countries. Few studies, however, have examined longitudinally when differential treatment effects may be observed and whether differential outcomes are associated with exposure to different risk…

From a symposium on Cross-Cultural Studies of Mother-Infant Interaction at the Biennial Meeting for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, Minn., April 2, 1971. (MB)

Provides a rationale for the participation of children in development for school health. Addresses why participation should be promoted and how children can participate. Explores ways to assess children's participation by presenting case studies from Nepal, Zambia, and Botswana. Offers strategies for developing children's participation and for…

Based on two years of research experience in Zambia, the author examines ethical and political implications of research inforeign countries. The economic and political reality is that richer, Western countries have the resources to do the research while the poorer countries have the information. Cooperative efforts could alleviate this situation,…

An unprecedented number of young children in Sub-Saharan Africa are being adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, yet programs specifically designed to meet the developmental needs of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) from birth to age 8 are rare. This article summarizes the daunting array of challenges facing young OVC in Sub-Saharan…