This report presents key findings from the four years of the Quality Support Program (QSP). The QSP is an initiative of, and funded by, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education Early Childhood Education Quality Assurance and Regulatory Services Directorate (NSW DoE), involving the delivery by Australian Children's Education and Care…

Childhood adversity is strongly associated with poor health and well-being in childhood and adulthood. Young children are at greatest risk during their developmental years. Child care providers can participate in preventing the impact of adversity on children by becoming communities of support for families in need. This project aimed to explore…

Waste created by modern lifestyles is of key concern to sustainable development globally. Early childhood centres engage in sustainable practices, and waste management is one of these practices. Past research has indicated that early childhood staff are challenged to implement sustainable practices. However, the National Quality Standard requires…

This study aims at checking the effects of an early intervention program (EIP) on the neuropsychomotor development (NPMD) and quality of life (QoL) of 4-18 months old babies attending daycare, following the biopsychosocial (BPS) model of health and the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). It was a…

The Mother Tongue Based Early Learning and Parents+ Programme ran from 2016 to 2021 (having been extended due the COVID-19 pandemic) in the state of Odisha, India -- a partnership of the state government's Department of Women and Child Development, Mission Shakti and the Bernard van Leer Foundation. As described in this report, the programme…

The present research study was undertaken to evaluate the Mother Tongue Based Early Learning and Parents+ (MTELP+) Programme which commenced in 2016 in the state of Odisha. The MTELP+ programme was implemented by Programme Management Unit (PMU), which was setup by Department of Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha…

Responding to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) "Early Years Workforce Strategy 2012-2016" and significant early childhood education and care sector reforms in the last decade, TAFE SA created a new model of long-term support and engagement with the early childhood and schooling sectors across the state. Existing vocational…

Research has shown that young children's socio-emotional development may benefit from participating in a music programme. In this study, we explored the association between participation in a general music programme and the development of socio-emotional skills in relation to the duration of the programme. Children aged 4 and 5 (N=50), from a low…

Objective: The Healthy Environment Project (HEP) was designed to improve familiarity with attitudes, confidence and knowledge related to health-promoting best practices, as well as the implementation of health-promoting policy, system and environment best practice change in diverse early childhood education settings. Design: Pre-post study design…

This study evaluated a parent-mediated preventive intervention for children's literacy skills 1 year after participation. Parents of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2-year-old-children (n = 69) recruited through early childhood centers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) a target shared reading condition emphasizing phonological awareness…

The Childcare PhysicaL ActivitY (PLAY) policy was an evidence-informed, eight-item institutional-level policy document targeting children's physical activity, outdoor play, and sedentary time. Nine childcare centers in London, Ontario, participated in this cluster, randomized controlled trial. Early Childhood Educators allocated to the…

Training courses on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are required to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of children attending schools and care centers with a diagnosis of this condition internationally. A 14-day active learning course was developed based on three self-contained workshops which took place nationally in Iran over a 6 month…

World Food Programme (WFP) and the Kenyan Ministry of Education introduced school feeding programme in targeted pre-primary and primary schools in 1980. However, its effects in promoting pupils' class participation in early childhood are not clear. The objective of the study was to assess the pupils' class participation in ECDE centres with a…

FNS Research Corner provides a continuing series to summarize recently completed and current research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the area of Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs). Summaries of recently completed research projects and in-progress research are provided in this article.

In spite of what is known about the impact of effective leadership on program quality, leadership development systems are fragmented and there is a lack of sustained, systematic oversight to guide the early childhood education (ECE) program leadership profession (New Venture Fund, 2018). Goffin (2013) notes that a clear consensus about the role,…