For more than two decades EDC has led efforts to improve the quality and availability of child care by supporting the professionals who care for young children. For a profession that is historically underpaid and undervalued, we develop programs that enhance the stature, improve the professional opportunities, and raise the expectations of those who care for the very young. Partnering with local, regional, and national child care providers, we develop resource centers, design professional development courses, offer on-site consultation, and conduct research in such areas as curriculum and materials development, literacy enhancement, special education, parent involvement, performance assessment, and management and supervision.
CC&F/EDC examined the impact of the Literacy Environment Enrichment Program (LEEP), a credit-bearing professional development program for early childhood teachers and their supervisors designed to improve teacher practice and learning outcomes in the areas of early language and literacy. Building on promising early findings, CC&F/EDC used a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of LEEP on teacher practices and child outcomes. Findings indicate that LEEP participation is a strong predictor of positive child outcomes.
CC&F/EDC provided intensive on-site technical assistance to more than 100 Head Start and Early Head Start programs. As part of a national initiative, CC&F/EDC helped these programs establish early literacy mentor-coaching systems and devise and implement continuous improvement efforts. CC&F/EDC guided the programs in developing effective approaches to management, organizational and community development, early education, health, and family support and involvement.
CC&F/EDC used proven strategies to enhance Head Start’s efforts to include children with disabilities from birth to eight and their families. CC&F/EDC offered intensive consultation services, performed on-site interventions, provided college credit courses and skill-based training, and disseminated cutting-edge resources to Head Start programs across New England. Working with national, regional, state and community agencies and associations, CC&F/EDC built strategic alliances to support and maintain inclusive communities, while promoting the mental health of children, families, and staff.
EDC is providing technical assistance to the National Center for Literacy through the development and implementation of a comprehensive dissemination plan for its early childhood literacy products and program materials. By bringing to bear our knowledge of diverse and complex early childhood education systems and their staff development and parent education efforts, we will reach thousands of stakeholders across the nation and provide them with essential information that they can use to advance early childhood education literacy policies and practices.
In Phase 1 of this project, CC&F/EDC led the development of “Connections and Commitments: A Latino-based Framework for Early Childhood Educators.” “Connections and Commitments” identifies four key values in Latino culture and describes their implications for early childhood practice. In addition, CC&F/EDC designed an online bilingual resource to provide increased access to standards-based, culturally and linguistically responsive professional development materials and strategies for working with Latino children, families, and staff.
CC&F/EDC and its partners are collaborating on this planning grant. Each institution is conducting a small-scale research project that builds on its current curriculum work. Extending the work of the Tool Kit for Early Childhood Science Education project, CC&F/EDC is developing tools that can be used to examine the effectiveness of early childhood teaching and learning in the Young Scientist Series.
As the Latino population in the United States grows, so does a large achievement gap. An EDC-designed professional development program is helping preschools offer an enriched program that is interactive and culturally and linguistically responsive.
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is hosting a two-day forum March 8th and 9th for educators working in coffee-producing communities, coffee industry representatives working on corporate social responsibility and members of international organizations that support public-private partnerships in order to find creative solutions to the educational needs identified in the region.
Discovering Nature
with Young Children,
one of three curriculum
modules in the Young
Scientist series
published by Redleaf
Press, has now been
translated into Chinese.
EDC’s International Education Systems Division recently hosted a
study tour for 15 Egyptian education experts who are working
with the Egyptian Ministry of Education to reform early childhood
education. The tour, conducted in partnership with the Academy
for Educational Development, was funded by
USAID and focused
on best practices in early childhood care and education training.
