EDC supports the development of engaging and safe educational programs for young children.
From birth to age eight, children take the first steps in a lifelong learning journey. EDC speeds them on their way by designing, studying, supporting, and scaling up programs that enhance school readiness and success. We have a special focus on meeting the needs of children from disadvantaged communities and dual language learners, engaging and supporting families, and building the capacity of educators and communities to sustain improvements.
In the United States, we work to create strong, coherent preK-Grade 3 systems and advance knowledge of how to improve early science, mathematics, and literacy learning. Around the world, we implement innovative early childhood programs that build literacy and numeracy skills, excite interest in learning, and help educators, volunteers, and parents enrich early learning.
Read "A Fair Start for Every Child" to learn more about EDC's work to support early childhood learning.
Learn about EDC’s work with Family STEM Communities.
Learn about EDC’s work to strengthen early childhood interventions with Continuous Quality Improvement.
Learn about the work of EDC’s Center for Children and Technology.
Related Content
A New Language for Mathematics
Young children often struggle to write down their mathematical ideas. Could computer programming be an easier language for them?
EDC Talks: Making Time for Family Math
What are some fun, easy activities that families can do to encourage math learning at home? (Hint: You are probably already doing some of them.)
Tapping, Swiping, and Learning Science
Research findings on The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!™ have implications for parents, educators, and educational media developers.
Helping All Children Learn and Thrive
EDC’s David Jacobson discusses his ideas for changing—and improving—early childhood services.
Tools to Support Preschool Learning
New resources support educators on integrating technology and working with emergent bilingual learners.
The Other Side of the Screen
As a researcher, Tiffany Maxon gets to help develop the next generation of children’s television shows.
Projects
Resources
Here are a few of our resources on early childhood development and learning. To see more, visit our Resources section.
This checklist provides early childhood educators with practical tips for supporting children’s bilingual learning within a rich classroom environment.
This toolkit is designed to support state, territory, tribal, and local teams as well as individuals in examining and acting toward advancing health equity in Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood
This EDC brief explores the key role that parent-child interaction plays in children’s development and describes how home visitors can support parent-child interaction.
This monograph examines educational technology initiatives in Lebanon, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and the United States over the past decade and draws lessons that can help nations moving forward with their own national educational technology initiatives.
In this video, NSF-funded researchers Arthur Barody, Jere Confrey, Paul Goldenberg, and Julie Sarama discuss the importance of mathematics education in the early grades.
This report details two national research studies examining the impact of the PBS KIDS series Molly of Denali on children’s ability to use informational text to answer real-world questions.
This study was designed primarily to measure learning gains among Standard One-level treatment beneficiaries of the Radio Instruction to Strengthen Education project in Zanzibar.
In this summary report, the authors share findings and recommendations from their review of existing research, exploration of teacher professional development programs, and interviews with teachers.
EDC and SRI International conducted an independent study of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) KIDS Play & Learn Science app, which includes in-app and direct hands-on science explorations for children ages 3 to 6 and their parents.
This report, published by the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) and the Center on School Turnaround (CST), describes how three schools in Massachusetts, Missouri, and Nebraska int