Project report
Improving young children's learning in economically developing countries: What works, why, and where? Scoping review
Jen Jackson, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Petra N. Lietz ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examined 109 studies of early childhood education and care interventions implemented in economically developing countries between 1998 and 2017. The interventions were grouped into six categories: income supplementation, parent-focused programmes, child-focused education, integrated approaches, quality improvements, and comparative studies. The review found that researchers used 46 different instruments to measure children's learning, making it difficult to compare results across studies. The authors recommend developing consistent, affordable measurement tools that can be used across different countries to evaluate the effects of early childhood interventions.
Key points
- 109 studies of ECEC interventions in developing countries were identified and categorised into six types: income supplementation (8), parent-focused (37), child-focused education (35), integrated (4), quality (20), and comparative (5)
- 46 different instruments were used across studies to assess children's learning, with many studies using unmeasured or unclear measures
- The diversity in measurement approaches creates challenges for meta-analysis and comparison of intervention effectiveness
- Studies covered interventions from 1998 to 2017 that aimed to improve children's learning before formal schooling
- Need for reliable, low-cost, fit-for-purpose measures of young children's learning applicable consistently across diverse international contexts
Limitations
This is a scoping review that maps the landscape of research rather than evaluating the effectiveness of specific interventions. The review does not provide detailed findings on which intervention types work best or provide quantitative outcome data.
Abstract
This scoping review responds to the increasing interest in improving early childhood education and care (ECEC) in economically developing countries. It examines available research in relation to the question: What effective interventions have been implemented recently in economically developing countries to improve children’s learning in the years before school? As much of the research underpinning ECEC interventions has focused on economically developed countries, it is timely to review available research about the effectiveness of interventions in the economically developing world. The ECEC interventions were categorised as Income supplementation (n=8); Parent-focused interventions (n=37); Child-focused education and nurturing care (n=35); Integrated interventions (n=4); Quality (n=20); and Comparative (n=5). Within the 109 studies selected for the review, 46 different instruments for assessing children’s learning were used, with many other studies using measures that were not clearly identified. This diversity in measurement poses challenges for meta-analysis and suggests the need for reliable, low-cost, fit-for-purpose measures of young children’s learning that can be applied consistently in diverse international contexts to compare the effects of interventions. This review aims to assist researchers and project teams in ECEC to draw on the available evidence when planning interventions. It also aims to set evidence-based suggestions for future research on ECEC interventions in these contexts. Studies included in this review cover interventions between 1998 and 2017 that actively sought to improve children’s learning before the commencement of formal schooling. Another key criterion for inclusion was that studies must have examined the effectiveness of an intervention using measures of children’s learning or cognitive development.