Quality Early Learning

To see a full list of related work please see the Quality Early Learning page.

Publications

• Quality Early Learning: Nurturing Children’s Potential [PDF] (May 2022): provides the latest evidence on how young children learn most effectively and how ECE programs can foster children’s natural ability and motivation to learn. It offers guidance for policy makers on policy design and implementation including what elements of ECE to prioritize in resource- and capacity-constrained settings in LMICs. View each chapter’s brief here.
• Learning During the Early Years: What is it, why does it matter and how do we promote it [PDF] (March 2022): shares the basic science of child development and explains how children develop schools and how to foster early stimulation and learning, along with a range of interventions to support families with young learners.
• COVID-19 and the Early Years: A Cross-Country Overview of Impact and Response in Early Childhood Development [PDF] (July 2021): presents compelling evidence for policymakers to take urgent action to protect their early childhood development systems based on a survey from 26 countries.
• Is Investment in Preprimary Education Too Low? Lessons from (Quasi) Experimental Evidence across Countries [PDF] (June 2021): examines the evidence of pre-primary investments from 55 (quasi-) experimental studies, suggesting spending increases would help improve the efficiency of early childhood interventions - particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Political Prioritization of Early Childhood Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries [PDF] (February 2021): seeks to understand the factors facilitating or impeding efforts to make early childhood education a government priority while drawing on a cross-country analysis.
• Are There Long-Term Benefits from Early Childhood Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? [PDF] (September 2018): investigates the relationship between ECE participation and several long-term outcomes such as: post-ECE educational attainment, cognitive and socio-emotional skill development and labor market outcomes.

Blogs

• What does it take to deliver quality early learning that nurtures children’s full potential? (September 27, 2022)
• Morocco's experience in ensuring quality preschool education (September 21, 2022)
• The challenges of repetition and dropout in primary school: quality early childhood education (ECE) in Senegal (May 25, 2022)
• Through the magnifying glass: Understanding the quality of ECE in South Africa (May 3, 2022)
• How to best support and protect young children during COVID-19? Some lessons learned (June 22, 2021)
• Supporting the youngest learners and their families in the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) response (April 16, 2020)
• The World Bank’s unwavering commitment to early childhood education (April 10, 2019)

Guidance Notes

• Global Guidance on Reopening Early Childhood Education Settings [PDF] (September 2020): As countries make decisions to reopen schools, there are unique considerations related to opening early childhood education (ECE) settings with holistic approaches to nurturing care and learning for young children.
• Investing in the Early Years During COVID-19 [PDF] (April 2020): Young children need comprehensive nurturing care which includes good health, adequate nutrition, early learning opportunities, responsive caregiving, and safety and security. The World Bank’s Investing in the Early Years framework lays out three pillars to ensure children reach their full potential.
• Promising Approaches in Early Childhood Development [PDF] (March 2017): This guide serves as a resource for policy makers and development professionals interested in improving access to high-quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) services. It brings together a selection of approaches to ECD that have been implemented with promising results in low- or middle-income countries (or both).
• Measuring the Quality of Early Learning Programs: ELP Guidance Note [PDF] (August 2016): This brief provides basic information on measuring the quality of early learning programs using a range of tools and approaches.
• Expanding Access to Early Childhood Development: Using Interactive Audio Instruction Toolkit [PDF] (February 2015): This toolkit is a user-friendly guide for program managers interested in developing high quality technology-enhanced early childhood programming, particularly in challenging, low-resource contexts. See Interactive Audio Instruction Pilot in Democratic Republic of Congo: Video as an example.

Country Case Studies

• ELP Impact in Pakistan [PDF] (February 2017): Expanding quality preschool and engaging families: This infographic provides a visual summary of how ELP investment to prepare a new Early Childhood Education Project in Pakistan yields significant results in expanding quality preschool.
• Scaling Up Preschool in Kenya: Cost, Constraints, and Opportunities ELP Policy Brief [PDF] (September 2016): This brief summarizes the findings of a recent study of the cost of preschool in Kenya, the financing gaps that remain, and possible policy options to achieve cost savings to help Kenya’s counties meet the goal of expanding quality ECDE service provision.