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Research
Hospital admission for infection during early childhood influences developmental vulnerabilities at age 5 yearsThis study demonstrates a pervasive effect of early life infections that require hospital admission on multiple aspects of early child development
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Application of a marginal structural model and simulation of a cash transfer programmeParental investments in children are an important determinant of human capability formation.
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Evaluating a community-based early childhood education and development program in Indonesia: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trialThe aim of the trial is to evaluate a community-based early education and development program launched by the Government of Indonesia.
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Evaluating Early Childhood Education and CareEvaluating Early Childhood Education and Care
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Review of the quality of evidence for preschool and school-based programs to support social and emotional skills, perseverance and academic self-conceptThis project provides guidance to help school leaders review the evidence for different programs, as well as a review of universal, evidence-based pre-school and school-based social and emotional learning programs available in Australia.
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Measuring early child development in low and middle income countries: Investigating the validity of the early Human Capability IndexInclusion of early child development in the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda raises issues of how this goal should be monitored, particularly in low resource settings. The aim of this paper was to explore the validity of the early Human Capability Index (eHCI); a population measure designed to capture the holistic development of children aged 3-5 years. Convergent, divergent, discriminant and concurrent validity were examined by exploring the associations between eHCI domains and child (sex, age, stunting status, preschool attendance) and family (maternal education, home learning environment) characteristics. Analyses were repeated using data from seven low and middle income countries.
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Early literacy skills: review of evidence for pedagogical approaches that best support children’s early literacy skillsRecent evidence indicates that a child’s home learning environment is the strongest predictor of success in later reading abilities and that for children not receiving structured language and reading support at home.
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The education word gap emerges by 18 months: findings from an Australian prospective studyThe idea of the '30 million word gap' suggests families from more socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds engage in more verbal interactions with their child than disadvantaged families. Initial findings from the Language in Little Ones (LiLO) study up to 12 months showed no word gap between maternal education groups.
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Creating community indicators for early childhood development: challenges and innovations from the kids in communities studyThe community (or neighbourhood) is seen as a potential point of intervention for improving early childhood development outcomes through place-based approaches targeting all children. Yet there are insufficient robust data to guide policy and practice. Developing community factors for early childhood development is one way to facilitate more informed, evidence-based community action. This paper discusses the methodological learnings from the Kids in Communities Study, an Australian investigation into community-level factors important for early childhood development, including some of the challenges and innovations associated with the measurement and development of indicators.
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Validity and Reliability of the Early Development Instrument in IndonesiaThis study finds that the EDI shows moderate validity and reliability in poor communities in Indonesia and highlights some of the difficulties associated with adapting western instruments for non-western cultures and contexts.