Michelle J. Neuman

This study provides an overview of Bank investments in Early Childhood Development (ECD) from 2000-2013 within the Education, Health, Nutrition and Population, and Social Protection and Labor practices. The study summarizes trends in operational and analytical investments in early childhood, including lending and trust funded operations at the country, regional, and global levels. Findings are presented on the overall level of finance during this thirteen-year period, the number of ECD investments, and regional and sectoral trends. A series of case studies are presented to highlight lessons learned to inform future Bank support to ECD and to promote better planning across sectors and regions. Trends in analytical and advisory activities are also discussed, including economic sector work, technical assistance, partnership activities, impact evaluations, programmatic approaches, and knowledge products. Finally, the study discusses recent new approaches to support ECD within the World Bank and in client countries. The study benefited from support from the Children Investment Fund Foundation.

La Banque mondiale a redige ce guide du developpement de la petite enfance (DPE) pour repondre a la demande croissante de conseil et d'appui des responsables de programmes en matiere de dialogue politique sur le theme du DPE, et pour aider les clients a prendre et a mettre en oeuvre des decisions pertinentes sur la meilleure maniere d'investir dans le DPE dans le cadre de leur economie et de leurs priorites nationales. Ce guide comble un manque dans la litterature actuelle sur le sujet (1) en distillant l'information existante sous la forme de notes concises et faciles a utiliser;(2) en fournissant une information pratique sur les dernieres questions pertinentes relatives au DPE, telles que la mesure des resultats du developpement des enfants grace a l'identification et l'adaptation d'instruments efficaces, aux transferts monetaires conditionnels destines aux familles de jeunes enfants, et autres; et (3) en evaluant la qualite des derniers faits rapportes pour chaque sujet et en identifiant les lacunes en matiere de connaissances pour lesquelles des experimentations et evaluations complementaires sont necessaires.

The World Bank created this Early Child Development (ECD) Guide in response to a growing demand from Task Team Leaders (TTLs) for advice and support to facilitate the policy dialogue on the topic of ECD and to help policy makers make and implement relevant choices on how to best invest in ECD in the context of their country’s economy and national priorities. This Guide fills a gap in the literature by (i) distilling existing information in a user-friendly format, (ii) providing practical information on topics that have recently become particularly relevant in ECD (e.g., measuring child development outcomes through the identification and adaptation of relevant instruments, conditional cash transfers for families with young children, etc.), and (iii) assessing the quality of the latest evidence on each topic and identifying the knowledge gaps/remaining questions for which additional experimentation and evaluation are required. This Guide is designed as a series of short notes (approximately 6-8 pages each), clustered into thematic sections: (i) Initiating the policy dialogue: Why invest in ECD? (3 notes); (ii) Assessing needs, measuring outcomes, and establishing policy frameworks (2 notes); (iii) “Strategic entry points” for ECD investments (4 notes); and (iv) Costing and financing (2 notes). The notes are summarize the main debates in the field. Each note is designed to be read independently, so information is sometimes repeated or cross-referenced across notes.

In a European context of rapidly expanding early education/ care provision for young children, the staffing of these services is a critical quality issue. What are the requirements for professional education and training? How alike or how varied are the qualification profiles and fields of work? Through detailed country reports and comparative analyses across 27 countries, this book provides answers to these questions.