@article{2c7ca16fbe434418943db0c9ac6c2630,
title = "Medium-term protective effects of quality early childhood education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana",
abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic led to extended school closures globally. Access to remote learning opportunities during this time was vastly unequal within and across countries. Higher-quality early childhood education (ECE) can improve later academic outcomes, but longer-term effects during crises are unknown. This study provides the first experimental evidence of how previously attending a higher-quality ECE program affected child engagement in remote learning and academic scores during pandemic-related school closures in Ghana. Children (N = 1668; 50.1% male; Mage = 10.1 years; all Ghanaian nationals) who attended higher-quality ECE at age 4 or 5 years had greater engagement in remote learning (d =.14) in October 2020, but not better language and literacy and math scores. Previous exposure to higher-quality ECE may support educational engagement during crises.",
author = "Sharon Wolf and Elisabetta Aurino and Suntheimer, {Noelle M.} and Avornyo, {Esinam A.} and Edward Tsinigo and Behrman, {Jere R.} and Aber, {J. Lawrence}",
note = "Funding Information: This paper reflects contributions from many organizations and individuals. We thank the committed staff and thought partners at Innovations from Poverty Action and the talented data collection supervisors and enumerators. This research was funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)‐Newton Fund. In addition, funding for the original study came from the UBS Optimus Foundation and the World Bank Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund and Early Learning Partnership, and the British Academy's Early Childhood Development Programme, supported under the United Kingdom Government's Global Challenges Research Fund and by the Department for International Development. Finally, we thank NYU Abu Dhabi Research Institute for core support to the Global TIES for Children Center, which provided intramural support to the seventh author for research activities that directly contributed to this article, as well as the Imperial College Research and Jacobs Foundation fellowships awarded to the second author. 1 Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors. Child Development {\textcopyright} 2022 Society for Research in Child Development.",
year = "2022",
doi = "10.1111/cdev.13824",
language = "English (US)",
journal = "Child Development",
issn = "0009-3920",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
}