Understanding Learning Loss in COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development

A new early childhood development study used IDELA data to project how learning and development of preschool-aged children could be affected by COVID-19-related service disruptions. Projections like this are crucial for understanding the impact of COVID-19 on young children and the measures that can mitigate negative impacts.

Understanding Learning Loss in COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development utilized longitudinal and cross-sectional datasets from Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Rwanda and Ethiopia. The study found that certain domains of child development, like social-emotional learning, might be negatively affected more than others. It also found that stimulating home learning environments could potentially alleviate some of the adverse effects of the pandemic on early development.

These findings make it clear that policy-makers and donors must not exclude the youngest learners when they consider how to implement remote or in person school options.

“Understanding Learning Loss in COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development” was written by:

Lela Chakhaia, Senior Specialist for Learning Research at Save the Children USA

Lauren Pisani, Advisor for Learning Research at Save the Children USA

Caroline Dusabe, Senior Specialist for Early Childhood Development at Save the Children USA

Dana McCoy, Assistant Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education

Andres Moya, Assistant Professor at Universidad de los Andes School of Economics

Elizabeth Spier, Principal Researcher at American Institutes for Research

Many thanks also to Jana de Torrico, Subodh Kumar, Lisa Easterbrooks, Monique Abimpaye, Sophie Barnes, Carolina Maldonado and Juan Camillo Cristancho Amaya for their contributions to this research.