Decades of evidence show that high-quality early education supports young children’s learning. However, it is often difficult to measure exactly which features of early learning programs matter most for children’s gains.

In a NEW research brief, Early Learning Network researchers explore lessons learned from one approach to measurement: Fine-grained, time-based measures that capture how young children spend their time in pre-K and kindergarten classrooms.The brief outlines three key findings from the team's analysis and implications for future work.

The Early Learning Network, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, leverages its expertise, resources and geographic diversity to help close the achievement gap and maintain early learning success as children transition from preschool to third grade. Together, network researchers from universities and organizations across the U.S. are examining current policies and practices, identifying malleable factors associated with early learning and achievement and developing tools to assess early learning instruction, interactions and environments. Learn more at earlylearningnetwork.unl.edu.