Inclusive Education and Well-being for Ghanaians and Kenyans, Ages 0-5

Project Description:

Children can be true citizens of a World of Play if they have good health, family and community support, learning opportunities, and access to resources. For this to happen, a locally–responsive set of evidence-based strategies is needed on all levels of the child’s ecosystem to create comprehensive and sustainable programs with mutually reinforcing synergies. Ghana and Kenya, leaders in Early Child Development (ECD) in Africa, have policy mandates but inadequate resources for the required inclusive and integrative practices. Our team brings long-standing collaborations with Ghanian and Kenyan ministries, universities, and community organizations to focus on: 1) early identification and interventions for developmental delays and disorders (DDD); 2) wellbeing of children, caregivers and teachers; 3) parenting supports; and 4) improved play-based early child education (ECE) and learning by increasing teacher practices, inclusive education with support for DDD, access to toys and local language learning materials, with parent and community engagement.

Project Partners

Ghana Project Partners

• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)
• Ministry of Education
• Ministry of Health
• Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection
• National Nursery Teachers Training Centre
• University of Ghana, Speech, Language Therapy Department

Kenya Project Partners

• Aga Khan University
• Columbia Global Centers
• Kenya Institute of Special Education
• Kenya National Qualifications Authority
• Ministry of Health
• Ministry of Education
• University of Nairobi, Department of Educational Communication Technology and Pedagogical Studies  

United States Project Partners

• Teachers College, Columbia University
• University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

Project Team Members

Individuals denoted by an asterisk (*) are the global team leads.

TEACHERS COLLEGE TEAM MEMBERS

• Catherine Crowley, J.D., PhD, CCC-SLP, Professor of Practice
• Alex Eble, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics and Education
• Andrew Michael Gordon, PhD, Professor of Movement Sciences
• Carol Scheffner Hammer, PhD, CCC-SLP, Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Vice Dean for Research *
• Laudan Jahromi, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Education
• Sharon Lynn Kagan, EdD, Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy and Co-Director of the National Center for Children and Families
• Mary Mendenhall, EdD, Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education  
• Lori Quinn, PT, EdD, Associate Professor of Movement Science & Kinesiology
• Laura Smith, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Education
• Lalitha Vasudevan, PhD, Professor of Technology and Education,Vice Dean for Digital Innovation and Managing Director, Teachers College Digital Futures Institute; Director, Media and Social Change Lab
• Helen Verdeli, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology and Education *
• Sandra Willis, PhD (visiting scholar at TC)

AGA KHAN UNIVERSITY TEAM MEMBERS

• Manasi Kumar, PhD, Senior Implementation Specialist, Brain and Mind Institute *

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION TEAM MEMBERS

• Dr. Sharon Wolf, PhD, Associate Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methods