Premised on the understanding that diverse countries have diverse approaches to serving young children, and that all countries can learn from effective early childhood efforts throughout the world, a study was launched to examine diverse early childhood systems. Using data from Australia, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea and led by internationally known scholars from these countries, the Early Advantage effort sought to discern what made these countries have strong services for young children and what lessons/strategies/policies could be extracted that would be prudent and beneficial to other countries globally. Though several years old now, the data do reveal certain commonalities, and evoke common challenges that remain highly salient today. In this presentation, I will summarize the study methodology and findings, stressing what has been learned that could be applied across multiple contexts and countries. I would spend time not only on the content of the study, but on what it takes to mount effective comparative scholarship. Reflecting on study strengths and findings, this presentation could help drive new initiatives and services as participants learn what countries are doing that is both inventive and effective. I will highlight the methodological challenges in doing cross-national work and the durable, transcendent findings from it.
