While the theory of dynamic complementarity suggests that the benefits of early investments are reinforced by high-quality later educational environments, more recent research points to compensatory processes, where children with weaker early experiences can catch up when they encounter supportive learning environments later on.
Using quasi-experimental variation from the expansion of ECEC for 1- and 2-year-olds in Norway in the early 2000s, combined with registry data covering more than 100,000 children, the study examines whether school quality amplifies the long-term effects of ECEC or instead helps compensate for less extensive early ECEC exposure. The findings contribute to ongoing debates about how different stages of the education system work together to promote children’s learning and development.
Emma Hart is the 2026 Sigrid Blömeke Scholarship Award recipient. She is Post Doc at Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development. She has made groundbreaking contributions to the study of fade-out of intervention effects, among other things.