Nourishing care through caregiver involvement helps children grow and thrive to their full potential. Caregiver involvement develops different aspects of children's development, such as their motor, cognitive, and socio-emotional skills. Extensive research establishes that early childhood care and education (ECCE) is closely linked to children's environments, involving their caregivers and immediate surroundings, and also their socio-cultural interactions, overarching identities, values, and cultures in which children are embedded. Yet, the bulk of the existing literature on caregiver involvement in ECCE is based on Western countries. I address this gap in the research through three studies based in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Through a literature review, the first study analyzes the conceptualization and measurement of parental involvement in ECCE in LMICs. This study reveals crucial gaps in the conceptualization and measurement of parental involvement. There is an urgent need for comprehensive frameworks and valid, reliable measures that are better aligned to understand caregiver involvement in ECCE embedded in their local contexts in LMICs. The second study quantitatively analyzes home-based parental and adult involvement in ECCE across Ghana, The Gambia, and Zimbabwe. Using UNICEF's Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) data for the three countries, I conduct descriptive and multi-variate regression analysis. I examine variation in parental and adult involvement, child and household factors that influence involvement, and associations between involvement and early childhood development outcomes. The primary contribution of this study is the careful exposition of the important role other household members apart from parents, play in children's literacy and numeracy development, executive functioning, and overall development. The third study analyzes parental perceptions of early childhood education (ECE) in the context of increased global recognition of the need for responsive parental involvement. Through qualitative interviews with eighteen parents living in a low-income urban settlement in Delhi, India, I analyze parental perceptions, beliefs, and expectations of ECE. I find a dissonance between international and national policies on ECE, and local parental perceptions of children's early education. Although the international community and national policies push for a child-centered, developmentally-appropriate curriculum at the ECE level, parents prefer a cognitively focused education that develops reading, writing, and numeracy skills early on. As part of the conclusion of my dissertation, I present a conceptual framework that brings together findings from the three studies. This framework builds on existing theories and evidence yet expands the understanding of adult involvement particularly for LMIC contexts. My dissertation provides a breadth and depth of analysis on caregiver involvement while paying attention to variations in local contexts, environments, and socio-cultural settings. In doing so, this current research has highly pertinent implications for policy programs and future research. An increased understanding of parental and adult involvement patterns in relation to early childhood outcomes will facilitate better-informed policy programs for children and communities, addressing social inequalities in the long run.
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