Elementary education is the initial stage of formal compulsory schooling in which children acquire foundational academic competencies and school-based learning habits needed for later educational progression [1][2][3][4]. It typically follows pre-primary education and precedes lower secondary education, with age range and grade span defined by national systems and international classification frameworks [1]. Elementary education is characterized by structured instruction in core domains—especially literacy and numeracy—along with broad early curriculum exposure and development of cognitive, social, and behavioral capacities for sustained learning [1][2][3]. In policy and research contexts, the term denotes this distinct institutional phase of schooling, and its quality is commonly evaluated through foundational learning, progression, and later achievement indicators [2][3][4].
- elementary education
- primary education
- foundational learning
- compulsory schooling
Psychology of Development and Education • Developmental and Educational Psychology • Psychology • Social Sciences
References
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). International Standard Classification of Education: ISCED 2011; UNESCO: Montreal, 2012. Available online: https://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/international-standard-classification-education-isced.
- Greg J. Duncan; Chantelle J. Dowsett; Amy Claessens; Katherine Magnuson; Aletha C. Huston; Pamela Klebanov; Linda S. Pagani; Leon Feinstein; Mimi Engel; Jeanne Brooks-Gunn; Holly Sexton; Kathryn Duckworth; Crista Japel; School readiness and later achievement.. Dev. Psychol. 2007, 43, 1428-1446. [CrossRef]
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- Steven G. Rivkin; Eric A. Hanushek; John F. Kain; Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement. Econometrica 2005, 73, 417-458. [CrossRef]