In low- and middle-income countries, rural children rank below their urban counterparts on academic achievement. Given the importance of early childhood education (ECE) in promoting early learning, the urbanicity disparities may be partially explained by limited ECE availability in rural areas and the proliferation of private centers in urban areas. Using data from 6,000 economically disadvantaged children from India, Peru, and Vietnam, this study estimated the size of the differences in academic achievement between urban and rural children at ages five and eight after controlling by child and family characteristics. Additionally, we explored whether participation in public and private ECE mediated the relation between urbanicity and achievement. Results showed that family characteristics explained around half of the urbanicity-related gaps in achievement in Peru and Vietnam and completely explained these gaps in India. Additional results indicated that living urban areas was positively associated with academic achievement through increased attendance to ECE, with larger gains related to attendance to private centers. These results suggests that ECE access may be a promising pathway to close the urban-rural achievement gap. However, monitoring the quality of ECE settings serving low-income children -especially those in rural areas- is necessary to reap the full benefits of early education on child development.

在低收入和中等收入国家，农村儿童的学业成绩低于城市儿童。鉴于幼儿教育 (ECE) 在促进早期学习方面的重要性，城市地区的差异可能部分是由于农村地区幼儿教育的可用性有限以及城市地区私立中心的激增造成的。这项研究利用来自印度、秘鲁和越南的 6,000 名经济弱势儿童的数据，在控制儿童和家庭特征后，估计了城乡儿童 5 至 8 岁学业成绩的差异大小。此外，我们还探讨了公共和私人儿童早教的参与是否调节了都市性和成就之间的关系。结果显示，家庭特征解释了秘鲁和越南大约一半与城市化相关的成就差距，并完全解释了印度的这些差距。其他结果表明，通过增加儿童早教的入学率，居住城市地区与学业成绩呈正相关，其中与私立中心的入学率相关的收益更大。这些结果表明，获得儿童早教服务可能是缩小城乡成就差距的一条有希望的途径。然而，为了充分发挥早期教育对儿童发展的益处，有必要监测为低收入儿童（尤其是农村地区儿童）提供服务的儿童早教机构的质量。其他结果表明，通过增加儿童早教的入学率，居住城市地区与学业成绩呈正相关，其中与私立中心的入学率相关的收益更大。这些结果表明，获得儿童早教服务可能是缩小城乡成就差距的一条有希望的途径。然而，为了充分发挥早期教育对儿童发展的益处，有必要监测为低收入儿童（尤其是农村地区儿童）提供服务的儿童早教机构的质量。其他结果表明，通过增加儿童早教的入学率，居住城市地区与学业成绩呈正相关，其中与私立中心的入学率相关的收益更大。这些结果表明，获得儿童早教服务可能是缩小城乡成就差距的一条有希望的途径。然而，为了充分发挥早期教育对儿童发展的益处，有必要监测为低收入儿童（尤其是农村地区儿童）提供服务的儿童早教机构的质量。