Section Eleven: Summarising the findings: What are the messages for
policy and practice?
Or, From Cinderella to Policy Princess
In less than seven years EPPE had recruited its sample of 3,000 families, constructed
developmental trajectories for children between the years of 3+ and 7, and described the Early
Years practices associated with children making a flying start to Reception class. This large-
scale longitudinal study required the contribution of six local authorities, 5 full time Regional
Officers responsible for keeping track of and assessing hundreds of children in their region, and
many part-time data analysts and research assistants, led by a full time research co-ordinator.
The research was guided by a Steering Committee, selected by the DfES (which included a
range of expertise encompassing research, policy and practice) and an equally helpful
Consultative Committee who ensured that the research questions were related to current policy
initiatives. When it became clear that integrated centres were ‘on the agenda’ the DfES
increased the scope of the study so that their impact on children’s development could also be
established. After so much effort, what has the research really shown?
Major findings at entry to school
1. Impact of attending any form of pre-school setting
Pre-school experience, compared to none, enhances children’s development.
Irrespective of level of multiple disadvantage, ‘home’ children (those who had little or no pre-
school experience) show poorer cognitive and social/behavioural outcomes at entry to school
and at the end of Year 1 than those who attended pre-school. They are more likely to be
identified by teachers as having some form of SEN. By the end of Key stage 1 the attainment
gap is still evident for reading and mathematics, but is no longer significant for social behaviour.
Figure 11.1: Bar Chart of the Effect of home v pre-school attendance on cognitive
attainment (contextualised models)
Effect Size
0.5 ...
4+ 6 7 years
4+ 6 7 years
Pre-reading
or reading tests
Number skills
or maths tests
0.45 -
0.4 -
0.35 -
0.3 -
0.25 -
0.2 -
0.15 -
0.1 -
0.05 -
0 -
The results in Figure 11.1 above are expressed in terms of effect sizes, these give a measure of
the strength of the relationship between attending a pre-school and not attending a pre-school on
attainment at different time points across Key Stage 1, after control for the impact of significant
child, family and home learning environment factors. It can be seen that the pre-school influence
is strongest for early number concepts when children start primary school (at age 4 years plus,
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