The name is absent

Playgroup children also tended to experience a lower average number of sessions at the target
pre-school before starting primary school. This was also related to poorer progress.

The impact of pre-school - quantity and quality

After taking account of child, parent and home environment factors, children who started pre-
school at a younger age (i.e. below 3 years of age) had significantly higher age-adjusted
cognitive attainment at the start of the project than those who started at an older age. However,
the minority who started below 2 years of age did not show more positive outcomes than those
who had joined their pre-school centre aged between 2 and 3 years. This advantage was still
evident when children entered primary school. This suggests that, in general, children who start
pre-school at a younger age (between 2 and 3 years) experience a cognitive boost, which
remains evident up to the start of primary school.

The duration of pre-school⁴ showed a significant positive link with young children’s cognitive
progress during pre-school for all five cognitive measures. A longer period of months of pre-
school experience was associated with greater gains, even when other significant factors are
controlled.⁵ By contrast, the number of sessions for which a child was registered per week was
not found to relate to amount of cognitive gain during pre-school, when the impact of other
factors was controlled. There was no evidence that full-time provision (10 sessions per week)
resulted in better outcomes than part-time provision (i.e. 5 sessions). Taken together, the
findings suggest that an extended period of pre-school experience on a part time basis is likely to
be more advantageous than a shorter time period of full-time provision.⁶

The study explored variation in the quality of individual centres using the Early Childhood
Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-E and ECERS-R scales) as described in Section 5. Higher
quality as assessed by the ECERS-E scale was significantly positively related to children’s
cognitive progress in several areas: pre-reading, early number concepts and non-verbal
reasoning. The literacy sub-scale of ECERS-E was also found to be positively related to progress
in pre-reading and early number concepts, while the diversity sub-scale (which includes items on
differentiation, observation, individual record keeping and ability grouping) was also significantly
related to progress in pre-reading, early number concepts and non-verbal reasoning.

The analyses of the ECERS-R sub-scales also suggest that other aspects of quality (the social
interaction, adults working together and language reasoning sub-scales) were associated with
better progress in several cognitive outcomes. Additionally, other quality measures of adult-child
interactions (the Caregiver Interaction Scale) showed effects upon development. The sub-scale
positive relationships was related to greater pre-reading progress. By contrast, the three sub-
scales that assess negative aspects of adult-child relationships and interaction (detachment,
permissive and punitive) were associated with poorer progress in pre-reading and early number
concepts. These effects were independent of SES and indicate that children from all SES
groups benefit from higher quality provision.

⁴ The duration of pre-school was measured by the number of months from entry assessment (age 3 plus)
to the date of starting primary school. A separate measure of total number of sessions attended in the
target pre-school centre during this period was also collected from registers. Analyses showed similar
results but the duration measure showed a stronger relationship with progress.

⁵ The baseline (entry to the study at age 3+) attainment measures were standardised on the basis of
children’s age at assessment, in addition age at follow up assessment in primary school was also
controlled. The duration measure excludes time in pre-school prior to age at which children were recruited
to the project (i.e. earlier starting age). Attendance patterns at pre-school were also found to be statistically
significant.

⁶ Quantity of sessions attended was statistically significant. The total number of sessions a child was
recorded as having attended their target pre-school centre was related to greater progress for language
and verging on significance for pre-reading and spatial awareness / reasoning (pattern construction).
Those who attended a higher total number of sessions during the study period made greater cognitive
gains. Duration, however, showed a stronger link than attendance, when both measures were tested in
the statistical models.

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