Contents
page
Executive summary i-viii
Section 1 1
Policy context of the EPPE study
Section 2 2
Previous research on the effectiveness of pre-school education and care
Section 3 4
Design of study
Aims 5
The sample: regions, centres and children 5
Child assessments 6
Measuring child/family characteristics known to have an impact on 6
children’s development
Pre-school characteristics and processes 6
Setting the centres in context 7
Case studies 7
Analytical Strategy 7
Identifying individual centre effects and type of provision at entry to school 7
Identifying continuing effects of pre-school centres at Key Stage 1 8
The linked study in Northern Ireland 8
Summary 9
Section 4 10
What were the children and families like at the beginning of the study?
Comparing the EPPE sample to the UK population 10
How do groups within the sample compare 11
What background variables are related to child development at the start of 12
the study?
Section 5 15
The pre-school settings: Context and Quality
Observational profiles of centres 15
Details of early childhood environmental rating scales 16
Overall profiles of quality 17
Comparison of pre-school environments by type of provision 17
The focus on curriculum in ECERS-E 18
Variation within type of provision 19
Quality characteristics 19
Caregiver interaction scale 19
Staffing 20
Qualifications and training 20
Quality and programmes 21
Summary of quality profiles 21
Section 6 22
The developmental progress of children over the pre-school period
Background 22
Methodology 22
Main findings and implications for policy 22
Cognitive development 23
The impact of a child’s background 23
Home learning environment 25
Variations in centre effectiveness 25
The impact of pre-school - quantity and quality 26
Type of provision 27
Ratios and staff qualifications 28