supplement to the ECERS-R and was developed specially for the EPPE study to reflect the
Desirable Learning Outcomes (which have since been replaced by the Early Learning Goals),
and more importantly the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage which at the time was in
trial stage.
Educational effectiveness Research design which seeks to explore the effectiveness of
educational institutions in promoting a range of child/student outcomes (often academic
measures) while controlling for the influence of intake differences in child/student characteristics.
Effect sizes (ES) Effect sizes (ES) provide a measure of the strength of the relationships
between different predictors and the child outcomes under study. For further discussion see
Appendix 5 and Elliot & Sammons (2004).
Family factors Examples of family factors are mother’s qualifications, father’s employment and
family SES.
Hierarchical nature of the data Data that clusters into pre-defined sub-groups or levels within a
system (i.e. young children, pre-school centres, LAs).
Home learning environment (HLE) factors Measures derived from reports from parents (at
interview) about what children do at home, for example, playing with numbers and letters, singing
songs and nursery rhymes.
Intervention study A study in which researchers ‘intervene’ in the sample to control variables
i.e. control by setting, the adult:child ratios in order to compare different specific ratios in different
settings. EPPE is not an intervention study in that it investigates naturally occurring variation in
pre-school settings.
Intra-centre/school correlation The intra-centre/school correlation measures the extent to
which the scores of children in the same centre/school resemble each other as compared with
those from children at different centres/schools. The intra-centre/school correlation provides an
indication of the extent to which unexplained variance in children’s progress (i.e. that not
accounted for by prior attainment) may be attributed to differences between centres/schools.
This gives an indication of possible variation in pre-school centre/school effectiveness.
Multiple Disadvantage Index Based on three child variables, six parent variables, and one
related to the home learning environment (HLE) which were considered ‘risk’ indicators when
looked at in isolation. A child’s ‘multiple disadvantage’ was calculated by summing the number of
indicators the child was at risk on.
Multilevel modelling A methodology that allows data to be examined simultaneously at
different levels within a system (i.e. young children, pre-school centres, LAs), essentially a
generalisation of multiple regression.
Multiple regression A method of predicting outcome scores on the basis of the statistical
relationship between observed outcome scores and one or more predictor variables.
Net effect The unique contribution of a particular variable upon an outcome while other
variables are controlled.
Outliers Pre-school centres where children made significantly greater/less progress than
predicted on the basis of prior attainment and other significant child, parent and home learning
environment (HLE) characteristics.
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