Long-term Effects of Early Education in England

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Long-term Effects of Early Education in England
UNICEF/OSI/ISS April 2008
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The EPPE Team

• Principal Investigators
• Kathy Sylva University of Oxford
• Edward Melhuish Birkbeck, University of London
• Pam Sammons University of Nottingham
• Iram Siraj-Blatchford Institute of Education,
  University of London
• Brenda Taggart Institute of Education, University
  of London
• Researchers
• Stephen Hunt Institute of Education, University
  of London
• Helena Jelicic Institute of Education, University
  of London
• Olga Cara Institute of Education, University of
  London
• Rebecca Smees Institute of Education, University
  of London
• Wesley Welcomme Institute of Education,
  University of London

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Themes in todays presentation

• The effects of pre-school education on childrens
  intellectual and social/behavioural development
• Methods for studying effective education
• Working with policy makers and practitioners

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Experimental Design

• Independent Variable Early Childhood Education
• Dependent Variable Childrens / Adults
  Outcomes

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An experimental approachThe High/Scope Perry
Study in US

School Achievement Tests,plus Interviews with
children Social Profilesquestionnaires Intervie
ws with parents Behaviour Ratingsteachers Assig
nment to Special Education I.Q.
Jobs Training Parenthood Welfare Crime
Pre-school group
Control (no school) group
3 5 AGE 18 27
From Schweinhart Weikart, 1993
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An educational effectiveness approach
The EPPE Project has shown the contribution of
families and educational settings to childrens
developmental progress 37 years. It uses an
educational or school effectiveness design which
investigates natural variation using
multi-level modelling (pupil and class/school
level)
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The EPPE Sample

• Six local authorities strategically selected in
  England
• 141 pre-school centres randomly selected within
  the authorities to include playgroups, nursery
  classes, private day nurseries, day care centres
  run by local authorities, nursery schools and
  integrated centres
• 2800 randomly selected children from 141 centres
  300 from home
• Linked study of 800 in Northern Ireland

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The EPPE Mixed Method Design

• EPPE has an educational effectiveness design
  which includes both
• Quantitative (comparisons taking account of
  child, family and home factors) and
• Qualitative elements (detailed case studies).

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Design of EPPE 3-11 years
Pre-school Provision (3 yrs)
Reception
6yrs
7yrs
10yrs
11yrs
25 nursery classes 590
children
Key Stage 1 600 Schools
Key Stage 2 800 Schools
34 playgroups 610 children
31 private day nurseries
520 children
20 nursery schools 520
children
24 local authority day care nurseries 430
children
7 integrated centres 190
children
home 310 children
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Research Questions

• What is the impact of pre-school on young
  childrens intellectual and social/behavioural
  development?
• What is the contribution of quality?
• Are effects the same for all groups, e.g.
  disadvantaged groups?

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Child Assessments at entry to the study (age 3.0
years to 4 years 3 months)

• Cognition British Ability Scales non-verbal
  reasoning, block building.
• Language British Ability Scales naming
  vocabulary, verbal comprehension.
• Social and behavioural development
  cooperation/conformity, peer sociability,
  anti-social or upset behaviour.

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Child Assessments at entry to school (age 4 to
5 years)

• Cognition British Ability Scales non-verbal
  reasoning, pattern construction.
• Language British Ability Scales naming
  vocabulary, verbal comprehension.
• Numeracy British Ability Scales early number
  skills.
• Literacy skills letter recognition, phonological
  awareness.
• Social/behavioural development and dispositions
  cooperation/conformity, peer sociability,
  independence, anti-social and upset behaviour.

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Child assessments at age 6

• Standardised reading assessments (NFER)
• Standardised numeracy assessments (NFER)
• Profile of social and behavioural development
  (Hogan, supplemented)

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Child assessments at age 7

• Cognitive outcomes
• National Assessments (English, Maths)
• Social behavioural
• Attendance record
• Teachers record of Strengths and difficulties
  (Goodman, 1997) in social-emotional domain
• Childs attitudes to school (self-report) and
  self-esteem (self-report)
• Special needs assessment

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Child assessments at age 10

• Reading
• Maths
• Social/behavioural development

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Sources of Data

• Child assessments over 7 years e.g. cognitive
  tasks and social-emotional profile.
• Interviews e.g. with parents and heads of
  centres, and local authority officers.
• Systematic rating of quality in centres.
• Documents e.g. curriculum statements, policy
  documents etc.
• Qualitative case studies of centres.

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Value added study

• Childrens progress was assessed controlling for
  prior attainment at entry to the study at age 3
  (pre-test/post-test)
• Also child, parent, home learning environment
  factors were included in the analyses (as
  co-variants).

• Child Measures controlled for
• gender
• ethnicity
• number of siblings
• first language
• birth weight

• Family Measures controlled for
• SES
• education
• employment
• home learning environment

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Pre-school centre predictors

• Quality of the centre systematic observations
  using ECERS-E, ECERS-R, CIS
• Compositional effects, e.g.
• Percent of mothers with post-18 education
• Qualifications of staff
• Type of the centre, e.g. private or state
• Qualifications

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Effect of quality and duration on pre-school
children compared to home children
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Staff qualifications

• For cognitive progress, staff contact time at
  level 5 was positive significant for outcome
  (pre-reading)
• For social behavioural development
• staff contact time at level 5 was positive
  significant for Co-operation Conformity and
  also significantly associated with reductions in
  Anti-social / Worried behaviour

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ECERS-E subscales by manager qualification
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The contribution of social class and pre-school
to literacy attainment (age 7)
READING at key stage 1, social class and
pre-school experience
WRITING at key stage 1, social class and
pre-school experience
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Gender Attainment
Multiple Disadvantage Attainment
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Reading
Early Years Home Learning Environment - HLE
Mathematics
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The Impact of Child Factors, Family Factors and
Home-Learning on Cognitive Outcomes at Age 10

Child Factors
READING
Family Factors
MATHEMATICS
Home-Learning- Environment
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Reading Age 10 Factors with significant net
effect

Description
Factor
Effect Size
Gender Birthweight Ethnic groups Number of
siblings Need of EAL support Developmental
problems Parents qualification SES FSM Salary

0.10 0.40 0.35 0.21 0.37 0.17
0.64 0.36 0.27 0.27
Girls higher attainment than boys Normal
birthweight higher than very low
birthweight White UK heritage higher than some
minority groups 3 siblings lower than
singleton Need of EAL support predictor for low
attainment Early developmental problems
predictor for low attainment
Higher qualified parents higher attainment High
SES higher attainment Eligible for FSM
negative predictor Salary gt 67.500 / Year
higher attainment
(Early years) HLE
The higher the HLE-Index the higher the
attainment.
0.61
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Mothers Qualification
HLE (Early Years)
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Mathematics Age 10 Factors with significant
net effect

Description
Factor
Effect Size
Birthweight Ethnic groups Need of EAL
support Health problems Parents
qualification SES FSM Salary
0.42 0.39 0.51 0.45 0.54 0.27 0.22 0.30
Normal birthweight higher attainment than very
low birthweight Indian higher than White UK
heritage Need of EAL support negative
predictor Early health problems negative
predictor
Higher qualified parents higher attainment High
SES higher attainment Eligible for FSM
negative predictor Salary gt 17.500 / Year
higher attainment than no salary
0.57
(Early years) HLE
The higher the HLE-Index the higher the
attainment.
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Mothers Qualification
HLE (Early Years)
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The Influence of Pre-School and Primary School
on Cognitive Outcomes at Age 10
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The Net Effect of Pre-School
READING
Child Factors
Family Factors
Home-Learning- Environment
MATHEMATICS
Pre-School
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Net Pre-School Effects on Cognitive Outcomes at
Age 10

• No significant effects on Mathematics and Reading
  
• Pre-school experience (Yes/ No)
• Type of pre-School
• Duration of pre-school

• Significant better outcomes in Reading and
  Mathematics
• Children who attended a high quality pre-school
• Children who attended a very effective pre-school
• Larger effects are found for Maths

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The Net Effect of Pre-School and Quality of
Pre-School
Reference Group No Pre-School
Reference Group Low Quality
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The Net Impact of Primary School Effectiveness

READING
Child Factors
Family Factors
Home-Learning- Environment
MATHEMATICS
Primary School
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The Impact of Primary School Effectiveness
Reference Group Very low / low
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Social/Behavioural Outcomes at Age 10
Preliminary findings The Impact of Pre-School
on Self regulation and Hyperactivity
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For further Information about EPPE 3-11 visit
www.ioe.ac.uk/projects/eppe or Tel [phone]
Brenda Taggart Research Co-ordinator
(b.taggart_at_ioe.ac.uk)
A Longitudinal Study Funded by the DCSF
or the DCSF website at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
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Specific items associated with each
social/behavioural dimension

• Hyperactivity
• Restless, overactive, cannot stay still for long
• Constantly fidgeting or squirming
• Easily distracted, concentration wanders
• Thinks things out before acting
• Sees tasks through to the end, good attention
  span
• Quickly loses interest in what she/he is doing
• Gets over excited
• Easily frustrated
• Impulsive, acts without thinking
• Can behave appropriately during less structured
  sessions
• Fails to pay attention
• Makes careless mistakes

• Self-regulation
• Likes to work things out for self seeks help
  rarely
• Does not need much help with tasks
• Chooses activities on their own
• Persists in the face of difficult tasks
• Can move on to a new activity after finishing a
  task
• Open and direct about what she/he wants
• Confident with others
• Shows leadership in group work
• Can take responsibility for a task

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Specific items associated with each
social/behavioural dimension

• Anti-social
• Often fights with other children or bullies him
• Often lies or cheats
• Steals from home, school or elsewhere
• Vandalises property or destroys things
• Shows inappropriate sexual behaviour toward
  others
• Has been in trouble with the law

• Pro-social
• Considerate of other people's feelings
• Shares readily with other children (treats, toys,
  etc.)
• Helpful if someone is hurt, upset or feeling ill
• Kind to younger children
• Often volunteers to help others (teachers, other
  children)
• Offers to help others having difficulties with a
  task
• Sympathetic to others if they are upset
• Apologises spontaneously

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Narrative 1 The Light-Up Shoes
A few four-year-olds were sitting together. Three
of the children were wearing trainers that would
light up when they stepped down on them.
Teacher Wow! Look at your shoes! That is so
cool. They light up when you step down. Child 1
Yes, they do this. Jumps up and down several
times Teacher How does that happen? How does it
light up? Child 1 Because they are new. Teacher
Um. Mine are new too but they dont light up.
Child 2 No, because they light up when you step
down on them. Steps down hard several
times Teacher Steps down hard several times
Thats funny. Mine dont light up when I step
down. Child 3 No, no, no, you have to have these
holes points to the holes Teacher Pointing to
the holes in her own shoe But I have holes and
mine still dont light up, and Josh has holes in
his trainers too and his do not light up either.
I wonder why? Child 4 I think you need
batteries. Kids, you need batteries. Child 1
Yeah, you need batteries to make them work.
Thinks for a while. But I did not see batteries
when I put my toes in. Child 4 I think they are
under the toes. Child 2 I cant feel the
batteries under my toes. Teacher I wonder how
we can find out about this?