Effective provision of pre-school education

Early years education has become a key feature of national policy in the UK as government, local education authorities and schools try to find ways of making a difference to the lives of young children and their families.Research (such as Feinstein, 2003 - see Further Reading) has shown that children from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds are particularly at risk of under-achievement or even failure at school; research in the USA and Canada has also shown that that targeted intervention at an early stage can make a lasting difference for the better. The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project team set out to make a contribution to evidence-based policy and practice in this area in a number of ways. This TLA research summary draws on two strands of the work in particular: the interim findings (from 14 case studies) which were reported in an earlier TLA research summary, Researching effective pedagogy in the early years; and the final overview report which is summarised here. This presents a very comprehensive picture of all the evidence about impact, illustrated through a series of case studies. The report is:Sylva, K., E. Melhuish, P. Sammons, I. Siraj-Blatchford and B. Taggart. The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Final Report. A longitudinal study funded by the DfES, 1997-2004.In this study, the researchers investigated the impact of pre-school provision in England on children's intellectual, social and behavioural development at age five and seven. (A TLA research summary of a subsequent report by the EPPE team, which examines the continuing effects of pre-school at key stage 2, will be available soon). The researchers collected a range of information on 2,800 children, who between them had attended 141 pre-school settings, and an additional 300 children with no pre-school experience, to investigate: the pre-school factors that had an impact on children's development which children particularly benefited from pre-school education the impact of the home on children's development whether the effects of pre-school continued through Key Stage 1. The researchers found that pre-school provision had positive effects on children's development, that some preschools were more effective than others, that beneficial effects of pre-school lasted through key stage 1 and that an earlier start in pre-school was associated with better intellectual development. They found that activities which parents and carers undertook with their young children (such as reading to them, singing songs and nursery rhymes and playing with letters and numbers) made a difference to their children's development too. The researchers also highlighted specific features of pre-school practice (such as 'sustained shared thinking', where adults and children work together to explore problems and balancing adult-led and child-led learning activities) that were evident in the most effective settings.The TLA research team presents this summary of the overview report of the work of the EPPE research because it identifies, explores and offers teachers the opportunity to reflect on teaching and learning in the context of the  range of factors which are present in the lives of young children. Whilst the study is particularly relevant to school leaders and teachers of early years and early primary children, it also provides all teachers with insight into education in these formative years on which later education crucially depends. The study is unusual in providing a very wide range of types of evidence about learning amongst very young children based on longitudinal data.