10th Meeting of the OECD Network on ECEC: Focus on “Research” from Policy Lever 5 of

Starting Strong III

Miho Taguma, Ineke Litjens, Janice Heejin Kim, Kelly

Makowiecki, Matias Egeland

OECD ECEC Team

Directorate for Education, OECD

Research can be an influential tool

to inform policy & practice.

It plays a key role in:

• Identifying the success or failure of programmes

• Prioritising important areas for investment

• Informing practices through evidence

• Explaining how children grow, ensuring healthy child

development

Example. Policy Implications of Meta Analysis

Percent of 1 standard deviation Note: *only 1 study in this category. Source: Nores and Barnett (2010). .

Nutrition Cash

Incentives

ECEC

Cognitive .26 .17 .35

Social .46* .21 .27

Schooling .11 --- .41

Health .38 .38 .23

Comparison of Effect Sizes

• To improve cognitive and schooling outcomes, ECEC have largest

effects.

• To improve health outcomes, nutrition provision and cash benefits

have larger effects than ECEC.

3 common challenges are being reported.

Challenge 1: Need for more evidence on the effects of

ECEC and cost-benefit analysis

• More data on costs and financing, and policy/programme

evaluations

• Balance between quantitative and qualitative research

Quantitative – consolidating facts, comparing the effectiveness of

different programme types/ pedagogical strategies

• Descriptive statistics, correlational studies, experimental/ quasi-

experimental research, cost-benefit analysis, etc.

Qualitative – informing practices with local values and democracy

• Case studies, ethnography, narratives, observations, interviews,

etc.

Country responses

Setting out research frameworks with sustained funding to

support long-term policy goals

• Launching a longitudinal study at the national/regional

level

(See Table)

• Establishing a national/regional body dedicated to ECEC

research

KOR, AUS, CAN (Manitoba)

• Contracting research to inform policy and practice

CAN (BC), ENG, FIN, IRL, KOR, NOR, POR,GRB

• The oldest longitudinal studies were launched in the United States.

• The first study measuring the impact of participation in preschool on

child outcomes dates back to the High/Scope Perry Preschool

Project, which started in 1962. The sample size of this study was

small, with only 123 children.

• Other frequently cited studies include:

Starting

year

Name of programme/ study Sample

size

1970s Abecedarian Programme 107

1980s Chicago Child Parent Centres 1,539

1990s Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study 826

NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth

Development

1,364

2000s Head Start Impact Study 4,667

Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies - Birth cohort 14,000

Example. Longitudinal Studies

• Since 1990s, a growing number of other countries have launched

longitudinal studies:

• Examples include:

1990s-

Country Name of programme/ study Sample

size

ENG Effective Provision of Pre-School Education 3,000

CAN Canadian Longitudinal Survey of Children and

Youth

6,685

DEN Danish Longitudinal Survey of Children 5,000

NZL Competent Children: Competent Learners 500

AUS Growing Up in Australia 1st cohort

5,000

SCO Growing up in Scotland 1st cohort

8,000

IRL Growing up in Ireland infant

11,100

KOR Panel Study of Korean Children 2,078

NZL Growing Up In New Zealand 7,000

NLD Pre-COOL 2,000

NOR Behaviour Outlook Norwegian Development Study 1,159

SLN Effects of pre-school on child development and

school achievement

430

DEU National Education Panel on Early Education and

Schooling

3,000

POL School effectiveness predictors – Longitudinal

study of Polish Children II

10,000

2000s-

2010s-

Challenge 2: Advancing in under-researched areas/ areas

with growing policy interest

• Children’s spaces and environments

• Effective interventions for children with diverse backgrounds

• How to optimise ECEC effectiveness

• Effectiveness of universal vs. targeted interventions

Country responses

Expanding research agendas to include:

• Children under age 3

FIN, FR-BL, KOR, NOR

• Cultural aspects and socio-cultural analysis

FIN, DEN, KOR

• Children's spaces and learning environments

FIN, JAP, KOR, NOR

• Different pedagogical interventions

DEN

Challenge 3: Lack of dissemination

• Linking research and policy/ practice – generic challenge in

education

• Technical language in research

• International dissemination

Country responses

• Providing financial or in-kind support for ECEC research

FIN

• Enhancing links between research and policy

CAN (Manitoba), FIN

• Enhancing links between research and practice

SLN, NOR

• Creating a regional/ international research network

• National - NOR

• Regional - DEN, NOR, SWE

• International – OECD, Pacific ECE Research Association (11)

Diversity in ECE (8)