Foundation Stage Profile data

The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Project

The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education project is the first major European longitudinal study of a national sample of young children's development (intellectual and social/behavioural) between the ages of 3 and 7 years. To investigate the effects of pre-school education for 3 and 4 year olds, the EPPE team collected a wide range of information on over 3000 children, their parents, their home environments and the pre-school settings they attended.

The EPPE findings indicate that at age five the average difference in child development between those who have attended pre-school and those without pre-school experience is four to six months. The research also shows that disadvantaged children can benefit significantly from good quality pre-school experiences, giving them a developmental boost at entry to primary school which continues to the end of KS1.

Six main types of provision were randomly sampled in each region (the most common forms of English provision): playgroups (voluntary provision led by parents), governmental day nurseries (usually for children from disadvantaged backgrounds), private day nurseries, nursery schools run by the local authority, nursery classes in primary schools, and government centres combining care and education. Centres were selected randomly within each type of provision in the five locations. 20-25 children were randomly sampled in each pre-school centre when they entered.

In addition to centre effects, the study investigates the contribution to children's development of individual and family characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, language, parental education and employment.

Given the disparate nature of children's pre-school experience it is vital to ensure that the influences of age at assessment, amount and length of pre-school experience and pre-school attendance record are accounted for when estimating the effects of pre-school education. Predictor variables for attainment at entry to reception include prior attainment (verbal and non-verbal sub scales, social/emotional profiles), and child and family characteristics. The EPPE multilevel analyses incorporate adjustment for measurement error and examine difference in the development of different groups of children at entry to pre-school and again at entry to reception classes. The extent to which any difference increase/decrease over this period will be explored, enabling equity issues to be addressed.