The impact of pre-school on young children's cognitive attainments at entry to reception.

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What were the main factors that affected children’s early progress?

The researchers examined children’s achievement on entering school as measured by a series of attainment tests in:

pre-reading;
early number concepts;
language;
non-verbal reasoning; and
spatial awareness and reasoning.

The researchers referred to children who had attended less than fifty hours (e.g. ten weeks at two sessions per week) in any form of pre-school setting as the home group. They found that these children were not as advanced on measures of the skills listed above as children who had attended pre-school provision for longer.

However, the researchers could not immediately conclude that these children’s lower test scores resulted solely from their lack of pre-school experience. Children from the home group came from more disadvantaged backgrounds. They were more likely than the children attending pre-schools:

to come from large families;
to speak English as an additional language;
to have mothers who were not working and who often had no formal qualifications; and
to be receiving free school meals.

These characteristics of the home group sample also have an important effect on children’s test performance. The researchers therefore used statistical analysis to isolate the separate effects of different background measures. They set out to clarify the extent to which each factor affected the results of the children’s assessments on entry to primary school. These findings are explained on pages 4 to 6 below and show the extent to which early learning is affected by factors to do with the child, their family and home environment. The researchers found that the benefits to children from attending pre-school could be seen in the data, even when factors to do with individual, family and home characteristics were taken into account. These findings are set out here.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What were the main factors that affected children’s early progress? How did the home learning environment affect children's development? How did family background affect children's development? How did individual differences affect children's development? How did the length of time that children spent attending pre-school affect their attainment? What conclusions did the researchers draw from their study? What were the aims of this study and how was it designed? What are the implications of the study for practitioners? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader The impact of pre-school on young children's cognitive attainments at entry to reception. This digest found in Early years Send to a friend Word doc 70KB Printer friendly Collate for later What were the main factors that affected children’s early progress? The researchers examined children’s achievement on entering school as measured by a series of attainment tests in: pre-reading; early number concepts; language; non-verbal reasoning; and spatial awareness and reasoning. The researchers referred to children who had attended less than fifty hours (e.g. ten weeks at two sessions per week) in any form of pre-school setting as the home group. They found that these children were not as advanced on measures of the skills listed above as children who had attended pre-school provision for longer. However, the researchers could not immediately conclude that these children’s lower test scores resulted solely from their lack of pre-school experience. Children from the home group came from more disadvantaged backgrounds. They were more likely than the children attending pre-schools: to come from large families; to speak English as an additional language; to have mothers who were not working and who often had no formal qualifications; and to be receiving free school meals. These characteristics of the home group sample also have an important effect on children’s test performance. The researchers therefore used statistical analysis to isolate the separate effects of different background measures. They set out to clarify the extent to which each factor affected the results of the children’s assessments on entry to primary school. These findings are explained on pages 4 to 6 below and show the extent to which early learning is affected by factors to do with the child, their family and home environment. The researchers found that the benefits to children from attending pre-school could be seen in the data, even when factors to do with individual, family and home characteristics were taken into account. These findings are set out here.