The socio-economic gradient in early child outcomes: evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study

This paper shows that there are large differences in cognitive and socio-emotional development between children from rich and poor backgrounds at the age of 3, and that this gap widens by the age of 5. Children from poor backgrounds also face much less advantageous "early childhood caring environments" than children from better off families. For example we identify differences in poor children's and their mothers' health and well-being (e.g. birth-weight, breast-feeding, and maternal depression); family interactions (e.g. mother child closeness); the home learning environment (e.g. reading regularly to the child); parenting styles and rules (e.g. regular bed-times and meal-times), and experiences of childcare by ages 3 and 5. Differences in the home learning environment, particularly at the age of 3 have an important role to play in explaining why children from poorer backgrounds experience lower levels of cognitive development than children from better off families. However, a much larger proportion of the gap remains unexplained, or appears directly related to other aspects of family background (such as mothers' age, and family size) that are not mediated through the early childhood caring environment. When it comes to socio-emotional development, a greater proportion of the socio-economic gap does appear to be related to differences in the early childhood caring environment.

Effective Pre-school and Primary Education 3-11 Project (EPPE 3-11): Final Report from the Primary Phase: Pre-school, School and Family Influences on children's development during Key Stage 2 (7-11)

The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education 3-11 project (EPPE 3-11) has studied pre-school and primary school experiences for a national sample of approximately 2,800 children in England between the ages of 3 and 11 years. This Research Brief summarises the key findings up to the end of primary school. It focuses on the relationships between child, family, home, pre-school and primary school characteristics and pupils\u27 subsequent cognitive (Reading/English and Mathematics) and social/behavioural outcomes (\u27Self-regulation\u27, \u27Pro-social\u27 behaviour, \u27Hyperacti vity\u27 and \u27Anti-social\u27 behaviour) at ages 10 and 11 in Years 5 and 6 of primary school. It also reports on associations between pupils\u27 outcomes and \u27other\u27 factors such as pupils\u27 self-perceptions and their views of primary school at age 10, pupil mobility, out of school hours learning and season of birth. In addition, it explores the school/classroom practices and processes associated with pupil outcomes for a sub-group of pupils in 125 Year 5 classes. These findings update and extend earlier analyses of pupils\u27 outcomes in pre-school and Key Stage 1 (see Sylva et al., 2004) and form the end point of the primary school phase of the research

Enhancing parents' ways of supporting their children's early learning through participation in an early-intervention project in the UK: the early learning partnership project

"In diesem Beitrag werden die Auswirkungen eines aufwändigen Frühinterventionsprogramms namens 'Early Learning Partnership Project' (ELPP), das während einer Reformperiode der Regierung bei neun Institutionen der Freiwilligen- und Gemeinwesenarbeit im Vereinigten Königreiches eingeführt wurde, beschrieben. Im Mittelpunkt des Programmes standen die Eltern von Kindern im Alter von ein bis drei Jahren, die dem Risiko von Lernverzögerungen ausgesetzt waren. Es zielte darauf ab, die elterliche Beteiligung am Lernen ihrer Kinder zu erhöhen, um so einer Verringerung späterer Benachteiligungseffekte den Weg zu bereiten. Der Einfluss des ELPP wurde mithilfe einer Mixed-Methods-Evaluation untersucht. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird über eine Elternstichprobe an 20 'exemplarischen' Standorten berichtet. Dabei nahmen die Eltern zu zwei Messzeitpunkten an einer Auswahl strukturierter Beobachtungen (HOME und Booksharing Observation) und strukturierten Fragebogeninterviews (Home Learning Environment, Parental Feelings Questionnaire und Father Involvement Questionnaire) teil. Es zeigte sich, dass kurze Interventionen gegenüber den Eltern deren Erziehungsverhalten, persönlichen Überzeugungen und die affektive Beziehung zu Kindern beeinflussen konnten. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass es mit dem britischen Interventionsprogramm ELPP möglich ist, innerhalb von mindestens drei Monaten das Niveau der elterlichen Beteiligung zu erhöhen und die Qualität des häuslichen Lernumfeldes auf eine breitere Grundlage zu stellen." (Autorenreferat)"This paper describes the impact of a complex intervention program entitled the 'Early Learning Partnership Project' (ELPP) which was rolled out across nine voluntary and community sector (VCS) agencies within the United Kingdom during a period of Government reform. It focused on parents of children aged between 1-3 who were at risk of learning delay, and aimed to increase parental involvement within children's learning as a precursor to reducing the later effects of disadvantage. A mixed methods evaluation examined the influence of ELPP. This paper reports specifically on a sample of parents from twenty 'exemplar' sites participating in the program. Parents took part in a selection of structured observations (HOME and Book-sharing Observation) and structured questionnaires (Home Learning Environment, Parental Feelings Questionnaire and Father Involvement Questionnaire) across two time points. This paper shows that a short intervention with parents can influence parenting practices, personal beliefs and affective relationships with children. The findings suggest that through ELPP, a UK-based intervention, it is possible to improve levels of parental involvement and broaden the quality of the home learning environment via an early intervention project in a minimum of three months." (author's abstract

Believing in better: How Aspirations and Academic Self Concept Shape Young People’s Outcomes

Low aspirations are often cited as crucial in determining differences in students’ post 16 choices.1 In this report, we explore recent evidence about young people’s views and the importance they attach to going on to university, their beliefs about their own academic ability and their experiences of school to see how far these influences shape differences in A-level outcomes at age 18. This report is the third in a series produced using EPPSE datai for the Sutton Trust and it explores students’ aspirations in relation to their views on the importance of getting a degree, their own university plans and their beliefs about their academic performance and abilities (described in this report as their ‘academic self-concept’). Our first report focused on high attaining students (identified at Key Stage 2 in primary school) who were followed up to Key Stage 5.2 Our second report investigated gender, ethnicity and 'place' poverty differences in academic outcomes during Key Stage 5 when students were in Year 12 and Year 13 of secondary education, attending either school or college.3 This report explores different factors that can shape young people’s goals, including parental, peer and school influences on students’ aspirations and their beliefs about their academic performance and abilities