early child care and education

Improving development outcomes for children through effective practice in integrating early years services (Knowledge Review 3)

Knowledge review that tells us what works in integrating early years services. It is based on a rapid review of the research literature involving systematic searching, analysis of key data, validated local practice examples and views from people using services and providers. It summarises the best available evidence that will help service providers to improve services and, ultimately, outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Improving children’s attainment through a better quality of family-based support for early learning (Research Review 2)

Review to identify the best available evidence on the potential and practical possibilities for improving children’s early learning outcomes through family-based support. The review seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the forms of family support that research has identified as significant and the specific learning outcomes they affect. The review also provides a common language and framework for the ongoing C4EO engagement with systems change and practice improvement.

Improving children's attainment through a better quality of family-based support for early learning (Knowledge Review 2)

Knowledge review that tells us what works in improving family-based support for children’s learning. It is based on a rapid review of the research literature involving systematic searching, analysis of key data, validated local practice examples and views from both people using services and providers. It summarises the best available evidence that will help service service providers to improve services and ultimately outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Narrowing the gap in outcomes for young children through effective practices in the early years (Research Review 1)

Report that presents findings from a rapid review of research and national data on the impact of certain background characteristics on outcomes for children in the early years. It seeks to identify the approaches that are most effective in reducing educational disadvantage and promoting positive outcomes. The review focused on children from birth to seven years of age and included evidence published since 2000. A total of 465 items of literature were identified and considered for inclusion in this review.

Narrowing the gap in outcomes for children through effective practices in the early years (Knowledge Review 1)

Knowledge review that tells us what works in narrowing the gap in outcomes for young children through effective practices in the early years. It is based on a rapid review of the research literature involving systematic searching, analysis of key data, validated local practice examples and the views from both people using services and service providers. It summarises the best available evidence that will help service providers to improve services and, ultimately, outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Cost-benefit analysis of early childhood care and education

These reviews described long-term cost-benefit analyses of three early childhood interventions - the Abecedarian Program, Perry High/Scope and the Chicago Child-Parent Centers. All were undertaken in the United States and targeted mostly underprivileged black communities. Given this context, it is argued that results of the three studies are not easily transferable to modern contexts in countries such as England. The results indicated should therefore all be read with the caveat of ‘for the specific population in these studies’. This topic is included in the EPPI-Centre knowledge library.