An Evaluation of 'Early Start'
Overview Assessment of Disadvantage in Schools for 'DEIS' Evaluation of the School Support Programme Study of Disadvantage in Rural Schools Programme for International Student Assessment International Civics and Citizenship Education Study Teaching and Learning International Survey National Assessment of English Reading National Assessment of Mathematics Achievement Standardized Test Development Early Screening and Diagnostic Reading Tests Early Screening and Diagnostic Mathematics Tests An Evaluation of 'Early Start' Irish in the Leaving Certificate Examination Points for Leaving Certificate Subjects Summer Learning Loss Staying in education: A new way forward	Client:  Department of Education and Science  Early Start has been in place in 32 preschool units attached to primary schools in seven designated urban areas of severe disadvantage since 1995. The curriculum in the preschools accords priority to the development of language and cognitive skills. Promotion of the role of homes and communities in the education of young children is also a focus of the initiative. The first evaluation of Early Start was carried out by the Educational Research Centre between 1994 and 1998.  While the report of that evaluation contained many positive findings, the performance on standardized tests of children who had participated in the programme was not found to be superior to that of children who had not attended Early Start. Although the Centre has carried out further evaluation studies of Early Start since 2000 (e.g., relating to implementation and the interface between Early Start and the Home/School/Community Liaison scheme), none of these has focused on pupil outcomes. It may be possible to build some assessment of the impact of Early Start on the later achievement of participating children into the evaluation of the School Support Programme but, in the meantime, assessment profiles, completed by teachers are being used to examine the language and cognitive development of children who had and had not attended Early Start. Two separate profiles (language and cognitive) were developed based on objectives in Early Start curricular guidelines. Each profile require the teacher to rate the child’s proficiency on 18 tasks. Teachers of junior infants in schools to which children from Early Start transferred were asked to complete the two profiles for all of their pupils early in the first term and again late in the third term of 2006/07. Data from the profiling exercise for up to 1,300 pupils who were rated on both occasions are being used to examine the following questions. To what extent can pupils who attended Early Start perform the kinds of tasks specified in objectives of the Early Start curriculum a few months after they leave the preschool? Do Early Start “graduates” perform the profiled tasks any better than their classmates who did not attend Early Start on the basis of the first set of profiles? To what extent do pupils who did not attend Early Start “catch up” over the course of junior infants? The analysis needs to take account of the fact that the Early Start and non-Early Start groups differ in terms of potentially relevant characteristics (e.g., the Early Start group is younger on average and contains fewer children whose first language is not English than the non-Early Start group). Techniques that can compensate for apparent ceiling effects (especially in the second set of profiles) are also being examined.
St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland     -     Telephone: +353 1 8373789     -     Fax: +353 1 8378997     -     Email: info@erc.ie

Programme Of Work

An Evaluation of 'Early Start'

Client:  Department of Education and Science

 Early Start has been in place in 32 preschool units attached to primary schools in seven designated urban areas of severe disadvantage since 1995. The curriculum in the preschools accords priority to the development of language and cognitive skills. Promotion of the role of homes and communities in the education of young children is also a focus of the initiative. The first evaluation of Early Start was carried out by the Educational Research Centre between 1994 and 1998.  While the report of that evaluation contained many positive findings, the performance on standardized tests of children who had participated in the programme was not found to be superior to that of children who had not attended Early Start. Although the Centre has carried out further evaluation studies of Early Start since 2000 (e.g., relating to implementation and the interface between Early Start and the Home/School/Community Liaison scheme), none of these has focused on pupil outcomes. It may be possible to build some assessment of the impact of Early Start on the later achievement of participating children into the evaluation of the School Support Programme but, in the meantime, assessment profiles, completed by teachers are being used to examine the language and cognitive development of children who had and had not attended Early Start. Two separate profiles (language and cognitive) were developed based on objectives in Early Start curricular guidelines. Each profile require the teacher to rate the child’s proficiency on 18 tasks.

Teachers of junior infants in schools to which children from Early Start transferred were asked to complete the two profiles for all of their pupils early in the first term and again late in the third term of 2006/07. Data from the profiling exercise for up to 1,300 pupils who were rated on both occasions are being used to examine the following questions.

1. To what extent can pupils who attended Early Start perform the kinds of tasks specified in objectives of the Early Start curriculum a few months after they leave the preschool?
2. Do Early Start “graduates” perform the profiled tasks any better than their classmates who did not attend Early Start on the basis of the first set of profiles?
3. To what extent do pupils who did not attend Early Start “catch up” over the course of junior infants?

The analysis needs to take account of the fact that the Early Start and non-Early Start groups differ in terms of potentially relevant characteristics (e.g., the Early Start group is younger on average and contains fewer children whose first language is not English than the non-Early Start group). Techniques that can compensate for apparent ceiling effects (especially in the second set of profiles) are also being examined.