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Since 2020, the government has implemented measures to enhance the quality of pre-school education and increase the number of hours allocated. The multidisciplinary EVENING study assesses whether the intended goals of the reforms, namely, creating more equal opportunities, are being achieved. The results are encouraging: children are showing progress in social-emotional development, language, executive functions and motor skills.

Unequal opportunities arise at an early age. Project leader and Associate Professor of Education Economics Thomas van Huizen explains: "Where you are born largely determines your development opportunities. Especially in the first years after birth, the environment plays a major role in children's development. Children who receive less stimulation in their environment, for example, because there is less conversation, or because their parents experience more stress due to financial problems, are more likely to fall behind in their development. These children are at risk of falling behind in their education.”

Especially in the first years after birth, the environment plays a major role in children's development.

Better start at primary school

This gap is not necessarily closed in primary school. Ora Oudgenoeg-Paz, Assistant Professor of Education, adds: "We know that the starting level at which children begin primary school is a strong predictor of how well they will do at school. The differences that already exist between children at this young age usually do not diminish, but rather increase or remain the same during primary school. That is why it is important to reduce the opportunity gap at an early age, even before children start primary school. In this way, we ensure a better start in primary school."

To reduce this inequality of opportunity, the government is investing around half a billion pounds a year in pre-school education. Pre-school education is aimed at toddlers who are at risk of language or educational disadvantage, the so-called target group toddlers. In 2020 and 2022, national measures were introduced to further strengthen pre-school education.

The differences that already exist between children at this young age usually do not diminish, but rather increase or remain the same during primary school. That is why it is important to reduce the opportunity gap at an early age, even before children start primary school.

Quality and quantity of pre-school education

Since August 2020, the hours of pre-school education have been extended: target group children between the ages of 2.5 and 4 are entitled to a total of 960 hours. This often amounts to 16 hours per week during school weeks. This is an increase of sixty percent: previously, 600 hours (10 hours per week) were mandatory.

In addition, since January 2022, investments have been made in improving quality through the deployment of pedagogical policy officers in pre-school education. A legal standard of 10 hours per target group child per childcare centre applies to the deployment of these professionals. The number of target group children per childcare centre, therefore, determines how much time a pedagogical policy officer spends working there. Van Huizen explains: "The first measure increased the quantity, while the second measure improved the quality. We have been investigating the effectiveness of these measures over the past few years."

Results

The researchers found that the extra hours of pre-school education led to higher scores on tests for language, executive functions and fine motor skills. Toddlers also received more positive assessments of their social-emotional behaviour. There were no significant effects on self-control. The effects of extra hours were only found for target group toddlers. Non-target group toddlers did not benefit from extra hours of pre-school education. Van Huizen: "One explanation for this is that the development opportunities in the home environment are smaller for target group toddlers than for non-target group toddlers. As a result, extra hours of pre-school education are particularly enriching for target group toddlers."

Oudgenoeg-Paz adds that pedagogical practice has also changed with a wider range of hours on offer: "The extra hours of pre-school education are used, among other things, for targeted educational activities in small groups. Think of doing crafts together, reading a book or talking about a specific theme with a handful of children."

Furthermore, EVENING shows that the quality of pre-school education has increased between 2021 and 2023. This can be attributed in large part to the efforts of the pedagogical policy officer. Oudgenoeg-Paz: "There are positive effects, particularly in how pedagogical staff give children feedback and support and expose them to rich and advanced language use."

A huge step forward

The quality measure has positive effects on the language development of target group toddlers, but does not seem to have any impact on executive functions, motor skills or social-emotional functioning. According to Van Huizen, this is still a huge step forward: "The pedagogical policy officers have contributed to the educational quality and language skills of these toddlers. In this context, that is an important outcome, because the gap in language development has narrowed. As a result, these toddlers are better prepared for primary school."

In addition, the researchers expect that the effects will only become fully visible once the measure has been implemented for a longer period of time. ‘All in all, the results show that target group toddlers have benefited from this reform,’ says Van Huizen.