Characteristics of the EPPE Project Sample at Entry to the Study: Technical Paper 2(EPPE)

In this paper the relationships between young children's entry assessments and various child (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity) and parent characteristics (e.g. educational and occupational background) are explored, to examine the extent to which variation between children in their cognitive and social-behavioural attainments can be accounted for by different factors. Marked differences between individual pre-school centres were identified in terms of the characteristics of children entering the EPPE study. In order to investigate the impact of different types of provision and of individual pre-school centres it is essential to have accurate baseline data about children's cognitive attainments and details of their social and behavioural development, so that subsequent progress and development can be measured. The information is also interesting in its own right because it provides a snapshot of children and families at the start of the study. Only in this way will it be possible to establish whether children attending specific centres show greater progress or more positive social and behavioural outcomes by entry to school. Control for differences in the characteristics of children at entry to the study is also necessary to examine any differences in effects related to type of pre-school experience (e.g. nursery class, playgroup, private day nursery or local authority day care nursery.

Table of Contents:
Overview of the Project Executive Summary Introduction Section One The EPPE Sample Pre-School Experience Child Baseline Assessment Age and BAS Scores Gender and BAS Scores Ethnic Group and BAS Scores Type of Pre-School Provision Age at Entry to Pre-School Children’s Social and Behavioural Development Age and ASBI factor scores Links between BAS and ASBI Measures at Entry Gender and Ethnic Differences in Social and Behavioural Development Summary Section Two Family characteristics Parents’ age group Parents’ education and qualifications Parents’ occupations Type of pre-school and socio-economic background Choice of pre-school centre Summary Section Three The role of multilevel models Results: Overall cognitive attainment Pre-school centre differences Child characteristics Amount of pre-school experienced Home environment Parent characteristics Parent and child characteristics The Final Model – Parent, child and home environment Child characteristics Home environment Parents Amount of pre-school experience Type of pre-school Summary and conclusions Note 1: Variables tested in combined multilevel model Appendix 1 – Patterns of participation in pre-school provision by ethnic group Appendix 2.1 – The full contextualised model: Total BAS score at entry Appendix 2.2 – The full contextualised model: Non-verbal score at entry