Other policy
Research: birth to school study - a longitudinal evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) 1998-2005
1 Aug 2005
About the study
The main aim of the Birth to School Study (BTSS) was to investigate the effects of PEEP on parents and children within the area it serves in Oxford. This had two dimensions: to determine if the programme had an effect on the community as a whole and simultaneously, whether it had an effect on a sub-group of families who had chosen to attend at least one weekly PEEP session before their child was 3 years old. The six-year span of the study provided the opportunity to measure effects both on a yearly basis and in terms of the children's progress over time.
The effect of PEEP on parents
- Parents who attended weekly PEEP sessions reported a significantly enhanced view of their parent-child interaction when the children were one year of age.
- When the children were aged two, they were also rated significantly higher on the quality of their care-giving environment.
- These parental outcomes emerged before any of the child outcomes related to progress in language, the foundations of literacy or in self-esteem, became apparent.
- The findings are consistent with evidence from evaluations of other interventions which suggest that parental outcomes related to enhanced parenting skills anticipate improved child outcomes in subsequent years.
- The findings from the BTSS suggest that the promotion of better quality relationships between parents and children is an effective strategy which can lead to enhanced learning.
The effect of PEEP on children's cognitive development
The findings from the BTSS demonstrate that the children, whose families had participated in the weekly sessions PEEP offered, made significantly greater progress over time, compared to a matched group of children with no access to the sessions, in:
- Vocabulary (between the ages of 2-4, 2-5, 4-5);
- Phonological awareness of rhyme and alliteration (between the ages of 2-4, 2-5);
- Letter identification (between the ages of 2-4, 4-5);
- Understanding of books and print (between the ages of 2-4, 2-5); " Writing (between the ages of 4-5).
The effect of PEEP on children's socio-emotional development
The findings showed little significant advantage associated with attending weekly PEEP sessions until the children were five years old when self-esteem was measured for the first time. At this point, they showed a significant advantage in the total measure of self-esteem as well as in four out of six of the sub-scales (Peer Acceptance, Cognitive Competence, Physical Competence, General Competence).
The effect of PEEP on families living in the area
The BTSS findings for families living in the area where PEEP operates, including those who did not chose to attend, demonstrate similar effects on parents and on the rate of progress made by the children, in important outcomes related to literacy development and self-esteem, to those found for families who attended the PEEP sessions. However, these generally showed smaller effect sizes and were in a reduced number of outcomes. The cognitive and self-esteem effects in favour of the children living in the PEEP area suggest that children at risk of low educational achievement, whose families chose not to participate in the weekly sessions, were still able to benefit from its existence within the community.
Policy implications of the findings
The results of the study have demonstrated that:
- PEEP had a significant impact on the quality of parents' interaction with their children when they were one and two years old;
- PEEP had a significant impact on children's rate of progress in a number of literacy-related skills, as well as in measures of their self-esteem.
The results strongly support existing evidence that good quality parenting leads to improved cognitive and social skills for the children. In addition, they support previous research that effective early interventions lead to enhanced short-term gains in cognitive and social skills, particularly for children at risk of low educational achievement.
More specifically, the evidence from BTSS suggests that an effective intervention programme such as PEEP can disseminate effects, that filter beyond the families who choose to attend education- or parenting-based groups, into the wider community. Whilst contributing to an existing body of evidence on the efficacy of early interventions with strong parental involvement, the BTSS findings are relevant to current policy that:
- Highlights the importance of the first five years of life on children's development;
- Emphasises the crucial role played by parents during early childhood;
- Seeks to support children by helping families to provide the 'protective factors' associated with resilience;
- Prioritises early intervention (prevention) rather than later intervention (cure).
More information
A summary of the findings and the full report are available from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and can be found on the website: www.dcfs.gov.uk/research.
(The Birth to School Study: A Longitudinal Evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) 1998-2005, August 2005)
