MathiasUrban

TheInterna/onalEarlyLearningStudy(IELS)

Update,cri/calques/ons,nextsteps

EarlyChildhoodStudiesDegreesNetwork|London|10March2017

MathiasUrban,UniversityofRoehamptonEarlyChildhoodResearchCentre

MathiasUrban

BillyMcBonebyAllanAhlbergBillyMcBoneHadamindofhisown,Whichhemostlykeptunderhishat.TheTeachersallthoughtThathecouldn’tbetaught,ButBilldidn’tseemtomindthat.BillyMcBoneHadamindofhisown,Whichtheteachershadsearchedforforyears.TryingtestaTertest,Theys/llneverguessedItwashiddenbetweenhisears.BillyMcBonehadamindofhisown,Whichonlyhisfriendseversaw.Whentheteachersaid,‘Bill,WhereaboutsisBrazil?’Hejustshuffledandstaredatthefloor.BillyMcBoneHadamindofhisown,Whichhekeptunderlockandkey.WhiletheteachersinvainTriedtoburglehisbrain,Bill’sthoughtswereoffwanderingfree.

MathiasUrban

Context:OECDasinterna/onalplayerineduca/on

Organisa/onforEconomicCoopera/onandDevelopment(OECD):•  Established1948•  “topromotepoliciesthatwillimprovetheeconomicand

socialwell-beingofpeoplearoundtheworld”•  35members–richcountriesaroundworldincluding18

inEU•  Increasinginvolvementinsocialarea,e.g.FamilyData

Base…ProgrammeforInterna/onalStudentAssessment(PISA),“toevaluateeduca/onsystemsworldwidebytes/ngtheskillsandknowledgeof15-year-oldstudents”…earlychildhood

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MathiasUrban

Context:OECDasinterna/onalplayerineduca/on

•  1996-2006:Star%ngStrong1and2…reviewofearlychildhoodpoliciesin20countries–landmarkcompara/vestudy

•  2011:Star/ngStrong3–‘qualitytoolboxforECEC’•  2015:Star/ngStrong4–‘monitoringquality’

•  2012:networkofgovernmentrepsproposecross-na/onalassessmentoflearningoutcomes…16countriesworkwithOECD“toscopethestudy”

•  2017:developmentandpilotworktostart

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MathiasUrban

Currentini/a/ve:Interna/onalEarlyLearningStudy(IELS)

•  Commonmeasurestoassessyoungchildrenacrosspar/cipa/ngcountriesonanumberof‘domains’that“representabalanceofbothcogni%veandsocialandemo%onalskillsthat,asapackage,willprovidecoherentandreliableinsightsintochildren’searlylearning”andthatare“malleableintheearlyyears”

•  Exactdomainstobefinalised,butsixprovisionallyiden/fied“basedonananalysisofearlyskillsthatarepredic%veofposi%velifeoutcomes”:self-regula/on;orallanguage/emergentliteracy;mathema/cs/numeracy;execu/vefunc/on;locusofcontrol;andsocialskills

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MathiasUrban

Currentini/a/ve:Interna/onalEarlyLearningStudy(IELS)

•  Resultsfromassessingthesedomainswillbecontextualisedwithinforma/onon:ECECexperiences,homelearningenvironmentandchildren’sindividualcharacteris/cs.

•  Assessmentswillbeundertakenofchildrenbetween4.5and5.5years

•  “Itislikelytoinvolve15-20minutesofdirecttes%ngforeachofthefourdomainsinthestudy.Thedefaultmodeofdeliveryisviatablet”(DepartmentforEduca/on,2017)

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MathiasUrban

Interna/onalEarlyLearningStudy(IELS):supposedpurpose

ToimproveECECservices:Tohelpcountriesimprovetheperformanceoftheirsystems,toprovidebeDeroutcomesforci%zensandbeDervalueformoney.Compara%vedatacanshowwhichsystemsareperformingbest,inwhatdomainsandforwhichgroupsofstudents.Itwouldalsoprovideinsightsonhowsuchperformancehasbeenachieved.Thus,interna%onallycomparabledatawouldenablecountriestocomparetherela%vestrengthsandareasfordevelopmentintheirownECECsystemswiththoseinotherjurisdic%ons(OECD,2016)

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MathiasUrban

Interna/onalEarlyLearningStudy(IELS):supposedpurpose

Toimprovelaterschoolperformance:In%me,theinforma%oncanalsoprovideinforma4ononthetrajectorybetweenearlylearningoutcomesandthoseatage15,asmeasuredbyPISA.Inthisway,countriescanhaveanearlierandmorespecificindica%onofhowtoliLtheskillsandothercapabili%esofitsyoungpeople(OECD,2016)

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MathiasUrban

Concernsandcounterarguments

SinceknowledgeofplansforIELSbecomemorewidelyknown,anumberofconcernshavebeenexpressedandcounterargumentsputforwardin:–  3ar/clesinContemporaryIssuesinEarlyChildhood(by9academicsandtwogroupsfromNewZealand,includingMargaretCarr);

–  astatementandar/cleinInterna%onalCri%calChildhoodPolicyStudiesbyRECE(ReconceptualisingEarlyChildhoodEduca/on);signedby200supportersfrom20countries

–  anumberofna/onalar/clesandstatements(Belgium,France,Germany,UK)

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MathiasUrban

Democra/cdeficitandlackofaccountability

Power,secrecyandpublicunaccountability•  OECDexercisesgreat‘soT’powerineduca/on…not

acknowledged•  IELSsurroundedinsecrecyandlackofinforma/on…very

fewpeopleinECcommunityawareofproposalun/lrecentlywhendecisionsmade

•  OECDhasnotrespondedtoconcernsthathavebeenraised…despiteoffertosubmitar/cleforCIEC

•  OECDlacksaccountabilitytoearlychildhoodcommunityandgeneralpublic…accountableonlytoitsmemberstates,whoOECDsayshaveresponsibilitytoinformandconsult–butfewseemtohavedoneso

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MathiasUrban

Meaninglessdataonaglobalscale?

“Insteadofcareful,culturallyandcontextuallyappropriateconsidera%onoftheachievementsofearlychildhoodsystemsindiversecountries,andofsystemicevalua%onoftheactualoutcomesforchildren,familiesandsociety,IELSappearstoadoptastrategythatfavourslargelydecontextualisedcomparisonandmeasurementofnarrowlydefinedpredeterminedoutcomes.Itisourconcernthatsuchanapproachwillnotprovidenecessaryormeaningfulinforma%onfordecisionmakersandearlychildhoodleadersinpar%cipa%ngcountriesandbeyond.Whatitwilldoisdrawearlychildhoodeduca%onfirmlyintoaglobalframeworkofstandardisedassessmentacrossall%ersoftheeduca%onsystem,fromearlychildhoodtohighereduca%on”(MathiasUrban,RECE,2016)

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MathiasUrban

Yestocross-na/onallearning,notoIELS

Thecrea%onofatrulyeduca%onalenvironment,wherelearningofrealvaluemaytakeplacebetweencountries,requirestheseandotherconcernstobeaddressedand,probablytoo,adifferenttypeofcompara%vestudy:moretheini%alStar%ngStrongprojectwithitscasestudiesthantheIELSwithitsbaDeryofstandardisedtests.Intheinterestsofademocra%cpoli%csofeduca%onandofacompara%veapproachtoeduca%onthatprovokesthoughtratherthanregulatesperformance,wehopethatearlychildhoodcommuni%esaroundtheworldwillraisetheirvoicesandthattheOECDwillenterintodialoguewiththe(PeterMossand8others,2016)

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MathiasUrban

Wherearewenow(March2017)?

OECDhasmovedintoadevelopmentandpilo/ngstage–  ‘Interna/onalContractor’appointed9/2016todesign,developandpilotthestudy(AustralianCouncilforEduca/onalResearch+Interna/onalAssocia/onfortheEvalua/onofEduca/onalAchievement)

–  Timeline:2017/18-developingandfieldtes/ngassessmentinstruments;late2018/early2019-runningthepilotstudyin;early2020-resultsavailable…

– Decisionaboutmovingtofullstudy

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MathiasUrban

Wherearewenow(March2017)?

•  OECDenvisages3to6countriespar/cipa/nginthepilotstageoftheIELS…butnotsayingwhothesewillbe

•  Somecountrieshavesaidtheywillnotpar/cipate–inpilotstage(e.g.Belgium,Denmark,Germany,Norway)

•  NowOECD–onnewwebsite–refersto“TheInterna%onalEarlyLearningandChildWell-beingStudy…aninterna%onalsurveythatassesseschildrenatapproximately5yearsofageyear-oldacross3to6countries,iden%fyingkeyfactorsthatdriveorhinderthedevelopmentofearlylearning”…droppedreferenceto‘pilot’

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MathiasUrban

NowOECD–onnewwebsite–refersto“TheInterna%onalEarlyLearningandChildWell-beingStudy…aninterna%onalsurveythatassesseschildrenatapproximately5yearsofageyear-oldacross3to6countries,iden%fyingkeyfactorsthatdriveorhinderthedevelopmentofearlylearning”…droppedreferenceto‘pilot’

hsp://www.oecd.org/edu/school/interna/onal-early-learning-and-child-well-being-study.htm

MathiasUrban

Importanceof‘homelearningenvironment’:Childrenwhoexperiencefewerinterac/onswiththeirparents(e.g.readingwithchildren,number/leserac/vi/es,goingtothelibrary,pain/nganddrawing,etc.)fromages10to36monthsperformloweroncogni/veskillstests(e.g.,inmathema/cs)laterinlifethanchildrenwhoseparentsweremoreinvolvedwiththem

Closingwindowsofopportunity

MathiasUrban

PerryPreschoolProjectalloveragain?

MathiasUrban

Pilot?EvaluaBon?ConsultaBon?

MathiasUrban

WherearewenowinUK(March2017)?

•  “England,Wales(UnitedKingdom)”par/cipateinthe16country‘scopinggroup’

•  1/2017:DepartmentforEduca/onissuesa“callforexpressionsofinteresttoprovidea‘Na%onalCentre’toimplementandadministerthis[pilot]stageoftheIELSinEngland”

•  “[T]hreecountries–includingtheUK(representedbyEnglandandpossiblyWales)–haveagreedtopar4cipateintheIELSpilotstudy.ScotlandandNorthernIrelandwillnottakepart”

•  ThenDfEsaysnofinaldecisiontaken…withSecretaryofState…decisionwillbemadesoon…willwelcomedialoguewithfield

•  BUTverylateinday–un/lnow,noinforma/onorconsulta/on…didyouknow?

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MathiasUrban

RECEstatement‘Democra%caccountabilityandcontextualisedsystemicevalua%on’:Readandsignuphere:•  hsp://www.receinterna/onal.org/RECE-comment-on-OECD-ICCPS.html•  Urban,M.,&Swadener,B.B.(2016).Democra/caccountabilityandcontextualised

systemicevalua/on.AcommentontheOECDini/a/vetolaunchanInterna/onalEarlyLearningStudy(IELS).Interna%onalCri%calChildhoodPolicyStudies,5(1),6-18.

ContemporaryIssuesinEarlyChildhoodarBcles•  Moss,P.etal(2016).TheOrganisa/onforEconomicCo-opera/onand

Development’sInterna/onalEarlyLearningStudy:Openingfordebateandcontesta/on.ContemporaryIssuesinEarlyChildhood,17(3),343-351

•  Carr,M.etal(2016).SomethoughtsaboutthevalueofanOECDinterna/onalassessmentframeworkforearlychildhoodservicesinAotearoaNewZealand.ContemporaryIssuesinEarlyChildhood,17(4)

•  OMEPNewZealand:17(4)

MathiasUrban

Thank you!

mathias.urban@roehampton.ac.uk

www.roehampton.ac.uk/Research-Centres/Early-Childhood-Research-Centre/