De Universiteit Utrecht voert in opdracht van de Gemeente Utrecht onderzoek uit naar de pedagogische kwaliteit van de voor- en vroegschoolse voorzieningen (VVE) in de stad. In het Utrechts Kwaliteitskader (UKK) - dat is (door)ontwikkeld in samenwerking met het werkveld (opvang en onderwijs), de gemeente en de Universiteit Utrecht - staat opgenomen wat de stad verstaat onder een goede kwaliteit voor de educatie van het jonge kind. De kwaliteitsmeting brengt via een gestratificeerde steekproef van 30 voorscholen en 30 kleuterklassen in kaart hoe de kwaliteit in de stad verankerd is. Hierbij wordt gekeken naar de pedagogische kwaliteit op de groep, kwaliteit in de samenwerking met ouders, kwaliteitszorg op organisatieniveau en samenwerking in de stad, en de kwaliteit van de doorgaande lijn van 2 tot en met 6 jaar.  Daarnaast wordt er extra stil gestaan bij de stimulering van de taalontwikkeling van het jonge kind en de aandacht die er binnen het Utrechtse VVE veld is voor diversiteit en inclusie.

• prof. dr. Paul Leseman
• dr. Bodine Romijn
• Lieselotte Oudega

ISOTIS addresses the nature, causes and impact of early emerging social and educational inequalities in the context of socioeconomic, cultural and institutional processes. Quasi-panels and pooled longitudinal datasets will be used to examine the variation in early educational gaps and developmental trajectories across countries, education systems and time. To disentangle the complex interactions between characteristics of systems and target groups, ISOTIS will study significant immigrant, indigenous ethnic-cultural and low-income native groups, associated with persistent educational disadvantages. ISOTIS will examine current resources, experiences, aspirations, needs and well-being of children and parents in these groups in the context of acculturation and integration, and in relation to local and national policies. ISOTIS aims to contribute to effective policy and practice development by generating recommendations and concrete tools for: (1) supporting disadvantaged families and communities in using their own cultural and linguistic resources to create safe and stimulating home environments for their children; (2) creating effective and inclusive pedagogies in early childhood education and care centres and primary schools, including multilingual support; (3) professionalization of staff, centres and schools to improve quality and inclusiveness; and (4) establishing inter-agency coordination of support services to children and families.

• prof. dr. Paul Leseman
• dr. Pauline Slot
• dr. Thomas van Huizen
• prof. dr. Janneke Plantenga
• dr. Bodine Romijn
• Ryanne Francot MSc

In line with the EU strategies for 2020 and the need for a systemic and integrated approach to Early Childhood education and Care (ECEC), the project identifies eight key issues and questions for which effective policy measures and instruments should be developed. They concern assessing the impact of ECEC, optimizing quality and curricula for ECEC to increase effectiveness, raising the professional competencies of staff, monitoring and assuring quality of ECEC, increasing the inclusiveness of ECEC, in particular for socioeconomically disadvantaged children, funding of ECEC, and the need for innovative European indicators of children’s wellbeing. The project addresses these issues in an integrative way by combining state-of-the-art knowledge of factors determining personal, social and economic benefits of ECEC with knowledge of the mechanisms determining access to and use of ECEC. In developing a European knowledge base for ECEC, the project adds to the existing knowledge in three ways. First, it includes secondary analyses of recent and ongoing large-scale longitudinal ECEC research from several European countries. Second, it includes the perspectives of important stakeholders and integrate cultural beliefs and values through a large scale survey across Europe. Third, it includes an observational in-depth study in ECEC centers in eight countries, along with a cross-cultural evaluation of observed practices. The central aim is to develop an evidence-based and culture-sensitive framework of (a) Developmental goals, quality assessment, curriculum approaches and policy measures for improving the quality and effectiveness of ECEC; and (b) Effective strategies of organizing, funding and governing ECEC that increase the impact of ECEC. The interdisciplinary research team constructs this framework, based on the competencies and skills that young children need to develop in current societies, identifies the conditions that have to be fulfilled to promote child development and wellbeing, and identifies strategies and policy measures that support access to high quality provisions, and that are likely to receive broad support of stakeholders, thereby enhancing the impact of ECEC. Website: http://ecec-care.org. 

• prof. dr. Paul Leseman
• dr. Pauline Slot
• dr. Thomas van Huizen
• prof. dr. Janneke Plantenga