First published in 2015, The SSTEW Scale has been widely used in early childhood education and care, in all sectors across the world, to enhance the quality of education, and monitor and assess practice. It explores pedagogy and practice that improve children’s social-emotional development, self-regulation, language, and critical thinking. The SSTEW Scale is an innovative method of assessing the process quality of an early years education environment and pedagogy. It promotes practice where staff provide sensitive, responsive relationships and high-quality interactions, which includes supporting children’s social, emotional and communication skills. This scale also helps educators to engage children in thinking deeply, problem solving and reasoning, including items which support the four competencies: critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration, all identified as life-long skills needed for all children in the 21st century by the World Economic Forum in 2016. This new edition includes updated information about the evidence-base for SSTEW and children’s development and learning as well as the expansion of examples and supplementary information accompanying the indicators. In addition, there is a stronger focus on formative assessment and new additions to the assessment section. The SSTEW Scale can be used to support research, auditing and practice uplift. It is a key text for the sector to assess and improve the quality of provision during audits, and for educators seeking professional development by improving their knowledge of excellent practice.

Early Childhood Matters documents the rapid development of early years education and care from the late 1990s into the new millennium. It chronicles the unique contribution of the EPPE research to our understanding of the importance of pre-school.

The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education (EPPE) project is the largest European study of the impact of early years education and care on children s developmental outcomes. Through this ground-breaking project a team of internationally-recognised experts provide insights into how home learning environments interact with pre-school and primary school experiences to shape children s progress.

The findings of this fascinating project:

• provide new evidence of the importance of early childhood experiences
• show how these experiences influence children s cognitive, social and behavioural development
• give new insights on the importance of early years education
• will be relevant to a wide audience who are interested in policy development, early years education and care, and effectiveness research
• examine how the combined effects of pre-school, primary school and the family interact to shape children s educational outcomes.

This insightful book is essential reading for all those interested in innovative research methodology and policy development in early childhood education and care. It provides new evidence on good practice in early years settings and will have a wide appeal for students and those engaged in providing accredited courses of study at a range of levels in early childhood.

Early Childhood Matters documents the rapid development of early years education and care from the late 1990s into the new millennium. It chronicles the unique contribution of the EPPE research to our understanding of the importance of pre-school.

The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education (EPPE) project is the largest European study of the impact of early years education and care on children's developmental outcomes. Through this ground-breaking project a team of internationally-recognised experts provide insights into how home learning environments interact with pre-school and primary school experiences to shape children's progress.

The findings of this fascinating project:

• provide new evidence of the importance of early childhood experiences
• show how these experiences influence children's cognitive, social and behavioural development
• give new insights on the importance of early years education
• will be relevant to a wide audience who are interested in policy development, early years education and care, and 'effectiveness' research
• examine how the combined effects of pre-school, primary school and the family interact to shape children's educational outcomes.

This insightful book is essential reading for all those interested in innovative research methodology and policy development in early childhood education and care. It provides new evidence on good practice in early years settings and will have a wide appeal for students and those engaged in providing accredited courses of study at a range of levels in early childhood.

"Early Childhood Care and Education" is central to the lives of every family with young children. This insightful book investigates the unique approaches taken by different Countries to key issues such as; parental leave, childcare, and preschool services. By examining all of these options and the evidence around them, the authors are able to explain how best to provide for young children.
Nine countries, including, China, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, UK and the USA, are considered. These countries all have very different policies and provision, and this book examines the ways that these countries are tackling early childhood services and how these services affect young children's experiences and development, for better and worse. The book will answer some of the recurring questions of childcare provision:
- How does a country cope with families' childcare needs?
- Is daycare detrimental to children?
- Does quality of childcare matter?
- Does childcare affect children with different home backgrounds differently?
- How can we best organize parental leave, employment regulations and childcare provision?
This book fills a gap in providing up-to-date information in an area where rapid developments are underway and further changes are being considered. We need to better plan the future of early childhood services and preschool education in relation to children's development, as well as parental employment regulations. Through presenting the situation in various countries and allowing the comparison of alternative approaches, each reader would be able to see new possibilities that transcend the limited experience offered within their owncountry.
"Early Childhood Care and Education" is an essential read for anyone interested in both the future and alternative approaches to childhood services and pre-school education.

"Early Childhood Care and Education" is central to the lives of every family with young children. This insightful book investigates the unique approaches taken by different Countries to key issues such as; parental leave, childcare, and preschool services. By examining all of these options and the evidence around them, the authors are able to explain how best to provide for young children.
Nine countries, including, China, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, UK and the USA, are considered. These countries all have very different policies and provision, and this book examines the ways that these countries are tackling early childhood services and how these services affect young children's experiences and development, for better and worse. The book will answer some of the recurring questions of childcare provision:
- How does a country cope with families' childcare needs?
- Is daycare detrimental to children?
- Does quality of childcare matter?
- Does childcare affect children with different home backgrounds differently?
- How can we best organize parental leave, employment regulations and childcare provision?
This book fills a gap in providing up-to-date information in an area where rapid developments are underway and further changes are being considered. We need to better plan the future of early childhood services and preschool education in relation to children's development, as well as parental employment regulations. Through presenting the situation in various countries and allowing the comparison of alternative approaches, each reader would be able to see new possibilities that transcend the limited experience offered within their owncountry.
"Early Childhood Care and Education" is an essential read for anyone interested in both the future and alternative approaches to childhood services and pre-school education.

Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) was a major strategic effort by New Labour towards ending child poverty. By changing the way services were delivered to children under four and their families, through targeting and empowering highly-deprived small geographic areas, SSLPs were intended to enhance child, family and community functioning. Following 5 years of systemic research exploring the efficacy and impact of this grand experiment, this book pulls together, in a single volume, the results of the extensive National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS). The book reviews the history of policies pertaining to child health and well being which preceded and set the stage for Sure Start. It provides insight into how SSLPs were expected to function and how they actually operated, both in terms of their strengths, weaknesses and costs. The contributors examine the nature of the communities in which these programmes were situated and how they changed over time; present the early effects of SSLPs on children and families, with evidence highlighting some small beneficial effects and some small deleterious ones and extract specific features of SSLPs that contributed to whether individual programmes benefited children and families, providing a guide for the revision of programmes and policies. With a foreword from Naomi Eisdenstadt, former Director of the Sure Start Programme and concluding chapter by Prof. Sir Michael Rutter, member of the government's scientific advisory board overseeing NESS, this book provides an insightful critique of SSLP policy and NESS that will be of interest to students of child development, families and communities, as well as policymakers and policy scholars, local and national providers of services to children and families and evaluation specialists.

First published in 2015, The SSTEW Scale has been widely used in early childhood education and care, in all sectors across the world, to enhance the quality of education, and monitor and assess practice. It explores pedagogy and practice that improve children’s social-emotional development, self-regulation, language, and critical thinking. The SSTEW Scale is an innovative method of assessing the process quality of an early years education environment and pedagogy. It promotes practice where staff provide sensitive, responsive relationships and high-quality interactions, which includes supporting children’s social, emotional and communication skills. This scale also helps educators to engage children in thinking deeply, problem solving and reasoning, including items which support the four competencies: critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration, all identified as life-long skills needed for all children in the 21st century by the World Economic Forum in 2016. This new edition includes updated information about the evidence-base for SSTEW and children’s development and learning as well as the expansion of examples and supplementary information accompanying the indicators. In addition, there is a stronger focus on formative assessment and new additions to the assessment section. The SSTEW Scale can be used to support research, auditing and practice uplift. It is a key text for the sector to assess and improve the quality of provision during audits, and for educators seeking professional development by improving their knowledge of excellent practice.