Abstract
Background: We investigated whether child’s participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is associated with later cognitive learning outcomes at 15 years of age in Finland. Methods: The Finnish PISA 2015 data (N = 4634) was used. Learning outcomes in science, reading, mathematics, and collaborative problem-solving were evaluated with computer-based tests in 2015. Participation in ECEC and parental SES were assessed with questionnaires. Results: In any learning outcome, students who had only participated in preschool at 6 years of age did not differ from students who had started in ECEC at any other age between 1 - 5 years. Additionally, at a trend level, participation in ECEC before preschool had more beneficial effects on learning outcomes among students with high parental SES than low parental SES. Conclusions: ECEC before preschool is not associated with learning outcomes at 15 years of age in Finland. ECEC may not have compensatory effects for children coming from socioeconomically disadvantaged families in Finland. In the future, it is necessary to further investigate which factors might diminish the inequality in learning outcomes between children coming from different family background. In particular, more research is needed about the influence of both societal factors (e.g. integration of immigration families, psychosocial family environment, gender-specific factors) and child-care related factors (e.g. special education; individually tailored day care programs for high-risk children).
Highlights
In the PISA 2003, 2006, and 2009 tests, Finland was ranked among the best countries in all cognitive learning outcomes (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, 2004, 2006, 2010)
We examined whether participation in early childhood education and care might increase the equality in the learning outcomes between students coming from different socioeconomic family backgrounds
In models 2, we investigated whether the association of early childhood education and care with cognitive learning outcomes might be modified by parental socioeconomic status
Summary
In the PISA 2003, 2006, and 2009 tests, Finland was ranked among the best countries in all cognitive learning outcomes (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, 2004, 2006, 2010) This was called even as “the Finnish miracle of PISA” The role of socioeconomic family background for learning outcomes has increased in Finland, so that students coming from low-SES families have on average lower skills in mathematics, reading, and science than previously (OECD, 2016). This is especially remarkable since one fundamental goal of the Finnish comprehensive school is to provide equal possibilities for school success for all students, regardless of their family backgrounds More research is needed about the influence of both societal factors (e.g. integration of immigration families, psychosocial family environment, gender-specific factors) and childcare related factors (e.g. special education; individually tailored day care programs for high-risk children)
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