Evaluation of National Early Years Access Initiative & Síolta Quality Assurance Programme: A Study of Child Outcomes in Pre-School

This report is an evaluation of the National Early Years Access Initiative (NEYAI), a three-year programme (2011-2014) to improve quality and outcomes in the early years sector. NEYAI comprises 11 projects mainly located in disadvantaged areas of Dublin, Cork and Limerick and two rural locations in Longford/Westmeath and Donegal. It was officially launched by the Minister for Children & Youth Affairs in June 2011 who referred to NEYAI as being made up of local demonstration projects with ‘a focus on evidence-based practice and ongoing project evaluation for the purpose of advising future policy and the mainstream provision’. The fact that this study is based entirely on children who participated in the 2012/13 Free Pre-School Year provides an opportunity to consider some aspects of this programme even if the study is not based on a representative sample of children in the Free Pre-School Year and was not specifically designed as an evaluation of this programme. Nevertheless the sample provides some of the first evidence available on the Free Pre-School Year particularly on the factors which influenced child outcomes during that year. From the perspective of the wider education system, the sample provides a basis for exploring the extent to which Ireland may have a successful pre-school system which we define as a system to improve outcomes for all pre-school children while simultaneously narrowing the gap in outcomes between children.