Day Nurseries:
Charity disputes research which claims qualified nursery teachers have `tiny effect' on children's learning
17 February 2017
Save the Children has disputed research which found nurseries with a qualified nursery teacher have only a “tiny effect” on children’s attainment.
Earlier this week, researchers from the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, the University of Surrey and University College London, found that children who attended a nursery that employed a graduate had an Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) score that was only around a third of a point higher than those whose nurseries did not employ a graduate. The total number of points available is 117. Lead author Dr Jo Blanden, senior lecturer in Economics at Surrey University, said: “Our research finding that having a member of staff qualified to graduate level working in the nursery has only a tiny effect on children's outcomes surprised us, given existing research that finds well-qualified staff have higher quality interactions with children.” However, Save the Children has claimed that children without an early years teacher are almost 10 per cent less likely to meet the expected levels of development when they start school compared to children who do have a teacher. This comes from its ‘Untapped Potential’ report last November.