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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Doubts over
progress in early learning</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><BR>Rachel Williams<BR>Tuesday August 28, 2007<BR>The
Guardian </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><BR>Children starting primary school are yet to show any
signs of improved development despite Labour's introduction of measures designed
to boost early years education, new research claims today.<BR>A study of 35,000
children in England between 2001 and 2006 suggested they were no further
advanced now than they were before Labour's overhaul of education for
pre-primary school youngsters. The initiatives, which included the Sure Start
programme, free nursery education for all three-year-olds, the early childhood
curriculum, the Children's Act 2002, and the Every Child Matters initiative,
were introduced to improve life chances for disadvantaged children and
educational standards in general.</DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr align=left>Researchers at Durham University's Curriculum,
Evaluation and Management (CEM) Centre measured the cognitive development of
four-year-olds in areas chosen to be good predictors of later success, such as
vocabulary, early reading and phonological awareness sections.</DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr align=left>The data included measurements of how well the children
wrote their own names, their ability to identify objects in a picture, word
recognition and whether they could pick out rhyming words.</DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr align=left>After taking account of deprivation, language, age and
sex, analysis suggested the only significant change over time was a slight
decline in picture vocabulary. There was no indication that the gap in
attainment between those entitled and not entitled to free school meals was
decreasing.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left>"While the assessments used in the study do not measure
how many children were involved in national initiatives, one would have expected
that the major government programmes would have resulted in some measurable
changes in our sample of almost 35,000 children," its author, Christine Merrell
said.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left>The report is being presented today at the European
Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (Earli) conference in
Budapest.</DIV>
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<DIV><SPAN class=076431508-29082007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2><www.guardian.co.uk></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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<P>Anthea Fraser Gupta (Dr)</P>
<P>School of English, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT <</FONT><A
href="file:///R:/Documents%20and%20Settings/engafg/Application%20Data/Microsoft/Signatures/www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg"><U><FONT
color=#0000ff size=2>www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg</U></FONT></A><FONT
size=2>></P>
<P>NB: Reply to a.f.gupta@leeds.ac.uk</P>
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