The development of the ISOTIS Virtual Learning Environment - an online platform that aims to promote the use of different languages and multiculturalism at home and (pre)school) - followed two main principles:

1. Openness: the learning environment is based on Open Source software, in order to make it possible to reuse existing resources, to enable the release of final products to a larger community of users, and to grant full control to the developers on the various parts of the system, as well as on data management;

2. Accessibility: the platform should be inclusive, following the principles of Universal Design (Mace, 1985) and, more specifically, the guidelines of the Universal Design for Learning framework (Rose & Meyer, 2002). This requirement was dictated by the super-diversity of participants, whose age, education and socioeconomic status greatly varied from country to country.

This topic is described in the article Design for inclusion in a linguistically and culturally diverse Europe: Challenges in the development of a Virtual Learning Environment, authored by ISOTIS researchers Andrea Mangiatordi, Giulia Pastori, Valentina Pagani, Alice Sarcinelli, and Leonardo Menegola (University of Milano-Bicocca). The article is published in the proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies. 

Click here to find the article.

The collaboration between services in fields such as education, health, social work, and welfare, among others, is increasingly recognized as central to tackle social and educational inequalities. Identifying promising practices in this scope is needed to increase outreach, timely access, and effectiveness of services for socioeconomically disadvantaged children and families.

Our team interviewed heads of service providers, coordinators, and local government representatives on facilitating factors, barriers, and impacts related to the collaborative work of services for culturally and linguistically diverse children and families.

This study was presented at the 2019 EECERA Conference (Thessaloniki, Greece).

Click here to read the presentation - authored by ISOTIS researchers Catarina Leitão, Joana Guerra, and Clara Barata (University of Coimbra)

Melissa Bonotto (UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre), Maria Assunçào Folque (INTESYS project - University of Évora/Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation), and ISOTIS researcher Catarina Leitão (University of Coimbra) - participants in the EECERA symposium Family Support, Early Intervention and Integrated Services.

ISOTIS researchers Rita Pratas and Joana Guerra (University of Coimbra) at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Coimbra.

This study was also presented at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Coimbra, during the Faculty anniversary celebration, on November 5.

Click here to read the poster in Portuguese - authored by ISOTIS researchers Clara Barata, Joana Guerra, Catarina Leitão and Rita Pratas  (University of Coimbra)

The results of the study highlighted:

- The relevance of providing political and organizational support, ensuring sustained funding and continuity of human resources , and the appropriate allocation of time and tasks .

- The importance of involving locally based services and professionals, and citizens in the development and evaluation of interventions, so that they answer to existing needs.

- The priority of assessing impacts and monitoring collaborative work between services.

Click here to read the executive summary about the study

The 2019 European Report on Roma integration was recently released. This report focuses on the implementation of Roma inclusion measures in the European Union Member States (MS). It summarizes the most important trends on four policy areas of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (education, employment, health, housing), as well as fighting discrimination and antigypsyism.

According to the report,  most MS invested in measures to reduce early school-leaving  (18 MS). The next most frequently used measures included: considering the needs of individual pupils in cooperation with their families (14 MS); increasing the access to, and quality of, early childhood education and care (13 MS); and encouraging Roma participation in – and completion of – secondary and tertiary education (11 MS). Efforts were also made to fight school segregation; use inclusive teaching methods; and develop skills adapted to labour market needs (12 MS each).

As Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová, said: “Receiving proper education from an early age gives every child a chance in life. Member States have worked hard. Now, 90% of Roma children attend primary and lower secondary school.” (source: EU Press release Database)

However, there are still 68% of Roma who leave education early, while the Europe 2020 early school leavers target is 10%. In addition only 18% of Roma children transit to higher levels of education and the absenteeism and early-school leaving rates of Roma are significantly higher than for other categories of pupils.

In terms of central priorities to be addressed, the report indicates:
- To support home parenting and early-childhood learning;
- To systematically monitor and fight school and class segregation;
- To encourage young Roma to pursue higher education.

Some of the policy lessons in this area mentioned in the report include: the importance of early intervention and prevention; the need to ensure participation and empowerment of Roma parents; the role of extracurricular activities for strengthening identity and social networks of Roma children; and the relevance of continuous complex support measures (tutoring combined with scholarship and removal of other cost barriers) in promoting the transition between educational levels and to employment.

Especially in Member States with a high share of Roma pupils, a systematic, complex and long term approach is recognized as needed to fight school and class segregation, which remains a pressing problem that undermines the success of other inclusion measures. According to the report, key parts of this approach include: providing early and free access to quality inclusive early-childhood education and care in integrated settings; supporting Roma parents in school choice; gradual closing of segregated schools by educational authorities; and distributing Roma children across several schools (through the reorganisation of school catchment areas).

The report also highlights the relevance of implementing measures to sensitise the general public on the importance of educational inclusion and intercultural education for community relations.

Find the report here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/report-implementation-national-roma-integration-strategies-2019_en

Watch ISOTIS researcher Herman van de Werfhorst (University of Amsterdam) explaining how  unequal opportunities to do well in school are produced by the education system.

In a new blog post, ISOTIS researcher Cecília Aguiar (ISCTE-IUL) presents a tool with questions that enable early childhood professionals to reflect on dimensions of the early childhood education environment that may facilitate or hinder participation and involvement.

The dimensions include, for instance, social environment, physical environment, materials, communication, among others.

According to your view, what strategies can be used to support reflection about inclusiveness in educational settings?

Let us know by commenting on your Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Equality & Inclusion Conference | 28-29 November | Utrecht, the Netherlands.

The abstracts of the parallel keynotes on Thursday the 28^th of November are now online! During these keynotes different speakers present a keynote talk. Maurice Crul will speak about The effect of educational systems and policies on children of migrant and refugees. Vibeke Grøver’s keynote is about Supporting dual language learning through collaboration between parents and teachers in early childhood education. Finally, Jacqueline Barnes will talk about Inter-agency working.

Curious? Read their abstracts here:

• Maurice Crul: https://equality-inclusion.com/thursday/#crul
• Vibeke Grøver: https://equality-inclusion.com/thursday/#grover
• Jacqueline Barnes: https://equality-inclusion.com/thursday/#barnes

Register now at : https://equality-inclusion.com/

A paper by ISOTIS researchers Ted Melhuish and Jacqueline Barnes (University of Oxford), together with other colleagues, was accepted into the Exceptionality Education International journal.

The paper focuses a study of the long-term influence of early childhood education and care (ECEC) on the risk for developing special educational needs (SEN).

The results of this longitudinal study following over 3000 children up to the end of school found that, after controlling for demographic and parenting factors, that attendance an early education centre reduced the risk of the child developing special educational needs across the whole of the school career.

This effect was amplified where the quality of provision in the early education centre was higher. Overall attendance at high quality early education reduced the risk of SEN across the school career by 60% compared to children without early education experience before entering formal schooling.

Today  we welcomed our ISOTIS colleagues at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Coimbra, Portugal! The final working meeting of the project will occur until Friday.

Our team is discussing key recommendations for European policy and practice based on the findings of the project.  The central goal is to combat educational and social inequalities, and increase inclusiveness.

Yesterday, the PhD students conducting studies in the scope of ISOTIS also presented their research projects.

Relevant findings and recommendations are coming in! More news will be shared soon. Stay tuned!

"Madara te phenel hoj džanes Romanes. Amari čhib hin šukar the guľori."
[Do not be afraid to say that you speak Romani. Our language is beautiful and sweet.]

In the video below, our colleague Stano Daniel (ISSA) tells us about the importance of encouraging children and families to use the languages they know.

Impact of process quality in Early Childhood Education and Care on academic outcomes: Longitudinal meta‐analysis" is a new article by ISOTIS researchers Katrin Wolf and Yvonne Anders (Freie Universität Berlin), together with Hannah Ulferts.

The article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13296

According to the abstract:

"This meta‐analysis studies the association of pedagogical processes in early childhood care and education with outcomes in two academic domains: language and literacy as well as mathematics. It synthesizes evidence from 17 longitudinal studies in nine European countries with 16,461 children in regular center‐based care spanning the period between ages 3 and 16. Results of a three‐level meta‐analysis provided small overall effect sizes for both global and domain‐specific process quality, and indicated lasting associations with academic development over children’s school career (ES = .11, Cohen’s d = .22, and ES = .10, Cohen’s d = .20). Effects varied by outcome domain, type of process measure, and differences in adopted analyses, with important implications for pedagogical practice and future research."

In a new study, ISOTIS researchers Rita Guerra, Ricardo Borges Rodrigues and Cecília Aguiar (ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon) examined the role of perceived discrimination and acculturation orientations on immigrant children's achievement and well-being in the school context. Participants in the study included immigrant, immigrant descendant and native Portuguese children from 4th to 6th grade.

This study examined the relation between perceived discrimination and immigrant/immigrant descendant children's acculturation orientations towards culture maintenance and contact with native peers, and their psychological (i.e., well-being and peer acceptance) and sociocultural adaptation (i.e., school achievement).

Results indicated that:

- Immigrant and immigrant descendant children revealed lower school achievement than their native peers; but only immigrant, and not immigrant descendant children, reported lower levels of well-being and peer acceptance.

- Perceived discrimination was found to be negatively related to school achievement, via an increased desire for culture maintenance, only among immigrant children.

- The indirect effects of perceived discrimination on well-being and peer acceptance were not significant.

- However, perceived discrimination was strongly related to lower well-being and acceptance, independently of the target group. This suggest that the negative association between perceived discrimination and well-being in the school context might encompass a more general process affecting both immigrant and immigrant descendant children.

Click here to read the full paper

We happy to invite you to the Equality & Inclusion Conference in Utrecht, November 28-29.

The early bird deadline was extended until September 30th!

Register at https://equality-inclusion.com

The conference will address policies and interventions to increase the educational opportunities, social mobility, integration and inclusion of groups at risk of marginalization, in particular immigrant communities, ethnic minorities and low-income groups in Europe.

The conference will feature the contributions and key recommendations of the ISOTIS project. Join us!

How can we advance policies and practices that ensure inclusion and equity in education? What actions have governments taken to translate principles into practices to ensure inclusive learning environments? What are the recommendations that could foster inclusion in education?

These are key questions of the International Forum on Inclusion and Equity in Education, organized by UNESCO, that is taking place in Cali, Colombia, until next Friday. Click here to visit the website

"The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its focus on leaving no one behind, provides a unique opportunity to build more inclusive, just and fair societies. There remains challenges to ensure that all people irrespective of sex, age, race or ethnicity, and persons with disabilities, migrants, indigenous peoples, children and youth, especially those in vulnerable situations have access to life-long learning opportunities. Although efforts have been made to promote quality education for all, reality does not show significant transformation in educational systems nor policies."

"The Forum will provide a platform for debate and a place to share innovative policies, programmes and practices to advance inclusion and equity in education."

How policies and practices can be improved to promote inclusion and give all children a head start is a leading question that will also be discussed at the conference Equality and Inclusion, featuring the ISOTIS project. Enroll here: https://equality-inclusion.com/

Register here: https://equality-inclusion.com 

How can our early education and family support systems be improved to give all children a head start in life? How can we support the professionals working in these systems? What are effective models of interagency collaboration and local governance to increase equity and inclusiveness in our societies?

These are the key questions that will be addressed in a varied program of keynotes, symposia and workshops at the conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on 28-29 November 2019.

The conference will feature the ISOTIS project. Other research projects and in-depth case studies of promising practices from several countries will be represented as well. Join us!

"There is a common agreement among professionals, policy makers and academics that improvements of ECEC provision ought to be based on research-based premises. However, implementing changes requires great sensitivity to the national cultural, social, historical and economic circumstances, otherwise we may lose the country’s unique strengths."

ISOTIS researcher Olga Wysłowska (University of Warsaw) tells us about the example of provision in Poland for children between 0 to 3 years of age, highlighting changes that occurred over time, in a new blog piece.

Click here to read the full blog piece.

How has the Early Childhood Education sector developed in your country? Share your views and experiences with us on our Facebok, Twitter or Linkedin pages!

The European Commission releases the second annual trend report on new policy developments in the area of child and family policy in the EU Member States. It focuses on progress with policies and activities initiated in earlier years.

It is drafted as part of the European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC) project.

Click here to find the publication.

A child's home learning environment has an impact on their long term development.

In the video below, ISOTIS researcher Edward Melhuish (Oxford University) tells us more about:
- Why is the Home Learning Environment important?
- What learning opportunities can families offer children to promote their development?

We are happy to share the latest newsletter of our project!

Click here to read it.

You can find out more about the new publications and videos, and events in which we will participate soon. Join us!

Interested in receiving the ISOTIS newsletter in your inbox? Subscribe here: http://www.isotis.org/newsletter-subscription/

Our team interviewed parents with a Romani, Turkish, North-African, and native low-income background about their views and experiences with educational and support services, and experiences of integration and inclusiveness. The interviews were conducted in the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Portugal.

In a first large study, parents replied to a questionnaire, as described here.

In a second study, a smaller group of 244 parents participated in a more detailed or in-depth interview, with the goal of enabling a better understanding of their experiences and practices of parenting young children.  This study is document in a new ISOTIS publication - Parent in-depth interview study: Technical report, by ISOTIS researchers Lyudmila Nurse and Edward Melhuish (University of Oxford).

The interviews examined children’s and parents’ experiences with inclusiveness and
educational effectiveness. The interviews also addressed the cultural and linguistic resources of the families, the values and ambitions, and the educational decisions they make. Finally, the interviews examined the wellbeing of parents and children.

The study also aimed to address the mechanisms of adaptation and strategies for parents’ and children’s integration into the society, and type, availability and use of resources in bringing up children by the parents.

Click here to read the full report

The new Key data on ECEC in Europe - 2019 Edition is available! ISOTIS researcher Clara Barata (University of Coimbra) contributed to this report as an expert.

As described here:

"Early childhood education and care (ECEC) – the phase before primary education – is increasingly acknowledged as providing the foundations for lifelong learning and development. This second edition of Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe charts the progress made in the key quality areas identified in the Council Recommendation on High Quality ECEC Systems.

The report provides indicators on the key quality areas of governance, access, staff, educational guidelines as well as evaluation and monitoring. Cross-cutting these key areas, it presents a child-centred approach, with special attention being paid to the inter-relatedness of policies in different areas. The importance of inclusiveness in education is also stressed as high quality ECEC is considered to be one of the best ways to increase equity and equality in society.

Part one provides policymakers, researchers and parents with comparative information on the current ECEC policies across Europe. Part two gives an overview of the key features of national ECEC systems accompanied by a diagram of their structure.

The scope of the report is wide, covering centre-based and regulated home-based provision in both the public and private sectors in the 38 European countries (43 education systems) participating in the EU's Erasmus+ programme. It includes the 28 Member States of the European Union as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey."

Clear here to read the report

The ISOTIS team developed a staff survey among over 1 000 professionals. A wide range of professionals were involved, including teachers, specialists, managers and social and family workers. The participating professionals were working in a variety of settings, such as early childhood education and care (ECEC), formal education, after-school care and the social work sector. The survey was conducted in the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Portugal.

One of the main conclusions based on the findings is that more positive beliefs towards multiculturalism and multilingualism seemed to go hand in hand with more culturally sensitive practices and better parent-professional relationships. Multicultural beliefs corresponded to being sensitive, appreciative, and respectful towards cultural differences, while at the same time focusing on the similarities and intercultural contact. Multilingual beliefs involved valuing the use of the heritage language at home and at (pre)school, and support for the development of the heritage language in (pre)school.

This staff survey is described in the new report “Internet survey among staff working in formal and informal (education) sectors in ten European countries”. It is authored by ISOTIS researchers Pauline Slot, Bodine Romijn (both from Utrecht University), Joana Cadima, Gil Nata (both from University of Porto), and Olga Wysłowska (University of Warsaw).

Click here to read the executive summary
Click here to download the full report

"Children's right to participate in early childhood education settings: A systematic review" is the theme of a new article by ISOTIS researcher Cecília Aguiar (ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa) and colleagues, published in Children and Youth Services Review.

According to the abstract of this article:

"Children's right to participate is considered pivotal for establishing a culture of democracy and citizenship. Although this is not a new concept, its application remains a challenge. This review aims to map peer-reviewed empirical research conducted on children's right to participate, in center-based early childhood education settings, from 1980 on. A systematic literature search was performed and 36 studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings suggest a limited number of publications, conducted mostly in northern Europe countries, in the education field. Regarding definitions and theoretical backgrounds, sociological, legal, democratic, and educational discourses converge. There is a prominence of qualitative studies, a greater focus of research on ideas about participation, and, to a lesser extent, a focus on practices to promote participation. There is more emphasis on teacher's perspectives and practices, with few studies relying on children as informants, and limited sound measures to assess children's participation. Future research should rely on multiple informants, and investigate associations between this right and children's individual outcomes."

The highlights of this article are:
"- Mapping of empirical research on children's right to participate in ECE.
- Limited number of publications, mostly from northern Europe and education field.
- Greater focus on ideas about participation and to a lesser extent on practices.
- Few studies relying on children as informants, and limited participation measures.
- Need to further investigate the effects of participation at the individual level."

This article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.031

Reinforcing the children's right to participate, the ISOTIS team listened to children’s perspectives on inclusion and well-being at school. Click here to read more.

Which aspects increase chances of success when considering the development and implementation of youth policy?

ISOTIS researcher Pauline Slot (Utrecht University) tells us about important conditions in the scope of youth policy in a new blog piece on the EarlyYearsBlog.EU, available at the link below.

Starting early is the first condition mentioned. The researcher notes that "Prevention or early intervention, when problems are still mild, is in the benefit of the child and family". Children’s development can be enhanced by prevention programs. Pauline Slot adds that "Especially family healthcare, which includes for instance regular health check-ups and vaccinations for young children, but also screening of children’s development supports healthy development of children".

Using effective programs is also a relevant condition. Pauline Slot highlights that "It is important to use programs that have proven to be effective in changing the targeted behaviour or skills". She adds that "A (national) databank can be established to facilitate the use of evidence-based programs." This information can help professionals and parents to take well informed decisions.

Establishing a coherent, long-term cost-effective youth policy is the third condition mentioned. The researcher informs that there are two strategies for cost effective youth policy which are adopted, for instance, in the British policy Every Child Matters. The first strategy entails a small change for a large group of people: "To establish a small difference within a large group of people we need a collective prevention or public health approach". The second strategy concerns focusing on a large improvement for a small group of people, by targeting specific at-risk groups who are thought to benefit a lot by certain program. Pauline Slot notes that "These programs can also be preventive and aimed at parenting or family problems that are still in an early stage".

The researcher also addresses two other aspects. She highlights the relevance of a shift from a problem-oriented approach to a strengths-based approach focused on the empowerment of the families.  Additionally, she refers that it is important to include a focus on the wider social context the family, such as relatives, friends, and neighbours, (pre)school and community services.

Read the full blog piece here:

The earlier, the better

Children’s perspectives are essential to understand their lives from their unique viewpoint. Tackling children poverty and social exclusion and improving their well-being involves promoting children’s participation in decision-making in areas that affect them.

In a recent study, the ISOTIS team listened to children’s perspectives on inclusion and well-being at school and at identifying facilitating positive elements at school within cultural, religious and linguistic differences. Our team explored what children identified as quality indicators of school inclusiveness, and their suggestions to make school more welcoming and inclusive. Furthermore, this study explored a form of education through democracy, examining how a supportive democratic learning environment can be created.

Click here to read the technical report on the conduction of this study. It was edited by Giulia Pastori, Valentina Pagani and Alice Sophie Sarcinelli (University of Milano-Bicocca).

Participants were children in pre- and primary school settings and informal after-school contexts in areas characterized by high cultural diversity and social inequalities in seven European countries: the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, and Poland. Around 300 children in 14 different contexts participated.

This study was designed to complement the interviews aimed at parents, conducted in the scope of the project, to enable better understanding of experiences, perceptions and opinions of young children from native-born low income families, and families with ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds regarding inclusion and well-being at school.

The goal was to allow children to express their perspectives about:
● what they thought about differences (at cultural, somatic, linguistic, socio-economic status);
● their social and cultural identity and their school context in terms of inclusion;
● what they identified as quality indicators of school inclusiveness;
● what they proposed to make their school more welcoming and inclusive.

The final objectives of the study were to:
● explore if/how the school supported inclusion, acknowledging and valuing diversity;
● understand what elements contributed to children’s well-being at school;
● explore children’s views on their (cultural) identity;
● elicit children’s proposals to make their school (more) inclusive;
● implement some proposals;
● offer a critical analysis of the methodological issues related to accessing children’s viewpoints, especially regarding sensitive issues such as inclusion.

Different activities were carried out to elicit children’s views. For instance, to collect the perspectives of 9-10 years old children on what makes them feel good and what does not make them feel good at school, children were given yellow suns and grey clouds cut from cardboard where they could wrote or drew. Suns were for elements that made them feel good and that they thought would give us an understanding of what are the nicest things about their school in their opinion. Clouds were for elements that did not make them feel good in their school contexts.

To collect the views from younger children, between 3-6 years old, one of the options foresaw involving children in a circle-time discussion about how to welcome new children that would start preschool the following year. This circle-time could be introduced by saying, for instance: Next year new children will start preschool. These new children won't know their new teachers, their classmates and the spaces at your school. How can we help them to feel comfortable with us?

Overall, this study intended to provide new perspectives and valuable ideas to inform policymakers, as well as a critical reflection and suggestions on methodological and ethical aspects of doing research with and for children, to enhance inclusive environments through children’s active participation and to empower children in their roles as democratic citizens.

Results about this study will be available shortly. Stay tuned!

Integrated working between services for families, in fields such as education, health, youth welfare, employment and criminal justice, has been tried in different European contexts. The goal has been to improve support for children and families, and to potentially reduce inequalities.

"Inter-agency working in Europe and the Uk to support vulnerable young children and families" is the title of a new article by ISOTIS researchers Jacqueline Barnes and Edward Melhuish (University of Oxford), published in the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development.

According to the authors, the inter-agency work has been promoted as a way to provide joined-up solutions for families who are likely to experience multifaceted problems, that are inadequately addressed by traditional separated services. For example, when services work separately, families may be involved in multiple assessments, with replicated explanations to many different professionals in different locations.

The authors highlight that agencies working in collaboration, with a shared vision, a common location, and (ideally) a common governance structure, can be responsive and efficient in supporting children and parents, and reducing inequalities.

In Europe, different approaches are used to support families of young children and to promote the quality of their home learning environment.

In a new article, ISOTIS researchers Joana Cadima and Gil Nata (University of Porto) discuss the contextual factors, facilitators and underlying challenges of family support services in Portugal. "Parent- and family-focused support in Portugal: context and analysis of services/programmes from an equity perspective" is the title of this article, which is published in the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal.

This article begins by providing an up-to-date overview of relevant social context statistics, about poverty, use of services and early education and care programs. These statistics contribute to document country policies regarding parents and families.

Then, 11 research-supported and promising parent- and family-focused support programs currently implemented in Portugal are analyzed. The authors discuss key features and principles that have been empirically determined to address social and educational inequalities.

Click here to read the full article.

The integration and use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is seen as a promising approach for family support programmes.

Our team studied promising or successful programmes focused on family and parenting support, and found that, in some cases, ICT was used as a communication tool to overcome language challenges.

However, the team also found that it was an unused resource. It was still not seen as a success factor by all participants in the examined programmes, although implemented officially in the concept of two programmes.

Our team points to the potential benefits of strategic ICT use within the programmes. The implementation of ICT tools needs to be adapted to the needs of the providers and families and should be supported through the professional development of the staff.

Colleagues from England, the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal met at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, to discuss next steps in the scope of the project.

Our team aims to develop a comprehensive overview, relating information on service coordination (in fields such as education, health, social work, and welfare) with experiences of parents and (para)professionals living in the same areas. The goal is write a report that can guide future European developments in coordination between services involving young children and their families.

This work will integrate findings from previous ISOTIS studies, such us:
- The interviews with heads of services, coordinators, and local government representatives on collaboration between services for children and families. Click here to read more

- The interviews with parents with a Romani, Turkish, North-African, and native low-income background on their views and experiences with educational and support services, and on experiences of integration and inclusiveness. Click here to read more

-The survey among professionals working in formal and informal (education) sectors on cultural and linguistic beliefs, practices and organizational policies, relations with parents and other stakeholders, and staff’s work environment. In this survey, a wide range of professionals were involved, including teachers, specialists, managers and social and family workers, working in a variety of settings, such as early childhood education and care, formal education, after-school care and the social work sector. Findings of this survey will be released soon.

Stay tuned!

In the current educational world, more and more professionals are faced with issues of inclusiveness and multilingualism – or the use of multiple languages – in their classroom or services.

ISOTIS developed an inventory of promising interventions aimed to support professionals working with the issues of inclusiveness and multilingualism.

Click here to read the full inventory

In the video below, ISOTIS researcher Pauline Slot (Utrecht University) tells us about the lessons learned from this inventory.

She also addresses the next steps in the scope of the project to support professionals working in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts.

Our team interviewed parents with a Romani background about their experiences with educational and support services, and experiences of integration and inclusiveness. These interviews were conducted in the Czech Republic, Greece and Portugal.

Click here to read the report on these interviews

Preliminary findings suggested that parents perceived a high level of social support, but also confirmed experiences of financial hardship. The results also indicated differences across countries, which might be related to specific country systems and regulations. More findings will be shared soon!

ISOTIS aims to give families a voice in how to adapt early education systems and support services. Join us!

The collaboration between services for children and families, in fields such as education, health, social work, and welfare, is increasingly recognized as important to tackle social and educational inequalities.

To improve outreach and efficiency of social responses and services, it is important to identify facilitating factors, barriers, and impacts regarding the collaboration between services.

The ISOTIS team interviewed heads of services, coordinators, and local government representatives about these topics. The interviews were conducted in nine European countries: the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

The findings of these interviews are included in a new ISOTIS report. The executive summary is available here. The full report will be available soon.

According to the report, public, private, and non-profit entities are playing an increasingly important role in the implementation of measures to promote inclusiveness.

The government has a key role in supporting the collaboration between services, by coordinating, monitoring, and/or providing funding.

Support from the organizations was highlighted as important by the interviewees, namely to ensure the continuity of human resources, and appropriate professionals' time and task allocation.

Involving the professionals working in the field and the services' users was acknowledged as relevant to enhance the provision of relevant services that match the local needs.

Investing in professional development, defining agencies and professionals’ roles, and clarifying lines of communication between them were also mentioned key factors to ensure the commitment of all the stakeholders involved.

The evaluation of impacts and monitoring of collaboration between services were found as major priorities. The evaluation of children’s outcomes is particularly scarce. Developing evaluation and monitoring plans, and participatory diagnoses to promote changes can constitute a key contribute to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the collaboration between services.

This new report was edited by Joana Guerra, Catarina Leitão and Clara Barata (University of Coimbra).

Click here to read the executive summary 

ISOTIS publications can now be found on the Knowledge Hub of the REYN - Romani Early Years Network, which includes resources on early childhood development and the workforce.

Check out these resources here: https://www.reyn.info/resources/

Reciprocal family-school relationships, staff selection, training, and support, as well as a strong institutional equity culture are important conditions to promote inclusiveness and belongingness in early childhood education and primary school.

This is one of the central conclusions of the new ISOTIS REPORT on promising interventions tackling educational inequalities through curriculum, classroom practices, and/or school social climate. The interventions studied by our team were being conducted in: England, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal.

The report was edited by ISOTIS researchers Cecília Aguiar and Carla Silva (ISCTE-IUL).

Click here and read the full report

The ISOTIS team interviewed linguistically and culturally diverse parents about their views and experiences related to their children’s education.

In the video below, ISOTIS researcher Katrin Wolf (Free University of Berlin) and coordinator Paul Leseman (Utrecht University) tell us how these parents are supporting and engaging their children.

The researchers also highlight experiences shared by parents that need to be in the European public's attention. Watch the video below and tell us your views on the parents' experiences.

The importance of children’s sense of belongingness in inclusive classrooms and schools is highlighted in the ISOTIS inventory on promising curriculum, pedagogy, and social climate interventions.

Click here to read the full inventory. 

Watch ISOTIS researcher Cecília Aguiar (ISCTE-IUL) explaining how the sense of belongingness of linguistically and culturally diverse children can be promoted. She also addresses how policymakers can support school professionals to potentiate the inclusion of diverse children. Finally, find out which are the next steps in ISOTIS regarding inclusive curricula and educational practices.

ISOTIS releases a new report of promising or successful programmes focused on family and parenting support. Our team studied programmes implemented in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal. The goal was to shed light on how these programmes overcomed existing challenges, and ensured high outreach and process quality.

According to the report, one of the main success factors contributing to effective outreach was the establishment and use of trusting relationships.

In different programmes, it was highlighted that the practitioners working with families need to be trusted members of the community. The practitioner should be someone parents can identify. This may be fostered by shared backgrounds and experiences, or by deep knowledge about the families. The programmes met the families through trusted organisations and key-persons, who already had contact with parents at places where they spent their time.

Findings indicated that practitioners should meet the parents at eye level, and respect them as experts of their own children. Professionals' attitudes towards the families, such as respect, egalitarian view on parents, and empowerment, were acknowledged as relevant for effective outreach.

The programmes were made visible through communication channels seen and listened to by the families. These programmes were promoted in a non-stigmatizing way, and offered at pleasant schedules regarding times and places of classes or meetings.

However, the authors highlight that the partners involved in the programmes, communication channels used, and concrete activities offered need to be carefully adapted to the specific needs of the families in a given context. Successful or promising programmes seem to be characterized by the interplay of factors, which may be different depending on the societal context and change over time.

"Case studies of promising parent- and family-focused support programmes" is the title of this new ISOTIS report. It is authored by Franziska Cohen, Mareike Trauernicht (both from Freie Universität Berlin), Joana Cadima, Gil Nata (both from University of Porto), Katharina Ereky-Stevens (University of Oxford), Martine Broekhuizen, Ryanne Francot (both Utrecht University), and Yvonne Anders (Freie Universität Berlin).

Click here to read the executive summary

Click here to read the full report

The coordination of services for children and families can promote equality and inclusiveness.

ISOTIS researcher Jacqueline Barnes (University of Oxford) explains how the coordination of services can make a difference in the lives of culturally and linguistically diverse children and families. The researcher also tells us about factors that can facilitate successful practices in this scope, and why it is still hard to implement them.

Norway scaled up universal Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) from age 1.

The consequences of Norway universal ECEC scale-up for children’s early language skills were investigated by ISOTIS researcher Henrik Daae Zachrisson (University of Oslo) and colleagues.

The focus on early language skills was driven by evidence that differences in early language help explain a considerable portion of the differences in school achievement between children from lower and higher income backgrounds during elementary school. Additionally, early caregiving environments are critical to developing early language skills.

Results indicated the scale-up of universal ECEC led to improved language skills, particularly for children from low-income backgrounds.

According to the authors, the results from this study help to inform the debate about the merits of universal policies,  which are designed to serve all children, versus targeted policies, which exclusively serve children in vulnerable living situations. The results may also provoke discussion about the benefits of beginning ECEC programs as early as infancy.

The authors concluded that the study increased evidence that nations can implement publically subsidized and regulated ECEC programs for very young children at scale with a potential benefit of narrowing achievement gaps between children.

The study is described in the article "Estimating the consequences of Norway’s national scale-up of Early Childhood Education and Care (beginning in infancy) for early language skills", published in the journal AERA Open.

Click here to read the full article

The interviews with parents conducted by our team are now documented in a new report, available here.

Parents with a Romani, Turkish, North-African, and native low-income background were asked about their views and experiences with educational and support services, and experiences of integration and inclusiveness. The interviews were conducted in ten European countries: the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Portugal.

The EarlyYearsBlog.eu is a new educational blog. It aims to help early childhood education professionals innovate their pedagogical practices and promote the inclusion of all children. Teachers, educators, caregivers, policy makers, and researchers can find topics related to high–quality practices in education, diversity and multilingualism.

The blog is an initiative in the scope of Erasmus+ project BECERID, and it is coordinated by ODISEE (Belgium). ISOTIS researchers from Utrecht University (the Netherlands), ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (Portugal), and University of Warsaw (Poland) are part of the team of this project.

Click here and discover more about the reasons to follow the EarlyYearsBlog.eu in a message by ISOTIS researcher Cecília Aguiar (ISCTE-IUL).

Visit the blog: http://earlyyearsblog.eu/

Children's ability to control their behavior and emotions, often referred as self-regulation, is relevant for later success throughout school and life.

ISOTIS researcher Edward Melhuish (Oxford University) tells us about how to promote young children's self regulation. Find out by watching this video by Storypark:

Our team interviewed parents and asked them about the experience of raising their children in the neighborhood where they live. ISOTIS researchers Charlotte Meijers and Martine Broekhuizen (Utrecht University) tell us about the experiences shared by parents with a Turkish or Moroccan background living in the Netherlands, in Utrecht or Rotterdam, in this new blog post (in Dutch).

According to the researchers, many parents perceive their neighborhood as unsafe. They do not let their children play outside alone, despite they recognize the importance of children playing outside with friends, and doing exercise. Parents feel unsafe in the neighborhood due to, for instance, drug dealers, crime, traffic, and dangerous substances or objects, such as needles, on the street and playgrounds.

Parents would like to see more control by the police. For them, a safe playground would be well-organized, well-sealed, and illuminated in the evening. Parents also value activities and sports facilities for children in the neighborhood. Other initiatives mentioned that contribute to a safer neighborhood include:

- The arrival of youth workers and teams that, for instance, offer free accessible basic care to families and young people. Several parents say that they have built up a relationship of trust with a team member, and they can ask this person for help.

- Informative meetings about the neighborhood, that may include sharing knowledge about dangers for children. A valued initiative mentioned concerns a project conducted in a number of neighborhoods in Rotterdam, where police, in collaboration with staff from area, youth workers and schools, give parents information about issues that children of the neighborhood may encounter, such as street culture and (youth) crime. Check this project here.

- Initiatives to improve the atmosphere of the neighborhood. For instance, a group of mothers decided to clean it up regularly. Other initiatives include organizing a 'plant day', during which residents put plants and flowers in different places, or making and painting benches, with the involvement of the children. These activities can help residents to get to know and help each other.

- Initiatives to get to know people in the neighborhood, such as street festivals or an annual activity organized with neighbors. By knowing who lives in the neighborhood, mutual trust can be strengthened and personal contact can be created more quickly. This contributes to feelings of safety and familiarity in the neighborhood.

The researchers highlight that taking into account these practices and initiatives is therefore important to improve the safety of the neighborhoods for children and families. Parents themselves have the motivation to contribute to the safety of the environment where they live.

Read the full blog post in Dutch: http://www.isotis.org/blog/2019/01/18/veilig-opgroeien-in-de-wijk/

The early years of life, before entering school, are formative for patterns of inequality in educational achievement between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and between children with and without a migration background. Therefore, providing support before school age to children from families with less economical and educational resources, and to children who or their parents were born in a different country has the potential of reducing future achievement gaps.

This is one of the central recommendations of the new ISOTIS report Roots and development of achievement gaps - A Longitudinal assessment in selected European countries, based on results from Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The report analyses the evolution of achievement gaps in children from infancy and preschool age up to end of compulsory schooling. It was edited by Giampiero Passaretta and Jan Skopek (Trinity College Dublin), and co-authored by colleagues from the University of Utrecht, University of Oslo and University of Milano-Bicocca.

The authors found that children from high-income families and from parents with a high level of education perform better than children from less affluent families and whose parents have less educational resources. Importantly, these socio-economically determined gaps are already visible in the very early years of life, tend to increase steadily over infancy, and are well established even before children enter primary school. After transition to school, socio-economically determined gaps in achievement remain quite stable, and increase only slightly throughout years of primary and secondary education. Considerable similarities in the evolution of socio-economically determined achievement gaps were found across countries. The authors conclude that preschool-age interventions that facilitate a more equalized start into school life hold the promise of reducing a large part of socio-economically determined achievement gaps in later school career.

Children with a migration background enter school with a substantial disadvantage, but enjoy over-proportional achievement gains in school in general. Yet these findings vary between countries and target groups. In some countries, initial disadvantages of children with a migrant background vanish almost entirely after school entry. When starting into school at the same achievement level, many children with migrant background are outperforming children of native families. Thus, the authors conclude that reducing migration-related inequality in preschool age could have the potential to eradicate children's penalties in school-age, and contribute to high educational achievement.

That authors highlight that preschool- and school-age interventions may include policies expanding Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services or improving the quality of ECEC services or schools, and also policies targeting the families' home or neighbourhood, through appropriate financial and social support.

Read the full report here: http://www.isotis.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ISOTIS_D1.3-Roots-and-Development-of-Achievement-Gaps.pdf

Reading activities involving both children and parents can have a positive effect on young children’s literacy development and achievement. However, few studies focusing on reading activities in culturally diverse families are known.

In a recent study conducted in the scope of ISOTIS, in Portugal, Roma families and non-Roma families experiencing financial hardship, with 3 to 6 year-old children, were interviewed about the frequency of reading activities involving adults and children at their home.

Findings indicated that the frequency of adult-child reading activities at home can be potentiated by reinforcing Roma families’ educational aspirations for their children, and by creating opportunities for positive social interactions between parents in the preschool setting, particularly for families experiencing financial hardship.

This study was carried out by ISOTIS researchers Inês Ferreira, Carla Silva, Leonor Neves (all from ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa), Sofia Guichard (University of Porto), and Cecília Aguiar (ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa). It was presented at the EDULOG 2018 international conference.

See the poster presented here