Early Childhood Policies and Systems in Eight Countries: Findings from IEA’s Early Childhood Education Study

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's (IEA) Early Childhood Education (ECE) study has brought together available data from other international studies and reports, such as OECD, EIU and European Commission, and national and sub-national policy documents supported with national expert advice, to compare the ECE systems of 8 countries volunteered for this comparison: Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Poland, Russian Federation, and the USA.The main purpose of the study is "to explore, describe and analyze ECE provision and its role in preparing children for the learning and social demands of school and wider society."(p. 9, my emphasis).Overall, I think the report offers some useful information for those who want to familiarise themselves with these countries' ECE systems and to gain a first-hand introduction to their policy frames and provisional patterns.It also helps to advance an understanding of the basic specificities of these systems, such as governance and management levels, split or integrated provision types, legislative and statutory entitlements for children and parents, parental leave provisions, or upcoming policy changes, in comparison to others.There are also useful tables all through the report to facilitate systemic comparison and to draw out some general, but basic, comparative observations.The authors make those observations with careful consideration; for example, it is noted with the decentralized, federal system in the US, local services may differ quite starkly.This makes country-wide generalizations of the US problematic.I have, however, a major issue with the aim of this multi-country comparison.The authors position ECE in the purpose of the study as a preparation for further education and to address social issues, rather than an important aspect of children's present lives to which issues of quality and equality connect.