This colloquium brings information about a second cycle of OECD's International Early Learning and Well-being Study (IELS) to the early childhood community, and offers a further critique of the approach to comparative research that the IELS embodies.

The "Report on the Condition of Education" is an annual report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) that is mandated by the United States Congress. Using data from NCES and other sources, NCES compiles a set of "indicators" of the condition of education in the United States at all levels, from…

There is currently a lack of a more integrated perspective on reading literacy education. In preschool reading activities, it's important to maximize an individual's potential for reading literacy development with limited nurturing energy. Based on self-regulated theory and metacognitive models, this study explored the pathway model of the…

In 2018 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched its International Early Learning Child Well-being Study (IELS), also known as Baby PISA. In the first round of data collection, the IELS focused on three OECD countries: England, Estonia and the United States. In this article we show that a similar study of…

This paper examines whether parental engagement in early childhood and preschooling act as substitutes, or whether their joint effect enhances students' learning outcomes. We utilize the TIMSS 2019 dataset and employ a hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) approach to analyze data from 52 countries, ensuring a robust examination of cross-national…

It is aimed to compare the countries of South Korea, Finland and Canada, which are highly successful in PISA exam, and Turkey in terms of the transition system between educational levels. Document analysis method was used in the study. In the universe of the study, there are thirty-eight countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and…

In this contribution, we look--both historically and in the present--at how children are objectified in data and how it is assumed that this objectivation is a way to dismiss ideology, or at least to separate the ideological from the scientific. We argue, however, that the separation of data from ideology is itself a highly ideological choice. As…

The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to use Gagne's cumulative learning theory to compare math curricula choice to Louisiana Education Assessment Program (LEAP) math achievement for third, fourth, and fifth grade students in public schools within the state of Louisiana. The independent variable of interest, math curricula choice, was…

This article examines why the government in England has signed the country up to taking part in the OECD's new international assessment known as The International Early Learning and Well-being Study (IELS). The article highlights the role of IELS as a technology of neoliberal governance. Looking forward it considers how IELS may open up new…

In this colloquium, the authors provide an update on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's proposal for an International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study, the 'first wave' of which is now being implemented in three countries: England, Estonia and the USA. The authors argue that as the International Early Learning…

This is the fourth colloquium for "Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood" on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study, and marks the recent publication by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of reports on the first round of this study. In…

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs are an important mechanism for supporting foundational skill development and successful progression through later schooling. School readiness assessments that serve as reliable indicators of children's later educational outcomes are most useful for education systems, but little is known about how…

Large-scale learning assessments can be used to generate performance and contextual data on student learning outcomes. They can be national, regional, or international; school based or household based. The UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) has conducted a qualitative study to explore both how and why learning…

Background: Proficient reading skills are crucial for Foundation Phase learners to develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. The 2021 PIRLS assessment highlighted alarmingly low reading proficiency among ten-year-olds. Effective reading instruction, and a positive reading environment are essential for developing confident, skilled…

This paper is based on the analysis of the relationship between early education, mathematical skills, and student achievement in Bosnia & Herzegovina, using data from the trends in international mathematics and science study (TIMSS) 2019. The study involves 5,628 fourth-grade students whose average age was 10.1 years. The research specifically…