Expansion of funded early learning and childcare to 1140 hours: 2018-2025 national outcomes evaluation

Acknowledgements

The overarching early learning and childcare expansion evaluation programme, although led by the Scottish Government, was a collaborative research programme that has benefitted hugely from the generous support and expertise of a number of individuals and organisations throughout Scotland and beyond. A Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group was established by the Scottish Government to oversee the evaluation approach (see Appendix A for membership of the group).

We are grateful to all those who have contributed time and expertise. These include: Local Authority Early Years Leads; Public Health Scotland (PHS); the Care Inspectorate; Early Years Scotland (EYS); Education Scotland; the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA); the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA); the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA); the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) Early Years Network; Professor Jaqueline Barnes, Birkbeck, University of London; Professor Aline-Wendy Dunlop, University of Strathclyde; Professor Alison Koslowski, University College London; Professor James Law, University of Newcastle; Professor James Lewsey, University of Glasgow; Dr Daniel Mackay, University of Glasgow; Dr Louise Marryat, University of Dundee; Professor Ingela Naumann, University of Fribourg; Dr Christine Stephen, University of Stirling; and Dr Sandra Mathers, University of Oxford.

This report also benefited from additional peer review by academic experts: Professor Jaqueline Barnes, Birkbeck, University of London; Professor Ingela Naumann, University of Fribourg; Dr Louise Marryat, University of Dundee; and Dr Sandra Mathers, University of Oxford.

The Scottish Study of Early Learning and Childcare (SSELC) was carried out by the Scottish Centre for Social Research. Thank you to Stephen Hinchliffe, Lisa Rutherford, Sophie Birtwistle, Alex Scholes and Paul Bradshaw.

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all the parents, carers and early learning and childcare staff who generously contributed their time to participate in the surveys, interviews or observations that formed part of this evaluation.

Authors

Children and Families Analysis, Education Analytical Services, the Scottish Government