Research aimed to promote fairness in educational opportunities from the outset

Sustainably improving early childhood development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds based on scientific evidence

The Bremen Initiative to Foster Early Childhood Development (BRISE) implements and scientifically evaluates an approach to better support the early childhood development of children from families in challenging life situations. The approach consists of linking available programs that have been shown to be effective into a continuous chain of support. Knowledge gained from the comprehensive longitudinal study may serve to legitimize political measures to improve educational equity and for children to reach their full potential.

“Candy and Catherine get equal educational opportunities!” This could be the headline of a major daily newspaper if the hopes associated with BRISE come true. BRISE—the Bremen Initiative to Foster Early Childhood Development—is much more than a research project. A coalition of representatives from respective services and institutions, academia, administration, politics, and citizenry aim for better support of early childhood development of children from educationally disadvantaged families—more effective and more efficient than it is thus far. Children should start their academic careers equipped with school readiness skills, regardless of their family background (and the stereotypes and expectations associated with it).

As part of that coalition, the IPN and the research alliance led by Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller, Managing Director of Research of the IPN, share the intention of improving educational equity in Germany. In accordance with applicable scientific standards, a longitudinal study examines whether the approach implemented by BRISE contributes to this goal. In fact, the BRISE research alliance would be doing a disservice to society, and in particular to children from educationally disadvantaged families, if results obtained from less scientifically rigorous research were accepted as evidence of effectiveness for the BRISE approach. BRISE would thus encourage the use of public funds for measures unlikely to improve the educational opportunities of disadvantaged children. These funds would then be unavailable for potentially more effective interventions. Children would still not receive the support that would provide them with the best possible learning opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge.

Utilizing a chain of support to continuously foster child development

It is expected that the BRISE approach will effectively foster the early childhood development of children from families in challenging life situations and require comparatively little additional funding to do so. Here's how it works: BRISE takes advantage of the many already available services for pregnant women and families with young children in Bremen. Instead of introducing a new support measure, BRISE links such services into a continuous support chain. The main difference from standard of practice is therefore that families are to use these support measures without substantial breaks. The current state of research suggests that this kind of continuous support more effectively fosters child development than parents only sporadically making use of existing services or not at all. The comprehensive longitudinal study of the BRISE research alliance is putting this hypothesis to a sound empirical test.

The intervention chain comprises selected existing programs and services suitable for fostering the aspects of child development which are pivotal for children when they enter school and which BRISE therefore focuses on. Children need the appropriate cognitive prerequisites—general, verbal, but also scientific and mathematical skills—if they are to cope well with the transition to school. Social-emotional skills, meanwhile, are also essential, because children face greater demands on their ability to regulate momentary needs and their own behavior in everyday school life. These skills should be acquired through learning opportunities in the family context as well as in daycare facilities.

Professional development of staff in daycare facilities

Consequently, BRISE also focuses special attention on daycare centers. At a time when the shortage of skilled labor is dominating the headlines, BRISE is campaigning that the necessary attention also be paid to the qualifications of staff in childcare facilities. The great importance of daycare centers in preparing children for school is best illustrated by those children whose families rarely or never talk in the national language. What applies to language acquisition also applies to other relevant dimensions of child development: Children need appropriate stimulation to learn, which they do not receive—quasi-automatically—in playing with other children. Staff can promote children's development in many everyday situations by providing suitable stimulation. Professional development can enable staff to recognize and make use of such situations. Driven by BRISE, a respective program has been developed and is now on offer for staff in daycare facilities, and not only those attended by children participating in BRISE

Investment in research is worthwhile

What role does research play in BRISE? Research is to pay close attention and to put a finger on problematic issues. It does this, for example, when the large-scale assessments demonstrate the considerable educational inequality that exists particularly in Germany. At the same time, research is to investigate possible explanations for the phenomena it has identified. Thus, it helps to understand why children develop differently depending on their family background. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying educational inequality may allow deducing possible approaches to counteracting its development. Finally, research must ascertain whether and to what extent such approaches are actually suitable for achieving the desired effects. The BRISE research alliance does this by following a large number of educationally disadvantaged families over a period of years and mapping the developmental trajectories of the children and their circumstances, ideally from pregnancy to after school entry. Investing in research is worthwhile because measures that appear useful are not necessarily so. Using scientific evidence as a basis for political action helps prevent implementation of ineffective or even harmful measures.

Important partners in the coalition are therefore also the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the City of Bremen, and the Jacobs Foundation. It is their commitment that makes the implementation of the initiative with the accompanying research program possible in the first place. An undertaking like BRISE does not, however, promise quick wins. On the contrary, a great deal of perseverance is required. The initiative has to be maintained despite adversities such as a pandemic that considerably limited the possibilities to meet with families for both academics and practitioners over a long period of time, so that ultimately reliable evidence-based conclusions can be drawn about the effects of the support chain on the development of educationally disadvantaged children. The findings that BRISE will produce would be impossible to obtain within the usual time frame granted for research projects. As a result, such elaborate studies are rare. Therefore, it is quite significant—far beyond the City of Bremen—that BRISE is in the process of providing such scientific findings.

An initiative especially for difficult times

The objective of the BRISE approach is not a luxury that a society can cut back on in difficult times. On the contrary, the current crises exacerbate society's need to offer educationally disadvantaged children better opportunities. This not only gives them more latitude to shape their own lives, but also better enables them to contribute to societal prosperity.

Good news makes less headlines than bad news. And total educational equality remains a utopian dream. Nevertheless, we have good reason to continue our efforts to ensure educational opportunities for disadvantaged children.

Dr. Kerstin Schütte
was trained as a psychologist and is a research scientist at the IPN in the Department of Educational Research and Educational Psychology. She has been coordinator of the BRISE research alliance since the start of the initiative in 2016.