Early Childhood Education (ECE) participation of children from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds – a research project: Final report for the NSW Department of Education

The purpose of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Participation of Children from Low Socio-Economic Status (SES) Backgrounds research project was to gather evidence on the impact of non-fee interventions on participation in ECE programs of preschool-aged children from low income family backgrounds. To achieve this the research team designed a community-based non-fee intervention for Centre Directors, School Preschool Principals, teachers and educators working in communities with higher-than-average rates of children with developmental vulnerability at the start of school and lower than average levels of family socio-economic advantage, as measured by the 2018 Australian Early Development Census (www.aedc.gov.au). The aim of the Macquarie University Professional Learning and Support intervention program was to increase educators' knowledge about how best to support families' efforts to enrol and maintain their children's participation in ECE and provide the practical resources that would enable them to do so.