Learning and development

Research pedagogy and development

EEF Early Years Toolkit

The EEF Early Years Toolkit is a summary of the best available evidence on key areas of learning and development.

EEF Evidence Store

The Evidence Store contains support to help you put evidence informed approaches into practice

Ofsted Best Start in Life: A Research Review for Early Years

A three-part subject-based curriculum research review focused on early years education:

Movement Environment Rating Scale for 2–6-year-olds provision: Improving physical development through movement and physical activity (MOVERS)

MOVERS is for 2-6 year olds provision focusing on movement and physical activity and includes support materials covering language, the benefits of early movement patterns to young children’s development and learning, nutrition and sleep.

The ShREC approach – 4 evidence-informed strategies to promote high quality interactions with young children

High quality interactions often look effortless, but are not easy to do well. To support early years professionals, the Education Endowment Foundation have distilled evidence into the ShREC approach (PDF, 581 KB). This approach provides a simple set of specific, evidence-informed strategies to embed into everyday practice:

Sh: Share attention – be at the child’s level. Pay close attention to what they are focused on.
R: Respond – follow the child’s lead. Respond to their non-verbal and verbal communication. You could make a brief comment on what they can see, hear or feel.
E: Expand – repeat what the child says and build on it by adding more words to turn it into a sentence.
C: Conversation – have extended back and forth interactions. Give children time to listen, process and reply.

More information on the ShREC approach can be found on the Education Endowment Foundation website, and by watching the video below.