Blog 5: THE EVIDENCE FOR EXCELLENCE - Why Your Work Is Research-Backed

What decades of research tell us about quality early childhood education

The evidence base for high-quality early childhood education and care is one of the most robust in all of social science. Longitudinal studies spanning decades, neuroscience research revealing biological mechanisms, economic analyses demonstrating return on investment all converge on the same conclusion.

What happens during the grounding years matters profoundly. And who guides those experiences determines outcomes.

The Longitudinal Evidence

Some of the most powerful evidence comes from studies that follow children from early childhood into adulthood, documenting outcomes across multiple domains over many years.

Development at 22 months serves as a strong predictor of education outcomes at age 26 (University of Oxford SEEN Project, 2021). The foundations laid during the grounding years, emotional regulation, attention, problem-solving, social competence, enable all future learning and success.

The Bucharest Early Intervention Project demonstrated this dramatically. Children who remained in institutional care with little stimulation showed significantly different brain activity patterns, lower IQ scores, and delayed language development. But children placed in high-quality, responsive care showed remarkable recovery, particularly when placement occurred before age two (Tierney & Nelson, 2009).

High-quality care literally changes brain development. The earlier the intervention, the more profound the change.

You work during the window when intervention is most effective.

What Defines Quality

Not all early childhood education and care produce the same outcomes. Quality matters more than quantity (AIHW, 2024). Poor-quality care can actually produce deficits in language and cognitive function.

The research consistently identifies three elements that define quality:

Responsive, nurturing relationships between educators and children. "Responsive, nurturing relationships with caregivers are critical. These relationships foster language skills, secure attachment, and cognitive competence, providing a buffer against stress" (Australian DSS, 2024).

Relationships are the mechanism through which optimal development occurs.

Thoughtfully designed, stimulating environments. Rich, complex environments promote neuroplasticity, supporting formation and strengthening of neural connections. Environments with high cognitive stimulation predict adolescent academic success and adult educational attainment (Australian DSS, 2024).

Pedagogically informed practice. Quality requires professional knowledge of child development, skill in observing and interpreting children's learning, capacity to design integrated experiences, and understanding of how to build on strengths while supporting emerging capabilities.

All three elements require well-educated, well-supported, well-resourced early childhood educators. You are the active ingredient in quality.

What Quality Produces

High-quality ECEC produces outcomes across all domains and across the lifespan:

Cognitive and academic: Better vocabulary, enhanced literacy and numeracy skills, stronger executive function, improved problem-solving, higher educational attainment.

Social and emotional: Greater social competence, better emotional regulation, reduced behavioural problems, enhanced empathy, stronger sense of agency.

Health and wellbeing: Better physical health trajectories, reduced risk of chronic conditions, stronger immune function, better mental health outcomes.

Long-term life outcomes: Higher employment and earnings, reduced involvement in justice system, stronger civic engagement, better relationship quality.

These aren't separate achievements. They're interconnected outcomes of holistic development supported by high-quality early childhood education.

The Economic Evidence

Every dollar invested in high-quality preschool education can return two dollars over a child's lifetime (Australian DSS, 2024). This return comes from increased educational attainment, reduced need for remedial services, better health outcomes, reduced involvement in justice systems, and increased workforce productivity.

But this return depends entirely on quality. The investment must be in educators who have the expertise to produce these outcomes.

The economic case is compelling. But it understates the full value because not everything that matters can be measured in dollars.

The Neuroscience Evidence

Neuroscience provides unprecedented insight into how high-quality early childhood experiences shape developing brains.

Quality experiences determine which neural pathways are strengthened. Responsive relationships buffer stress, preventing toxic effects on brain architecture. Complex play opportunities support executive function development. Quality early experiences influence gene expression, affecting stress sensitivity, learning capacity, and health trajectories.

This isn't just correlation. The neuroscience reveals causal mechanisms. Quality early childhood education literally shapes biology.

The Equity Evidence

High-quality early childhood education produces benefits for all children, but effects are largest for children from disadvantaged backgrounds (AIHW, 2024). This makes ECEC one of the most powerful tools for addressing inequality.

Children facing adversity often arrive with developmental vulnerabilities. High-quality ECEC can change trajectories. Responsive relationships buffer biological impact of adversity. Rich environments compensate for limited resources. Expert educators identify and support emerging challenges before they become entrenched.

Benefits are optimised when children from different social backgrounds learn together (AIHW, 2024). This isn't just about social equity. It's about optimal development for all children.

What the Evidence Demands

If high-quality ECEC produces such profound, well-documented benefits, and if quality depends on well-educated, well-supported educators, then several things must follow:

Early childhood educators must be recognised as the highly skilled professionals the evidence shows you to be. Your expertise directly determines outcomes that matter for decades.

Professional development must be prioritised and resourced. The evidence base continues to evolve. You need access to this knowledge and time to integrate it into practice.

Working conditions must support quality practice. Ratios that allow for responsive relationships. Time for observation and planning. Continuity that enables deep knowledge of children. Resources for rich environments. Compensation that recognises expertise.

Investment must match the evidence. If every dollar returns two dollars, if early intervention is more effective than later remediation, then early childhood education deserves investment commensurate with its impact.

You Are the Research in Action

The evidence base doesn't exist separately from practice. It's built through observation of what skilled educators do, how children respond, and what outcomes emerge.

Every responsive interaction you have contributes to understanding of serve and return. Every thoughtfully designed environment demonstrates environmental enrichment. Every relationship you build exemplifies attachment security.

You are not implementing research findings. You are the research in action.

The evidence validates what you know from experience. It gives you language and legitimacy to advocate for what your work requires.

Like those first seasons when a river red gum establishes the root system that supports 500 years of growth, these grounding years establish foundations that determine everything that follows.

The evidence is clear. Your work is essential. And it's time that recognition translated into the support, resources, and systemic investment that evidence-based policy demands.

References:

Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). (2024). Brain development in the early years. Retrieved from https://www.acecqa.gov.au/latest-news/blog/brain-development-early-years

Australian Department of Social Services. (2024). Why children and their early years matter: Evidence summary supporting the Early Years Strategy 2024–2034. Australian Government.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). (2024). Learning and development: Impact of early childhood education and care. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/learning-development-impact-of-early-childhood-edu/summary

Tierney, A. L., & Nelson, C. A. (2009). Brain development and the role of experience in the early years. Zero to Three, 30(2), 9–13.

University of Oxford. (2021). New research highlights importance of early years development on future wellbeing: The SEEN Project. Retrieved from https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/news/new-research-highlights-importance-of-early-years-development-on-future-wellbeing