BRISE-Interaction Quality

Project Description

The scientific evaluation accompanying the Bremen Initiative to Foster Early Childhood Development (BRISE) is conducting a long-term study to systematically examine the effects of early childhood support on child development. Early childhood support for children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families serves to prevent disparities in cognitive and social performance. BRISE aims to examine the effectiveness of early support services in order to generate political arguments for early support in the interests of equal opportunities.

BRISE is the first long-term study to be conducted on a large-scale regional support program. Everyday, mostly existing services in Bremen for early childhood and preschool support in families and daycare facilities are systematically linked to form a support chain that begins during pregnancy and continues until the child starts school.

The accompanying scientific research, first funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and now by the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, investigates the effects of the support program on the cognitive, social, and emotional development of children. Children whose families use the support services in the municipality of Bremen at their own discretion are considered as a comparison group.

The subproject based at DIPF since 2026 and led by Prof. Dr. Yvonne Anders focuses on the quality of stimulation in the family and the role of daycare centers. By collecting quality indicators in these two important systems of child development, questions about the determinants and characteristics as well as the effects of these learning environments on child development can be answered.

Project Objectives

BRISE is investigating the effects of a programme of measures for children from disadvantaged families in the city of Bremen. As part of a support chain, families receive various forms of assistance (e.g. ProKind, HIPPY, Opstapje, Lobo), which begin before birth and end in the first year of primary school. Existing measures that are already integrated into everyday family life are to be combined with institutional services. The aim of the project is to investigate the effects of this linking of proven support services in terms of improving the educational opportunities of children from disadvantaged families.

The BRISE subproject Interaction Quality investigates the determinants, characteristics and effects of the quality of family stimulation and the pedagogical quality of the daycare center.

Funding

until 12/2025:

01/2026 - 02/2029:

and Free Hanseatic City of Bremen

Cooperations

BRISE is supported by a consortium of scientists. The spokesperson for the consortium is Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller (IPN – Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education). In addition to DIPF and IPN, the following institutions are involved in BRISE: University of Bremen, University of Heidelberg, German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi, Bamberg), Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPIB, Berlin)

Publications

Project Management

Project Team

• Ariane Pickhardt
• Sebastian Then

Project Details