BRISE-School Readiness

Project Description

The Bremen Initiative to Foster Early Childhood Development (BRISE) comprises a longitudinal study that systematically investigates the effects of early childhood intervention. Early childhood programmes for children from socioeconomically and culturally disadvantaged families aim to prevent future disparities in cognitive and social abilities. The insights gained in Bremen will inform policy on early childhood and be constructive in providing equal opportunities for all children, protecting children, and promoting their development and participation in society. The BRISE study is the first longitudinal study to investigate the effects of a programme fostering early childhood development that is broadly implemented within a specified region. BRISE systematically links early childhood and preschool programmes into a chain of interventions. The programmes forming that chain – home-based as well as center-based interventions – are all integrated into everyday life and most of them are already established in Bremen. The intervention begins in the prenatal period and ends after the children start elementary schooling. Research within the scope of BRISE examines the cumulative effects of a coordinated intervention programme on the participating children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. Over an extended time period up to 600 disadvantaged families in Bremen are included in the sample. Families participating in the intervention chain will be compared with families who decide for themselves in which and in how many of Bremen’s programmes they enroll. The BRISE subproject 'School Readiness' focuses on the effects of early childhood support on the development of school-relevant precursor skills up to school entry, as well as on the development of basic skills in reading, spelling, and arithmetic during the primary school years.

Project Objectives

With its longitudinal approach, the BRISE initiative aims to contribute to clarifying the following questions:

• How strong are the cumulative effects of a chain of support from birth to school entry on cognitive, emotional, and social development in the first six to seven years of life?
• Are early childhood support measures successful in minimizing disparities in terms of preventive support and counteracting the deepening of social inequality?
• Is the combination of center-based and home-based interventions also proving most successful in Germany?
• What effects of the early childhood support chain can be observed on the development of basic skills in reading, spelling, and arithmetic during the primary school years?

Funding

03/2021 - 12/2025:

01/2026 - 02/2029:

Cooperations

• IPN - Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education: Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller (speaker of the BRISE consortium)
• German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)
• Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi)
• Max Planck Institute for Human Development
• University of Bamberg
• Heidelberg University
• University of Bremen
  

Publications

Project Management

Project Team

Project Details