ABSTRACT
There is a growing attention for early childhood education and care in general and for the role of preschool education in fi ghting poverty, inequality, and social exclusion in particular. Both policy makers and researchers agree on the importance of educational investment in the stages of early development. In the affl uent world and beyond, early childhood provisions are expanding because an early start is generally believed to reduce the educational divide that runs along socioeconomic as well as ethnic and linguistic lines. Major studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Effective Provisions of Pre-School Education (EPPE) study in the United Kingdom have strengthened the claims about the potentially benefi cial impact of early childhood education (e.g., Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford, & Taggart, 2004). Yet, as a recent report from a European Commission network of experts (Penn, 2009) made clear, this apparent consensus may hide a diversity of perspectives on actual policy making, leading to diverse approaches to promoting equity and excellence in the foundational stage.
