This policy brief investigates policies relevant to the education of migrant children across the EU. It outlines the main challenges facing migrant children in schools across Europe, and the existing policy options that aim to redress the disparities in educational outcomes between native children and children with a migrant background. Roughly 10 per cent of the EU population were born in a different country from the one in which they reside, five per cent of whom are children under the age of 15. Although the pattern varies by EU Member State, children with a migrant background (either first-, second-, or higher-order-generation migrants) show tend to have lower educational performance and are more likely to leave school early than children from a native background. Evidence suggests that socio-economic disadvantage can have a more negative effect on educational outcomes than being from a migrant background. It is more likely that a high concentration of children from a socio-economically disadvantaged background, or from families with low educational attainment, has a greater impact on peer outcomes than a high concentration of migrant children. Nonetheless, there are some solutions to the intersectional challenges faced by migrant children in education such as ensuring that migrant students learn the language of instruction and maintain a relationship with their mother tongue, if different. In addition, it could be useful to build relationships between educators and parents, and to dedicate more resources to schools with a high concentration of migrants"--Publisher's description.

Produced for the European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC).

This final report summarized all findings of the evaluation of the Delaware Stars for Early Success (program). The primary focus is on two questions: Do early care and education programs with higher ratings deliver higher-quality care and early learning than those with lower ratings? Do children in programs with higher ratings have better learning and developmental outcomes than children in programs with lower ratings? These questions are examined using data collected in 2014–2015 on program quality from a sample of Delaware center- and home-based providers, along with measures of learning for children enrolled in the sampled programs. This report also report on results from a survey of the directors of the sampled providers, and addressed these issues, such as quality improvement supports, financial incentives, and other aspects of system performance, some of which were analyzed in more detail in two earlier reports. Based on the findings, recommendations are offered for improving the effectiveness of the state’s quality rating and improvement system (QRIS).

From the 1990s onwards, we can observe a growing number of initiatives in the area of parenting support in Europe. This broad range of national, regional and local initiatives includes the development of legislation and national strategies, as well as policies and specific programmes and practices. The scope, organisation, delivery and funding of parenting support services varies considerably across and within Member States. Nevertheless, a common set of characteristic features of parenting support can be identified in the European context. Parenting support is typically organised and delivered in an integrated approach that facilitates collaborative working between practitioners from different sectors such as health, education and social services. Services are mostly universally accessible and include counselling, provision of support and information, and training programmes. The overall aim of parenting support programmes is to enable people to become better parents, provide better support to their children and create a positive family environment.

What will be the key societal challenges that the EU will need to address within the next two decades? Building on an evidence base provided by a review of literature, data and insights from over 200 international experts from academia, think tanks, policy and the private sector, this report explores evidence and uncertainties underpinning global societal trends and the challenges they provide for policymakers. The report analyses trends under the following themes: income equality and global middle class; a globally expanding and ageing population; employment and the changing labour force; evolving patterns and impacts of migration; and the potential of connected societies for empowering individuals. Commissioned on behalf of the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), the goal behind this research effort is to help put in place a lasting framework to assess salient global trends. With this foundation, the report concludes that there are a number of salient policy challenges clustered around three themes: 1) Investing in citizens: Equipping EU citizens with the tools to seize opportunities and protect the most vulnerable; Preparing for a new growth paradigm: Focusing on wellbeing beyond productivity growth and enabling businesses to compete globally and in the internal market; and 3) Reinventing government: Recalibrating the public sector machinery and services to accommodate the realities of the 21st century. Some trends and challenges are much more uncertain however. The report suggests that the EU should increase its own resilience, limit vulnerability to the most unpredictable trends, and better define and enact policy responses.

The objective of this report is to provide an overview of developments in the area of child and family policy across the European Union, with a focus on developments that took place in the year of 2019. This report has been produced by the European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC). Established in 2013, EPIC monitors key and innovative developments in child and family policy across the European Union (EU). The project develops resources to support Member States in implementing the 2013 European Commission Recommendation, 'Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage'.

This memo provides a brief introduction to parenting interventions, including what they are, why they are important, and how they can be used to promote lifelong health and resilience in children. This memo also provides guidance on the types of parenting interventions that are available, how they could be accessed, as well as the factors that must be considered in deciding when, where and for whom specific parenting interventions should be implemented. The target audience of this memo are organisations providing support and / or guidance to parents.

There is a strong association between the quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) provision and the outcomes for children, with high quality ECEC being associated with better child outcomes later in life. This brief reviewed the broad range of indicators that have been linked to quality, with a focus on understanding how these indicators relate to quality and eventual child outcomes. Following the academic literature on this subject we distinguished between structural quality, which relates to the physical environment and staffing requirement, and process quality, which relates to curricular practices, caregiver qualities, and parental involvement. We found that the interaction between structural and process indicators of ECEC quality is complex, and varies significantly across socio-economic, cultural and national contexts, which reflects the beliefs, needs, roles and motivations of the different stakeholders involved in defining ECEC services. Despite this complexity we identified several structural indicators which are frequently considered indicators of high process quality. For each of these indicators we present policy levers for improving ECEC quality, and discuss the context in which these levers work, i.e. whether they act at national level, family and community level or at the level of the childcare setting.

The establishment of the General Teaching Council for England (GTC) in 2000 created a professional and regulatory body for teaching in England. Acting in the public interest, GTC is responsible for contributing to improving the standards of teaching and the quality of learning, and for maintaining and improving standards of professional conduct among teachers. The GTC commissioned RAND Europe in 2008 to undertake a literature review to inform its thinking and preparations as it develops proposals for a new accountability framework for teachers in England. The framework includes, but is not limited to, arrangements operated via the GTC. This report presents the findings of the literature review.

This analytical report presents a review of evidence regarding access to, and the process of acquiring, skills for the green economic transition across initial vocational education and training (IVET), as well as lifelong learning (LLL) opportunities for people already in the labour market. The report focuses on groups in society that may be particularly affected by the greening of the economy. The policy context for this paper is provided by the EU's ambitions for the green transition. These are set out in a number of policy documents that highlight the importance of skills in achieving these green goals. The report focuses on three interlinked aspects: (1) it provides characteristics of green(er) jobs and skills; (2) it assesses the extent to which current education and training provisions ensure equal access to the acquisition of green(er) skills; and (3) it provides illustrative examples of practices adopted by Member States to create equal and just access to green(er) education and training opportunities.