The International Early Learning Study (IELS), scheduled to be conducted in 2018, is a new study sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries. In the United States, the IELS is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The IELS focuses on young children and their cognitive and non-cognitive skills and competencies as they transition to primary school. The IELS is designed to examine: childrenâs early learning and development in a broad range of domains, including social and cognitive skills; the relationship between childrenâs early learning and childrenâs participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC); the role of contextual factors, including childrenâs individual characteristics and their home backgrounds and experiences, in promoting young childrenâs growth and development; and how early learning varies across and within countries prior to beginning, or in the early stages of primary school. In 2018, in the participating countries, including the United States, the IELS will assess nationally-representative samples of 5-year-old children enrolled in public and private schools that offer kindergarten in the United States through direct and indirect measures, and will collect contextual data about their home learning environments, ECEC histories, and demographic characteristics. The IELS will measure young childrenâs knowledge, skills, and competencies in both cognitive and non-cognitive domains, including language and literacy, mathematics and numeracy, executive function/self-regulation, and social emotional skills. This assessment will take place as children are transitioning to primary school and will provide data on how U.S. children entering kindergarten compare with their international peers on skills deemed important for later success. To prepare for the main study, which will be conducted from October to December 2018, the IELS countries conducted a field test in the fall of 2017 to evaluate newly developed assessment instruments and questionnaires and also to test the study operations, and main study respondent recruitment began in September 2017. The request to conduct the 2017 IELS field test data collection and the IELS 2018 main study recruitment was approved in September 2017 (OMB# 1850-0936 v.3-4). This request is to conduct the IELS 2018 main study.
US Code:
20 USC 9543
Name of Law: : Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002
The apparent increase in respondent burden is due to the fact that the last approval was for field test data collection and main study recruitment, while this request includes burden associated with the IELS 2018 main study recruitment and data collection.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form Appendix A-B International Early Learning Study (IELS) 2018 Main Study
Appendix C IELS 2018 Main Study Recruitment Presentations.docx
International Early Learning Study (IELS) 2018 Main Study