The Early Development Instrument was used as a before-and-after assessment in a sample of 448 children attending Free Pre-School Year in Ireland in 2012/2013. Free Pre-School Year was introduced in Ireland in 2010 and provides a year of free pre-school before children start primary school. A new study published in Irish Educational Studies by Kieran McKeown, Trutz Haase, and Jonathan Pratschke found that children with more or better skills at the beginning of the study period tended to have more or better skills at the end of the study period as well. In addition, the authors found a skill gap between children at the start of the program, and this stayed the same or widened throughout the year. Finally, the authors found that the biggest influence on child outcomes was social class.
