It is widely recognized that children's early development and their progress during the first years of school are crucial for their later success (Tymms; Merrell; Henderson, 1997; Sammons et. al, 2008; Sylvia et al.,2016). Then, measure and monitor children’s evolution in this key stage of their life should be a policymakers’ concern. Evidence to guide educational policy is important to understanding what children know and can do when they start school in your own country and how the development of children is comparable to other countries at the start of school life.

Therefore, it’s important to have an instrument able to measure children’s baseline and their knowledge evolution. Another focus can be a comparable measure cross-countries. In this sense, iPIPS is an international assessment of children starting school which has the potential to fill an important gap about children progresses around the world (Tymms; Merrell; Henderson, 1997; Tymms et al., 2009; Tymms; Merrell; Jones, 2004). It is our goal in a near future to compare children’s progress in different educational system, such as England, Scotland, South Africa, Russia, China and Brazil.

The study aims to discuss the relevance of the iPIPS (International Study of Children Starting School) cognitive instrument (mathematics and language/literacy) to the Brazilian context. The presentation will look at children’s cognitive development in their first year at school and assess the impact of early education policy in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The data used in the analysis was based on the first and second wave of a longitudinal study – Baseline Brazil. A representative stratified random sample of 46 Municipal Public Schools in Rio de Janeiro (2758 children 4/5 years old) was selected to participate in the study. Key research questions are: a) what children know when they start school in Brazil; b) how much progress is made in the first year; c) how do the starting points vary by sub-groups including gender and home background (socio-economic)? c) what is the effect of different types of school in children’s early development?

The study also discusses the pertinence of PIPS scale for the Brazilian context and challenges to compare children’s progress across countries. The research design present evidence about the role of schools and types of schools (there are two main types of preschool in Rio and sample is Evidence presented are relevant for researchers interested in child development and potential impact of early years education in child’s development.

The data used in the analysis was based on the first and second wave of a longitudinal study – Baseline Brazil. A representative stratified random sample of 46 Municipal Public Schools in Rio de Janeiro (2758 children 4/5 years old) was selected to participate in the study. All children in the first year of the preschool of the 46 schools selected were assessed twice - at the beginning and end of the school year. Sample was stratified by two types of provision of preschool: a) regular preschools; b) Child Development Centre – new preschools with better infraestructure/ pedagogical materials and extended time. The study measures the cognitive development of children and associates the gain with information from schools and teachers (including class observation). Total attrition in the first year was 14%, therefore, we have two measures for 86% of children. Two main analyses were conducted using the Rasch measurement (Boone, 2006; Bond; Fox, 2015), Winstep software: a) items analyses for language and mathematics; b) distribution of the items and students on the scale – Item Map. Children's scores were used in a value-added model to estimate school effect in the first year. The main objective was to estimate the impact two types of preschools: a) regular preschools; b) Child Development Center – new schools with better infrastructure/ pedagogical materials and extended time. A two-level hierarchical model was conducted for estimating children’s progress in the first year (Goldstein, 1995).

Preliminary analysis suggest: (a) The items on both tests (Language and Mathematics) worked well, suggesting theoretical congruence of the items, good adaptation and application protocol for Brazilian children aged 4 to 6; (b) Correlation of first and second measures are: Math 0.754; Language 0.695; (c) On average, children from different backgrounds make similar cognitive development in the first year in school; (d) Data suggests a small positive impact (Effect Size 0.13) for Language development for the main preschool policy in Rio de Janeiro Public Schools – Child Development Centre. The results will also discuss the challenges to compare children's progress in school (age 4 to 6) considering different education system and backgrounds.

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