For participants

The EDGE Study

Victoria is the first state or territory in Australia to introduce funded three-year-old kindergarten for all children. This project evaluates the impact of Victoria’s roll out of universal 3-year-old kindergarten on children’s learning and development. There are strong reasons to expect that two years of quality early childhood education are better than one before starting school. Two years of kindergarten prior to school may have even greater benefits for children who need extra support.

Selection of child care centres and kindergartens

The study has identified child care centres and kindergartens across Victoria that are offering funded 3-year-old kindergarten programs. Ninety-five services in Victoria have been invited to take part in the study. The rooms in these services in which 3- and 4-year olds are enrolled will be identified. Parents of all children in these rooms will be invited to join the study. Teachers in these rooms will also be invited to take part in the study.

Timelines

Data collection will be completed in 2022, 2023 and 2024 with over 4,000 children and 95 services being visited by the Edge Team. Survey data will also be collected from parents, teachers and service managers. We will continue to follow the study children until 2027, collecting new information each year.

If you have been invited to participate in the EDGE study and would like to contact the study team, you can do so here.