Quality Early Education for All

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assessment the service receives, and the program must be delivered by a four-year qualified teacher in a range of settings, including long daycare, government or community preschools or family day care. The initial NPA set a target of 95 per cent enrolment by 2015, although it is important to note that these targets reflect enrolment and not attendance (COAG, 2013). 11 Attendance rates are lower than enrolment – by up to 6 per cent – and the proportion of children meeting the objective of 15 hours of attendance per week is lower still, especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (Figure 4). Figure 4: Representation of 4-5 year old cohorts in preschool 30 25 27.9 27.4 20 20 15 11.1 10 5 6 6.2 4.6 5.5 2.4 2.6 0 CALD Disability Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Regional Remote % represented in preschool 2014 % of total population 2014 Source: Productivity Commission, 2016 Preschool participation among Australian 4 year olds has increased significantly over the past decade, and is now on par with OECD rates (Figure 5). In 2014, the most recent year for which comparable data is available, 95.1 per cent of Australian 4 year old children attended preschool in the year before full-time school, up from only 51 per cent in 2005. 11 Current data systems do not allow an accurate assessment of how many hours children attend preschool. Measures for attendance vary across the country, with attendance information for some providers derived from the hours a service operates. Given the pivotal importance of early learning, greater transparency is crucial (see Appendix One for more detail). Shifting national targets from measuring enrolment to prioritising attendance for at least 15 hours per week (or equivalent) would also be an important advance. Quality Early Education for All 24
Figure 5: Percentage of children involved in preschool Source: Productivity Commission, 2016 Whilst more than 57,000 children enrolled in preschool in the most disadvantaged areas, under 36,000 attended 15 hours or more of preschool (ABS Preschool Education 2015) 12 (Figure6). Figure 6: Proportion of 4-5 year olds attending at least 15 hours of preschool per week 68.5 64.8 65.8 63.4 2014 2015 All Children Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children Source: ABS 2014 and 2015, Preschool Education, Australia. 12 Figures on attendance may be inflated for children attending preschool at long daycare (see Appendix One). Quality Early Education for All 25
Page 1 and 2: MITCHELL REPORT NO. 01/2016 Quality
Page 3 and 4: • Table of contents Executive Sum
Page 5 and 6: • Executive Summary: Quality Earl
Page 7 and 8: There is a clear need for a focused
Page 9 and 10: • Missed Opportunities: The benef
Page 11 and 12: It is time that quality early educa
Page 13 and 14: Policy objectives for the next five
Page 15 and 16: children from diasadvantaged backgr
Page 17 and 18: after adjusting for circumstances.
Page 19 and 20: In conclusion Early education has s
Page 21 and 22: • About 43 per cent of Australian
Page 23 and 24: Table 3: Type of care usually atten
Page 25 and 26: administering the National Quality
Page 27 and 28: Figure 3: Classroom Assessment Scor
Page 29 and 30: • Incentivising partnerships and
Page 31: • How Australia’s children are
Page 35 and 36: was the same as in 2012 and an impr
Page 37 and 38: % Developmentally vulnerable Figure
Page 39 and 40: % Developmentally vulnerable Figure
Page 41 and 42: • parents’ preferences and beli
Page 43 and 44: proportion of disadvantaged familie
Page 45 and 46: The impact of early education will
Page 47 and 48: • Priorities for the next five ye
Page 49 and 50: Perceptions of the benefit of early
Page 51 and 52: These models tend to commence prior
Page 53 and 54: Strategies for investment and impac
Page 55 and 56: Recommendation 1: Universal Access
Page 57 and 58: and attendance data; unit-level dat
Page 59 and 60: services’ obligation to waive fee
Page 61 and 62: • References Access Economics (20
Page 63 and 64: Biddle N and Seth-Purdie, R (2013),
Page 65 and 66: Darling-Hammond, L and Snyder, J (1
Page 67 and 68: Harrison LJ, Goldfeld S, Metcalfe E
Page 69 and 70: www.rch.org.au/uploadedFiles/Main/C
Page 71 and 72: nsw-to-be-accredited-like-their-pri
Page 73 and 74: Tayler C, Cloney D and Niklas F (20

Quality Early Education for All

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