Evidence-Based Policy Is Everybody’s Business: Supporting Effective Policy Decision-Making in Early Childhood Education and Care

Dear Colleagues,

Public policy plays a significant role in shaping ECEC services and systems, exemplified through continuing investment in regulation, quality standards and curricula by governments internationally. The impact of ECEC policy is far-reaching, influencing the type and quality of service provision, who provides ECEC, the workforce and nature of work, who has access and who benefits, and ultimately, children’s learning and experiences in ECEC. Viewed as an artefact of neoliberalism, the intent, efficacy and outcomes of ‘top-down’ policy approaches in ECEC have been widely critiqued and criticised. However, a small body of research points to the potential contribution of evidence-informed policy, predicated on genuine collaboration between policymakers and ECEC stakeholders. This includes providers, practitioners, researchers, families and children themselves.

The aim of this special edition is to investigate and reflect on collaborative approaches that draw together policy, research and practice wisdom. The research interest is public policy, spanning policy development, enactment, review and evaluation. We invite research articles that reflect on policy projects, address a range of contemporary ECEC policy topics and issues, and cover diverse ECEC settings, including centre-based, home-based and school-age education and care and the early years of school. Underpinned by the conviction that evidence-informed ECEC policy is everybody’s business, the overarching intent of this Special Issue is to offer new and practical insights to support and strengthen evidence-informed policy and practice. To achieve this goal, areas of interest could include government and sector roles and responsibilities; opportunities and challenges; approaches, strategies, and conditions that facilitate meaningful collaboration and evidence-informed policy and practice.

Prof. Dr. Susan Irvine
Prof. Dr. Fay Hadley
Prof. Dr. Lennie Barblett
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.