Abstract:

The Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Policy was launched by the OECD Education Committee in March 1998. Twelve countries - Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States - volunteered to participate in the review. Eight more countries joined the review in 2002: Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, South Korea and Mexico. Two major reports issued from the reviews: Starting Strong: Early Childhood Education and Care (OECD, 2001) and Starting Strong II (OECD, 2006). In summary, these reports identified key elements of successful ECEC policy common to countries from different world regions; and promoted data collection and analysis in the early childhood field, according to agreed definitions and procedures.