Reader’s guide

The OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) is the first international survey that focuses on the workforce in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The results referred to in this volume can be found in Annex D and through OECD StatLinks at the bottom of the tables and figures throughout the report.

Country coverage

This publication features results from staff and leaders who provide early childhood education and care (ECEC) in pre-primary settings (ISCED level 02) in nine countries (Chile, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Norway, and Turkey), as well as from staff and leaders who provide ECEC to children under age 3 in four countries (Denmark, Germany, Israel and Norway).

In the tables throughout the report, countries are ranked in alphabetical order, with one exception: countries that did not meet the standards on TALIS Starting Strong participation rates are placed at the bottom of the tables. Similarly, countries that did not meet the standards on TALIS Starting Strong participation rates are not shown in any figures presenting results of the Survey.

One note applies to the information on data for Israel:

• The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.

Classification of levels of ECEC and the TALIS Starting Strong sample

The classification of ECEC settings as pre-primary or serving children under age 3, as well as the other levels of education described in the volume, is based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). ISCED is an instrument for compiling statistics on education internationally. ISCED-2011 is the basis of the levels presented in this publication. It distinguishes the following levels of education:

• early childhood education (ISCED level 0)

  • early childhood educational development (ISCED level 01)

  • pre-primary education (ISCED level 02)

• primary education (ISCED level 1)

• lower secondary education (ISCED level 2)

• upper secondary education (ISCED level 3)

• post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED level 4)

• short-cycle tertiary education (ISCED level 5)

• bachelor’s or equivalent (ISCED level 6)

• master’s or equivalent (ISCED level 7)

• doctoral or equivalent (ISCED level 8).

Within early childhood education (ISCED level 0), settings classified under ISCED-2011 have an intentional educational component and aim to develop cognitive, physical and socio-emotional skills necessary for participation in school and society. Programmes at this level are often differentiated by age, with early childhood educational development serving children under age 3 and pre-primary education serving children from age 3 until entry to primary school. Pre-primary settings in TALIS Starting Strong meet the ISCED-2011 definition for ISCED level 02. Settings serving children under age 3 in TALIS Starting Strong were not required to meet the ISCED-2011 definition for ISCED level 01.

Despite the distinction made by ISCED-2011 within ISCED level 0, many countries, including several participating in TALIS Starting Strong, offer an integrated ECEC system (see Annex A). In integrated ECEC systems, a single government ministry or authority oversees ECEC programmes from birth or age 1 until entry into primary school. For countries with integrated ECEC systems that participated in data collection for both pre-primary settings and settings for children under age 3 (i.e. Denmark, Germany and Norway), the TALIS Starting Strong sampling strategy randomly split ECEC programmes that were expected to cover both age groups to be included in the sampling universe for one population of interest or the other. In this way, programmes could be sampled as part of the pre-primary sample or as part of the sample of settings for children under age 3, but the same programme would not be sampled for both levels of ECEC.

Next, staff were sampled within these settings if they were serving children within the designated level of ECEC (see Annex B). As a result, the sample of pre-primary staff and leaders is representative of staff and leaders in settings providing pre-primary education across all nine participating countries, regardless of whether an integrated system exists or not. Similarly, the sample of staff and leaders in settings for children under age 3 is representative of staff and leaders in settings providing services for this age group across all four participating countries, regardless of whether an integrated system exists or not. Home-based settings were included in the samples of settings for children under age 3 in Denmark, Germany and Israel. However, to enhance comparability with pre-primary education settings, data from staff in home-based settings are excluded from this report. These exclusions represent 16% of the settings serving children under age 3 in Denmark, 16% in Germany and 60% in Israel.

Readers should bear in mind that the age distinctions in levels of ECEC do not necessarily reflect the organisation of the ECEC system or ECEC programmes in all participating countries (see Annex A). Furthermore, programmes included in the samples for both levels of ECEC may also serve younger or older children.

The report uses the term “centres” as shorthand to describe all ECEC settings. The specific programmes or settings vary across and within countries (see Box 1 for details on the types of settings covered in each participating country).

Box 1. ECEC settings included in TALIS Starting Strong

Chile	kindergartens, preschools and schools that offer preschool education
Denmark	kindergartens, integrated institutions, nurseries and day-care facilities
Germany	kindergartens, school kindergartens, pre-school classes, mixed-age ECEC centres and day nurseries
Iceland	preschools
Israel	kindergartens and day-care centres
Japan	kindergartens, nursery centres and integrated centres for ECEC
Korea	kindergartens and childcare centres
Norway	kindergartens
Turkey	preschools, kindergarten classrooms and practice classrooms
Notes: The settings listed here are the English translations of the setting types within each country. These translations were used for the purposes of creating the TALIS Starting Strong sampling frame. Home-based settings are also included in the TALIS Starting Strong data collection for children under age 3 in Denmark, Germany and Israel, but they are not included in this report.

Data underlying the report

TALIS Starting Strong results are based exclusively on self-reports from ECEC staff and leaders and, therefore, represent their opinions, perceptions, beliefs and accounts of their activities. No data imputation from administrative data or other studies is conducted. As with any self-reported data, the information is subjective and may, therefore, differ from data collection through other means (e.g. administrative data or observations). The same is true of leaders’ reports about centre characteristics, sources of funding and practices, which may differ from descriptions provided by administrative data at national or local government levels. TALIS Starting Strong does not directly measure children’s learning, development and well-being and does not provide data on children and families participating in ECEC.

Results are presented only when estimates are based on at least 10 centres/leaders and/or 30 staff.

Reporting staff and leader data

As part of the TALIS Starting Strong 2018 data collection, all staff who worked regularly in a pedagogical way with children in officially registered settings providing ECEC in participating countries were eligible to participate1. Within ECEC settings, centre co-ordinators identified staff as eligible to participate as a centre leader (the person with the most responsibility for administrative, managerial and/or pedagogical leadership) or in one of several roles working directly with children: teacher; assistant; staff for individual children; staff for special tasks; or intern. In some countries, other specific staff roles were also included, but these roles were simultaneously coded to reflect one of the overarching international categories.

The initial assignment of staff to these categories ensured that all staff who were eligible to participate were included in the sample selection process and, if selected, were asked to complete the relevant questionnaire (leader or staff). A combined questionnaire was used for staff in very small centres (i.e. with only one staff member or with only one main teacher and assisting staff). It included suitable questions both from the staff questionnaire and the leader questionnaire. Respondents who completed these combined questionnaires are included in the data reported for both staff and leaders.

The staff categories used to identify staff eligible for participation were also used after data collection to group respondents according to their overall roles in the ECEC centres, focusing on teachers and assistants. Teachers are those with the most responsibility for a group of children. Assistants support the teacher in a group of children. This distinction is used in many of the tables and analyses that provide a comparison between teachers and assistants (for example, Table D.3.1).

However, several countries do not make a distinction between teachers and assistants in this way. In Japan and Turkey, only teachers work in a pedagogical way with children in ECEC. In Iceland, a shortage of certified ECEC teachers means that staff without this credential (i.e. assistants) may be serving as teachers in some settings. So this overall role distinction in TALIS Starting Strong is not meaningful for Iceland. In centres serving children under age 3 in Israel, fewer than 1% of participating staff were identified as assistants, making the comparison between teachers and assistants impossible for this population as well. In the remaining countries and populations (Chile, Denmark, Germany, Israel in pre-primary education settings, Korea and Norway), the roles of teacher and assistant can, but do not necessarily, reflect differences in staff credentials. Rather, for TALIS Starting Strong the difference between teachers and assistants is defined to reflect the roles that staff members typically have within their centres.

Reporting staff data

The report uses the term “staff” as shorthand for the TALIS Starting Strong population of teachers, assistants, staff for individual children, staff for special tasks and interns. In addition, leaders who also had staff duties (e.g. those working alone or in very small centres) are included in the staff data throughout this report.

Reporting leader data

The report uses the term “leader” to identify the person who was identified as having the most responsibility for administrative, managerial and/or pedagogical leadership in their centres. Responses from leaders who also had staff duties (e.g. those working alone or in very small centres) are included in both the leader data and the staff data throughout this report. Leaders provided information on the characteristics of their centres and their own work and working conditions by completing a leader questionnaire or a combined questionnaire. Where responses from leaders are presented in this publication, they are usually weighted to be representative of leaders. In some cases, leader responses are treated as attributes of staff working conditions. In such cases, leaders’ answers are analysed at the staff level and weighted to be representative of staff (see Annex C).

Staff reports of their own roles in the target group

In addition to the initial categories used to classify staff for participation in TALIS Starting Strong, staff who participated in the Survey had the opportunity to describe their roles within a specific group. Staff were asked to consider the first group of children that they worked with on their last working day before the Survey (the target group) and to select the category that best represented their role in that group on that day (leader, teacher, assistant, staff for individual children, staff for special tasks, intern or other). Throughout the report, those who describe themselves as “leaders” and “teachers” are grouped together to describe the staff with the most responsibility in the target group.

These staff reports do not necessarily reflect staff members’ broader roles in the ECEC centre, but they provide contextual information for other questions that were asked about the target group. These role distinctions are used in tables and analyses that focus on the target group (see, for example, Chapter 2, Figure 2.14).

Leader reports of roles within their centres

Leaders provided an overview of the number of staff in each category working in their ECEC centres (leaders, teachers, assistants, staff for individual children, staff for special tasks, interns and other staff). These data cannot be linked to individual staff responses on the questionnaire, but they give a summary of the human resources available in each participating ECEC centre. These role distinctions are used in tables and analyses at the centre level (see, for example, Chapter 4, Figure 4.10).

Reporting data on the number of children

For a subset of questions, staff reported on their work with the target group (the first group of children that they worked with on their last working day before the Survey). In some cases, the target group may reflect a stable group of children and adults. In other cases, the target group may reflect a staff member’s full day of work, involving many other staff (e.g. those who join the group for special activities or who come to ensure that the required group ratios are maintained while another staff member takes a break) and perhaps a changing set of children as well.

To better understand the numbers of staff and children that interact together in these target groups, this report refers to the number of staff per child in the target group. In regard to target groups, the “number of staff per child” refers to the total number of staff working in the target group, regardless of their role, divided by the number of children in the target group. Because the number of staff per individual child is low, when specific examples are cited for comparative purposes, they are presented as the “number of staff per ten children” in the target group. This grouping of ten children is designed to facilitate comparisons across different staffing approaches and different countries. It does not imply that target groups include only or exactly ten children; some target groups may be larger and others smaller. The results can be interpreted as the average number of staff (i.e. leaders, teachers, assistants, staff for individual children, staff for special tasks, interns or others) with whom a group of ten children may interact at various points during their time in the target group. See Box 2.3 in Chapter 2 and Annex C for further details on the computation of this indicator.

In addition to reporting the number of staff working in their centres, leaders also report on the number of children enrolled in their centres. To understand the numbers of staff and children that interact together in centres, this report also refers to the number of staff per child in the centre. In regard to centres, the “number of staff per child” refers to the total number of staff working in a centre, regardless of their role, divided by the total number of children enrolled. Again, because the number of staff per individual child is low, when specific examples are cited for comparative purposes, they are presented as the “number of staff per ten children” in the centre. The results can be interpreted as the average number of staff (i.e. leaders, teachers, assistants, staff for individual children, staff for special tasks, interns or others) with whom a group of ten children may interact at various points during their time in the centre. See Box 4.4 in Chapter 4 and Annex C for further details on the computation of this indicator.

These TALIS Starting Strong indicators on the “number of staff per child” differ from regulated child-to-staff ratios, as they do not take into account factors such as whether staff members are working full-time or part-time, the number of hours during which each child attends the centre, and the time staff are expected to directly interact with children (versus time when staff may be present at the centre but engaged in other types of work, such as planning or professional development).

International averages

Cross-country averages are provided for pre-primary settings throughout the report. These averages correspond to the arithmetic mean of the nine country estimates.

Symbols used in tables

Five symbols are used to denote non-reported estimates:

• a: The question was not administered in the country because it was optional.

• c: There are too few or no observations to provide reliable estimates and/or to ensure the confidentiality of respondents (i.e. there are fewer than 10 centres/leaders and/or 30 staff with valid data and/or the item non-response rate [i.e. ratio of missing or invalid responses to the number of participants for whom the question was applicable] is above 50%).

• m: Data were collected but subsequently removed for technical reasons (e.g. low participation rate) as part of the data adjudication process.

• p: Data were collected but not reported for technical reasons (e.g. low participation rate) as part of the data adjudication process.

• w: Data were withdrawn or were not collected at the request of the country concerned.

Rounding figures

Because of rounding, some figures in tables may not add up exactly to the totals. Totals, differences and averages are always calculated on the basis of exact numbers and are rounded only after calculation.

All standard errors in the publication have been rounded to one, two or three decimal places. Where the value 0.0, 0.00 or 0.000 is shown, this does not imply that the standard error is zero, but that it is smaller than 0.05, 0.005 or .0005, respectively.

Statistically significant differences

Statistically significant differences are denoted using different colours in figures. See Annex C for further information.

Additional data sources

Throughout the report, additional data sources are included to better understand the context of ECEC systems in participating countries. The two primary sources of additional data are OECD’s Education at a Glance publication and an OECD policy survey on Quality beyond Regulations. The Education at a Glance series provides key information on the organisation of education systems, access to different levels of education and financial resources invested in education, as well as information on the staff and teachers working in education settings. The OECD Quality beyond Regulations policy survey provides data on the policies and regulations governing aspects of quality in ECEC settings. It was completed in 2019 by ministries and governing authorities responsible for the oversight of ECEC in countries, including the countries participating in TALIS Starting Strong. This publication presents first findings of the OECD Quality beyond Regulations policy survey for countries participating in TALIS Starting Strong.

Abbreviations

• ECEC early childhood education and care

• ISCED International Standard Classification of Education

• PPP purchasing power parity (i.e. the purchasing power of staff salaries using a common currency [USD] to facilitate cross-country comparisons)

• S.D. standard deviation

• S.E. standard error

Further technical documentation

For further information on the TALIS Starting Strong instruments and the methods used, see the TALIS Starting Strong 2018 Technical Report (OECD, 2019[1]).

This report uses the OECD StatLinks service. All tables and figures are assigned a URL leading to a corresponding Excel^TM workbook containing the underlying data. These URLs are stable and will remain unchanged over time. In addition, readers of the e-books will be able to click directly on these links, and the workbook will open in a separate window if their Internet browser is open and running.

Reference

[1] OECD (2019), TALIS Starting Strong 2018 Technical Report, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Note

← 1. For detailed information on data collection procedures, please refer to the TALIS Starting Strong 2018 Technical Report (OECD, 2019[1]).

Reader’s guide