The International Early Learning Study
(IELS), scheduled to be conducted in 2018, is a new study sponsored
by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized
countries. In the United States, the IELS is conducted by the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The IELS focuses
on young children and their cognitive and non-cognitive skills and
competencies as they transition to primary school. The IELS is
designed to examine: children’s early learning and development in a
broad range of domains, including social emotional skills as well
as cognitive skills; the relationship between children’s early
learning and children’s participation in early childhood education
and care (ECEC); the role of contextual factors, including
children’s individual characteristics and their home backgrounds
and experiences, in promoting young children’s growth and
development; and how early learning varies across and within
countries prior to beginning primary school. In 2018, in the
participating countries, including the United States, the IELS will
assess nationally-representative samples of children ages 5.0-5.5
years (in kindergarten in the United States) through direct and
indirect measures, and will collect contextual data about their
home learning environments, ECEC histories, and demographic
characteristics. The IELS will measure young children’s knowledge,
skills, and competencies in both cognitive and non-cognitive
domains, including language and literacy, mathematics and numeracy,
executive function/self-regulation, and social emotional skills.
This assessment will take place as children are transitioning to
primary school and will provide data on how U.S. children entering
kindergarten compare with their international peers on skills
deemed important for later success. To prepare for the main study
that will take place in September-November 2018, the IELS countries
will conduct a field test in the fall of 2017 to evaluate newly
developed assessment instruments and questionnaires and to test the
study operations. The U.S. IELS field test data collection will
occur from September to October, 2017. In order to meet the
international data collection schedule for the fall 2017 field
test, field test respondent recruiting activities must begin by May
2017. This request is to conduct recruitment activities for the
2017 IELS field test.
US Code:
20
USC 9453 Name of Law: : Education Sciences Reform Act of
2002
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
IELS 2018 FT Recruitment Confidentiality Pledge Change Memo.docx
IELS 2018 FT Recruitment Confidentiality Pledge Change Sheet.pdf
International Early Learning Study (IELS) 2018 Field Test Recruitment