Publications

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Early Years Speech and Language Development ‘Enhanced Offer’ Intervention Program – A Randomised Crossover Trial

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Category: Journal Articles

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People:

• Bancroft, Kate

Sanders, M., Bancroft, K., Ellingwood, J. and Bird, S. (2025) Early Years Speech and Language Development ‘Enhanced Offer’ Intervention Program – A Randomised Crossover Trial. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=5199488

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The early years of a child's life are crucial, and can set the stage for them to thrive throughout their childhoods and into adulthood, or can give rise to struggles that continue beyond these formative years. In this paper, we report the results of a crossover randomised controlled trial evaluating the impact of an enhanced early years offer provided by a council in England to ten early years settings (day nurseries and preschools) within its borders. This support from a range of agencies was intended to improve speech, language, and communication (SLC) skills and school readiness. The trial identifies no detectable effects of the intervention on its main outcomes, but there are important limitations, particularly with respect to sample size and possibly the crossover design.

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