The International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study (IELS) is a collaborativeeffort between participating and interested countries and the OECD Secretariat. TheSecretariat particularly wishes to acknowledge the valuable contributions by study teamsfrom England, Estonia and the United States, led by Frances Forsyth, Tiina Peterson andMary Coleman respectively.

This paper was prepared by Rowena Phair, Project Leader of the OECD Secretariat, withoversight by Andreas Schleicher, Director for the Directorate for Education and Skills andSpecial Advisor on Education Policy to the SG and Yuri Belfali, Head of Early Childhoodand Schools Division for the Directorate for Education and Skills. Contributions to thesection on “Holistic early learning matters most for positive child outcomes” were providedby Ingrid Schoon, Bilal Nasim, Rukmen Sehmi and Rose Cook, UCL Institute ofEducation.