Subproject Developmental Psychology / NEPS in cooperation with partners from the Leibniz Institute for educational trajectories (LifBi)

funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Joint project coordination: Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller, IPN, Kiel; Prof. Dr. Franz Petermann, University of Bremen

www.brise-bremen.de

PI of the Subproject: Prof. Dr. Sabine Weinert & Prof. Dr. Hans-Günther Roßbach, University of Bamberg; in cooperation with Dr. Manja Attig, Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), Bamberg

Research assistants: since 06/2021 Jakob Roetner; Dr. Dave Möwisch; 2017-2018 Gabriela Mansour and Judith Müller-Reichert

Project duration (1st funding period): December 2016 – Februar 2021

Project duration (2nd funding period): March 2021 - Februar 2025

The “Bremen Initiative to Foster Early Childhood Development” (BRISE) is a longitudinal study that systematically investigates the effects of a coordinated ‘chain’ of early childhood interventions. BRISE accompanies approximately 600 families in Bremen. Everyday integrated offers for early childhood and pre-school support in families and day-care centers, most of which are already available in Bremen, are systematically coordinated to form a chain of measures. The support already starts during pregnancy and should extend until school age.

The scientific evaluation of BRISE, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), investigates the cumulative effects of the coordinated program on the cognitive, social, and emotional development of the children enrolled in the chain of interventions. The reference group is comprised of children whose families do not take systematic advantage of programs offered in the city of Bremen. By linking BRISE to both, the Newborn Cohort Study of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS Starting Cohort 1) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), BRISE can draw on additional high-quality data to evaluate intervention effects.

The joint project is scientifically coordinated by the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN, Kiel), with field access taking place in Bremen. The Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development supports the set-up of the research infrastructure (BabyLab) in Bremen. The partners within the BRISE-network focus on topics such as the professionalization of pedagogical staff, the promotion of cross-domain and domain-specific developmental processes in the acquisition of language, mathematics, and natural sciences and their effects on the development of the children and social disparities according to family background. The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) conducts a cost-effectiveness analysis of the measures and links BRISE to the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). The partners in Bamberg, i.e. the Department of Developmental Psychology (Otto-Friedrich-University of Bamberg) and the Leibniz-Institute for Educational Trajectories, introduce innovative methods developed for the Newborn Cohort Study of the NEPS to the BRISE study; in particular, assessments of direct child measures and influencing factors in the environment (e.g. quality of mother-child-interaction). Both panel studies allow for comparative analyses and the evaluation of the BRISE interventions. The diagnostic assessment of early child development based on milestones is conducted by the University of Heidelberg. Finally, another partner of the University of Bamberg focuses on the quality of the learning environment in families and day-care centers.

BRISE is conducted by a consortium of outstanding scientists of the following institutions (cooperation partners):

• Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik (IPN), Kiel (main coordinator),

• Universität Bremen,

• Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg,

• Freie Universität Berlin,

• Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW) Berlin,

• Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung Berlin,

• University of Bamberg,

• Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe e.V. (LIfBi), Bamberg