National Evaluation of Sure Start, 2003-2011

Sure Start represents a unique approach to early intervention for children 0-4, their families, and communities. Rather than providing a specific service, the Sure Start initiative represents an effort to change existing services. This is to be achieved by reshaping, enhancing, adding value, and by increasing co-ordination. In light of this model, three core questions need to guide the overall evaluation of Sure Start:<ul><li>1. Do existing services change? (How and, if so, for which populations and under what conditions?)</li><li>2. Are delivered services improved? (How, and if so, for which populations and under what conditions?)</li><li>3. Do children, and families benefit? (How, and if so, for which populations and under what conditions?)</li></ul>The <i>National Evaluation of Sure Start</i> (NESS) study concerns the third question, addressing it through a longitudinal study comparing children and families in similar areas receiving and not receiving Sure Start programmes. Over time, NESS has followed up 7-year-olds and their families in 150 Sure Start Local Programme (SSLP) areas who were initially studied when the children were 9 months, 3 and 5 years old. The 7-year-old study followed up a randomly selected subset of the children and families previously studied at younger ages. The non-Sure Start children and families are a subset of those in the <i>Millennium Cohort Study</i> (available from the UK Data Archive under GN 33359), though these respondents are not included in this dataset. <br> <br> Further information about the NESS project is available from the documentation and the <a href="http://www.ness.bbk.ac.uk" title="Birkbeck, University of London NESS"> Birkbeck, University of London NESS</a> project webpage.<br> <br> For the second edition (December 2012), data and documentation from the NESS surveys of 5- and 7-year-olds and their families were added to the study.<br>