pre-COOL: Longitudinal Study of Early Childhood Education Effects in the Netherlands

A longitudinal study tracking two cohorts of children in the Netherlands to examine the effects of different forms of childcare and early childhood education. The pre-COOL study, conducted by the Kohnstamm Instituut and the University of Amsterdam, collects data on children's cognitive and socio-emotional development, family background, and the quality of preschool and kindergarten facilities. The dataset includes a four-year-old cohort started in 2009 and a two-year-old cohort started in 2010, with children followed until the end of primary school.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the impact of preschool quality on cognitive development based on collected child development data.
• Studying the relationship between family background and educational outcomes based on collected family data.
• Evaluating the long-term effects of different childcare types on socio-emotional development based on longitudinal tracking.
• Comparing developmental trajectories between children who attended preschool and those who did not based on the two cohort groups.

Strengths

• Longitudinal design tracking children from age 2 or 4 until the end of primary school.
• Collects three distinct data types: child development, family background, and facility quality.
• Includes two distinct age cohorts (two-year-olds and four-year-olds) for comparative analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is specific to the Netherlands, which may limit generalizability to other contexts.

Provenance

Source

Kohnstamm Instituut, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Collection Method

Longitudinal cohort study with data collection on child development, family background, and educational facility quality.

Time Range

Cohorts started in 2009 and 2010; data from the third measurement wave in 2011-2012.

Freshness

Last updated 2025-10-24 04:09:22; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Netherlands