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

Pre-COOL is a longitudinal study tracking two cohorts of children to understand the effects of different forms of childcare and early childhood education. The study, conducted by the Kohnstamm Instituut and the University of Amsterdam, collects data on children's cognitive and socio-emotional development, their family backgrounds, 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 data collection continuing through the end of primary school.

Use Cases

• Analyze the impact of preschool quality on cognitive development based on collected child development data.
• Study the relationship between family background and socio-emotional outcomes based on family data.
• Compare long-term educational trajectories between children who attended preschool and those who did not based on the two cohort groups.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of early childhood education programs based on facility quality assessments.

Strengths

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

Limitations

• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect temporal and geographic bias inherent to the Dutch context of the study.

Provenance

Source

Kohnstamm Instituut, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Cohorts started in 2009 and 2010, with data collection continuing through primary school.

Freshness

Last updated 2025-10-24 03:30:08; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Likely the Netherlands, based on the authoring institutions and description context.