Abstract
This final report presents the results and recommendations of the of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Taskforce following a full review of the value gained from the different types of Government investment in early childhood education in New Zealand, including the efficiency and effectiveness of Government’s current early childhood education expenditure, and ways that this might be improved, particularly for M?ori, Pasifika and children from low socio-economic backgrounds; the development of new ideas on innovative, cost effective and evidence-based ways to support children’s learning in early childhood and the first years of compulsory schooling; recommendations to Government about proposed changes to funding and policy settings for early childhood education, and their costs, benefits and risks; and how the ECE recommendations could be implemented without increasing current government expenditure.