Do increasing participation rates in early childhood education narrow the reading achievement gap between high- and low-SES primary school students?

According to our interpretation, increasing ECE participation rates seem to help reduce socioeconomic inequalities in reading achievement-provided that the increases also reduce disparities in access to ECE. This finding, together with previous research, offers encouraging evidence for countries investing in or planning to expand ECE. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of ensuring that ECE expansion policies specifically address socioeconomic inequalities in participation to mitigate later educational inequalities.