Education To Be More Reading Answers

Sep 26, 2025

Education To Be More Reading Answers contains 13 questions and belongs to the assessment system of the IELTS General Reading test. Education To Be More Reading Answers must be answered within 20 minutes. In this IELTS reading section, question types include: Do the following statements agree with the information given, and choose the correct letter. Also, Education To Be More Reading Answers offers a comprehensive overview of Research that shows the first three years of life are crucial for child development, and parental involvement is key to lasting educational success. To practice similar reading tests, candidates can refer to the IELTS Reading Practice Test section.

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Topic:

A.‘Education To Be More’ was published last August. It was the report of the New Zealand Government’s Early Childhood Care and Education Working Group. The report argued for enhanced equity of access and better funding for childcare and early childhood education institutions. Unquestionably, that’s a real need; but since parents don’t normally send children to pre-schools until the age of three, are we missing out on the most important years of all?

B.A 13-year study of early childhood development at Harvard University has shown that, by the age of three, most children have the potential to understand about 1000 words – most of the language they will use in ordinary conversation for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, research has shown that while every child is born with a natural curiosity, it can be suppressed dramatically during the second and third years of life. Researchers claim that the human personality is formed during the first two years of life, and during the three first years children learn the basic skills they will use in all their later learning both at home and at school. Once over the age of three, children continue to expand on existing knowledge of the world.

C.It is generally acknowledged that young people from poorer socio-economic backgrounds tend to do less well in our education system. That’s observed not just in New Zealand, but also in Australia, Britain, and America. In an attempt to overcome that educational under-achievement, a nationwide programme called Headstart was launched in the United States in 1965. A lot of money was poured into it. It took children into pre-school institutions at the age of three and was supposed to help the children of poorer families succeed in school. Despite substantial funding, results have been disappointing. There are two explanations for this. First, the programme began too late. Many children who entered it at the age of three were already behind their peers in language and measurable intelligence. Second, the parents were not involved. At the end of each day, ‘Headstart’ children returned to the same disadvantaged home environment.

D.As a result of the growing research evidence of the importance of the first three years of a child’s life and the disappointing results from Headstart, a pilot programme was launched in Missouri in the US that focused on parents as the child’s first teachers. The Missouri programme was predicated on research showing that working with the family, rather than bypassing the parents, is the most effective way of helping children get off to the best possible start in life.

The four-year pilot study included 380 families who were about to have their first child and who represented a cross-section of socio-economic status, age and family configurations. They included single-parent and two-parent families, families in which both parents worked, and families with either the mother or father at home. The programme involved parent-educators visiting the parents’ home and working with the parents, or parents and the child. Information on child development, and guidance on things to look for and expect as the child grows were provided, plus guidance in fostering the child’s intellectual, language, social and physical development, as well as their health. Periodic check-ups of the child’s educational and sensory development (hearing and vision) were undertaken to help parents detect possible learning difficulties. When problems were referred to professionals. Parent-educators met parents and monthly group meetings were held with other new parents to share experience and discuss topics of interest. Parent resource centres, located in school buildings, offered learning materials for families and facilitators for child care.

E.At the age of three, the children who had been involved in the Missouri programme were evaluated alongside a cross-section of children selected from the same range of socio-economic backgrounds and family situations, and also a random sample of children that age. The results were phenomenal. By the age of three, the children in the programme were significantly more advanced in development than their peers, had made greater strides in problem solving and other intellectual skills, and were more advanced in language development than the children not on the programme. In fact, the average child on the programme was performing at the level of comparison groups of children a year older in such things as auditory comprehension, verbal ability and language ability.

The short profile of all the traditional measures of ‘risk’, such as socio-economic disadvantage, single-parent age and education, or whether they were a single parent, bore little or no relationship to the child’s academic achievements and language development. In other words, the programme performed well regardless of socio-economic disadvantages. Child abuse was virtually eliminated. Health problems that are known to affect the child’s development was far less stress related to things like maternal depression and crisis. In addition, parents who had been helped to understand their child’s development continued with follow-up assistance in elementary schools.

F.These research findings are decisive. They show that children’s earliest years are the most crucial. Children from poorer socio-economic backgrounds are arriving at school far less well developed and that our schools cannot make up the gap. Work that continues beyond preschool years is far less effective if children have not had a good start in the first three years of life. This research shows that all children must have equal access to childcare and break that cycle of disadvantage. The Care and Education Working Group in New Zealand has called for more and better access to childcare and institutionalized early childhood education. That our schools cannot make up for time is undoubtedly vital, but without a similar focus on parental education and on the vital importance of the first three years of life, the evidence indicates that it will not be enough to overcome educational under-achievement.

Questions 1-4

Reading Passage 1 has six sections, A-F.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

1) details of the range of family types involved in an education programme

Answer: D

Supporting statement: "The four-year pilot study included 380 families who were about to have their first child and who represented a cross-section of socio-economic status, age and family configurations."

Keywords: range of families, socio-economic status, single-parent, two-parent

Keyword Location: Paragraph D, lines 3–6

Explanation: Paragraph D clearly mentions the diversity of families (single-parent, two-parent, working parents, stay-at-home parents) involved in the Missouri programme, matching the requirement of the question.

2) reasons why a child's early years are so important

Answer: B

Supporting statement: "Researchers claim that the human personality is formed during the first two years of life, and during the three first years children learn the basic skills..."

Keywords: early years, personality formed, basic skills, language development

Keyword Location: Paragraph B, lines 5–8

Explanation: Paragraph B highlights why the early years are crucial, focusing on personality development, language, and basic learning skills, which directly answers the question.

3) reasons why an education programme failed

Answer: C

Supporting statement: "Despite substantial funding, results have been disappointing. There are two explanations… the programme began too late… the parents were not involved."

Keywords: failed programme, began too late, parents not involved

Keyword Location: Paragraph C, lines 7–12

Explanation: Paragraph C outlines the reasons for Headstart’s failure—late start and lack of parental involvement, clearly answering the question.

4) a description of the positive outcomes of an education programme

Answer: E

Supporting statement: "By the age of three, the children in the programme were significantly more advanced in development… more advanced in language development than the children not on the programme."

Keywords: positive outcomes, advanced development, problem solving, language skills

Keyword Location: Paragraph E, lines 2–6

Explanation: Paragraph E emphasizes the strong positive outcomes of the Missouri programme, including cognitive and language advantages, fulfilling the question requirement.

Questions 5-7

Classify the following features as characterising

A. the 'Headstart' programme

B. the 'Missouri' programme

C. both the 'Headstart' and the 'Missouri' programmes

D. neither the 'Headstart' nor the 'Missouri' programme

Write the correct letter A, B, C or D.

5) was administered to a variety of poor and wealthy families

Answer: B

Supporting statement: "The four-year pilot study included 380 families… who represented a cross-section of socio-economic status."

Keywords: variety of families, poor and wealthy

Keyword Location: Paragraph D, lines 3–5

Explanation: The Missouri programme worked with families across socio-economic classes, indicating it was administered to both poor and wealthy families.

6) continued with follow-up assistance in elementary schools

Answer: B

Supporting statement: "Parents who had been helped to understand their child’s development continued with follow-up assistance in elementary schools."

Keywords: continued assistance, elementary schools

Keyword Location: Paragraph E, lines 13–15

Explanation: Missouri programme included continued support after preschool years, unlike Headstart.

7) did not succeed in its aim

Answer: A

Supporting statement: "Despite substantial funding, results have been disappointing."

Keywords: failed, disappointing results

Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 7

Explanation: Headstart failed to achieve its goals, so the correct classification is A.

Questions 8-10

Classify the following features as characterising

A. the 'Headstart' programme

B. the 'Missouri' programme

C. both the 'Headstart' and the 'Missouri' programmes

D. neither the "Headstart' nor the 'Missouri' programme

Write the correct letter A, B, C or D.

8. supplied many forms of support and training to parents

Answer: B

Supporting statement: "Information on child development, guidance... fostering the child’s intellectual, language, social and physical development… parent resource centres."

Keywords: support, training, parents

Keyword Location: Paragraph D, lines 7–15

Explanation: Missouri provided extensive parent training and support, fulfilling this statement.

9. received insufficient funding

Answer: D

Supporting statement: Not mentioned in the passage.

Keywords: insufficient funding

Keyword Location: – (no paragraph reference, since the text only says Headstart had substantial funding)

Explanation: The passage clearly states that Headstart had substantial funding, and Missouri also had support. Nowhere does it mention insufficient funding. Therefore, the correct answer is D (neither programme).

10. was designed to improve pre-schoolers' educational development

Answer: C

Supporting statement: Headstart: "supposed to help the children of poorer families succeed in school." Missouri: "most effective way of helping children get off to the best possible start in life."

Keywords: educational development, preschoolers

Keyword Location: Paragraph C, line 6 & Paragraph D, line 3

Explanation: Both programmes were designed to improve preschoolers’ development, so the correct choice is C.

Questions 11-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in

Reading Passage 1? In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE - if the statement is true according to the passage

FALSE - if the statement is false according to the passage

NOT GIVEN - if the information is not given in the passage

11. Most 'Missouri' programme three-year-olds scored highly in areas such as listening, speaking, reasoning and interacting with others.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: "By the age of three, the children… were significantly more advanced… in auditory comprehension, verbal ability and language ability."

Keywords: scored highly, listening, speaking, reasoning

Keyword Location: Paragraph E, lines 2–9

Explanation: The Missouri children performed exceptionally well in multiple areas, confirming the statement.

12. 'Missouri' programme children of young, uneducated, single parents scored less highly on the tests.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: "The short profile of all the traditional measures of ‘risk’… bore little or no relationship to the child’s academic achievements and language development."

Keywords: socio-economic disadvantage, no relationship, achievement

Keyword Location: Paragraph E, lines 10–12

Explanation: Results showed achievements were high regardless of parents’ age, education, or status, so the statement is false.

13. The richer families in the 'Missouri' programme had higher stress levels.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: While maternal depression and stress were discussed, no direct comparison of rich vs poor families’ stress was mentioned, so it is not given.

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