IDeA Research Fellowship

The SAND project investigates how the transition into formal schooling impacts children’s neurocognitive development and subsequent academic trajectories. By comparing children of the same chronological age who differ in school entry timing, we are able to disentangle schooling-specific effects on cognitive control, attention, memory, reasoning and related neural processes. This unique design provides insights into both typical and atypical developmental trajectories and allows us to explore predictors of adaptation, such as socioeconomic background and home environment.

The SAND dataset is uniquely positioned to address these questions. It includes 120 children followed across five measurement time points, providing rich longitudinal data on executive functioning, memory, reasoning, vocabulary, numeracy, and academic performance (reading and mathematics). In addition, it contains parental questionnaires (e.g., Parental Stress Index, Child Behaviour Questionnaire, reports on family activities, SES, and the HOME inventory, etc.). Importantly, we have also collected functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data for a subset of tasks. These neuroimaging measures allow us to assess the effects of schooling and school-starting age not only on behavioural outcomes but also on underlying brain development. Together, this combination of behavioural, contextual, and neuroimaging data provides an unparalleled opportunity to investigate how individual and environmental factors jointly shape school adaptation.

Dr. Rafetseder’s proposed fellowship project will allow her to conduct advanced longitudinal analyses of this dataset, funded initially by the Jacobs Foundation to Prof Shing and subsequently by the Leverhulme Trust to Dr Rafetseder. This work aligns closely with IDeA’s mission. First, it contributes to the Individual Development pillar by charting intra-individual trajectories of cognitive development, identifying early markers of school adaptation, and examining the interplay between neurocognitive processes and educational outcomes. Second, it engages with the Adaptive Educational Contexts pillar by addressing how institutional policies, such as arbitrary school-entry cut-off dates, create diverse educational pathways. The findings have the potential to inform evidence-based policy and the design of adaptive learning environments that are responsive to children’s developmental readiness and social contexts.

IDeA’s interdisciplinary expertise in psychology, educational science, neuroscience, and sociology makes it an ideal home for this project. The opportunity to engage with colleagues working on language development, socio-emotional functioning, and educational inequalities will significantly strengthen the analyses and interpretations, while providing opportunities for collaboration and cross-fertilization.

Planned Schedule of Stay (1st October 2026 – 30th November 2026): •Weeks 1–2: Integration into the IDeA community; harmonization of data structure; advanced statistical modelling of intra-individual trajectories, including predictors such as socioeconomic background, parental involvement, and baseline cognitive factors. •Weeks 3–4: Continuation of modelling work; interpretation and dissemination of findings within IDeA research groups. •Weeks 5–8: Preparation of manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals; planning translational outputs (e.g., policy briefs on school-entry practices).

Beyond the immediate fellowship, this collaboration has strong potential for expansion. In particular, we see opportunities to seek international collaborative funding—for example, through the Open Research Area (ORA) or other European and cross-national schemes (e.g., Horizon Europe) —to build on the SAND dataset and extend it in new directions. Such funding would allow us to deepen our joint investigation of schooling effects, broaden the cross-cultural perspective, and strengthen the impact of our findings on educational policy and practice.