On your marks

A simple test may show which children would benefit from early intervention, says Kathryn Duckworth The development of children's abilities is a subject that interests researchers as well as those working in early years education, fuelled by the knowledge that learning is not a formal process that begins on the first day of school, but rather is a cumulative process beginning with the understanding of many basic cognitive, linguistic, perceptual and motor processes, which provide the basis for subsequent successful achievement.