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Background The quality of the home learning environment has a significant influence on children’s language and communication skills during the early years with children from disadvantaged families disproportionately affected. This paper describes the protocol and participant baseline characteristics of a community-based effectiveness study. It evaluates the effects of ‘smalltalk’, a brief group parenting intervention (with or without home coaching) on the quality of the early childhood home learning environment. Methods/design The study comprises two cluster randomised controlled superiority trials (one for infants and one for toddlers) designed and conducted in parallel. In 20 local government areas (LGAs) in Victoria, Australia, six locations (clusters) were randomised to one of three conditions: standard care (control); smalltalk group-only program; or smalltalk plus (group program plus home coaching). Programs were delivered to parents experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage through two existing age-based services, the maternal and child health service (infant program, ages 6–12 months), and facilitated playgroups (toddler program, ages 12–36 months). Outcomes were assessed by parent report and direct observation at baseline (0 weeks), post-intervention (12 weeks) and follow-up (32 weeks). Primary outcomes were parent verbal responsivity and home activities with child at 32 weeks. Secondary outcomes included parenting confidence, parent wellbeing and children’s communication, socio-emotional and general development skills. Analyses will use intention-to-treat random effects (“multilevel”) models to account for clustering. Recruitment and baseline data Across the 20 LGAs, 986 parents of infants and 1200 parents of toddlers enrolled and completed baseline measures. Eighty four percent of families demonstrated one or more of the targeted risk factors for poor child development (low income; receives government benefits; single, socially isolated or young parent; culturally or linguistically diverse background). Discussion This study will provide unique data on the effectiveness of a brief group parenting intervention for enhancing the early home learning environment of young children from disadvantaged families. It will also provide evidence of the extent to which additional one-on-one support is required to achieve change and whether there are greater benefits when delivered in the 1st year of life or later. The program has been designed for scale-up across existing early childhood services if proven effective. Trial registration 8 September 2011; ACTRN12611000965909.

The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC; also called Footprints in Time) is the only longitudinal study of developmental outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children globally. Footprints in Time follows the development of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to understand what Indigenous children need to grow up strong. LSIC involves annual waves of data collection (commenced in 2008) and follows approximately 1,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in urban, regional, and remote locations. This LSIC Primary School report has been produced following the release of the twelfth wave of data collection, with the majority of LSIC children having completed primary school (Preparatory [aged ~5 years] to Year 6 [aged ~12 years]). Primary schools play a central role in supporting student learning, wellbeing, and connectedness, and the Footprints in Time study provides a platform for centring Indigenous voices, connecting stories, and exploring emerging themes related to the experience of Indigenous children and families in the Australian education system. This report uses a mixed-methods approach, analysing both quantitative and qualitative data shared by LSIC participants, to explore primary school experiences from the perspective of children, parents and teachers. Analyses are framed using a strengths-based approach and are underpinned by the understanding that all aspects of life are related. The report documents a range of topics including teacher cultural competence, racism, school-based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education activities, parental involvement, engagement, attendance, and academic achievement.

Demographic data, such as highest level of education attained, are often assumed to be relatively free from measurement error. As part of an evaluation of an early childhood parenting intervention, 654 parents reported their highest level of education via telephone interview at baseline and self-directed questionnaire at follow-up 5.7 years later. At follow-up, 14% reported a lower level of education compared to baseline, indicating measurement error in one of the data collections. Comparison with data collected by an external agency for a subsample of participants (n = 261) 3.2 years after baseline indicated error in both the baseline and follow-up data. Probable causes of error included respondent and interviewer confusion regarding the names of post-school qualifications and item construction incorrectly implying linear pathways through education. We make recommendations around question construction and data collection methods for reducing measurement error in self-reported educational attainment.

Participant attrition is a significant challenge for longitudinal studies, particularly those involving disadvantaged populations. We attempted to re-engage n = 990 families in a five-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial of an early childhood parenting intervention. Tracing was attempted for n = 90/990 (9.1%) uncontactable participants. Evidence for the identification of a matching Facebook profile was classified as strong, moderate or weak. A private message was sent to those with strong evidence (n = 63/90, 70.0%), of which 32 responded, 22 agreed to participate and 19 provided data. Compared to participants engaged using traditional methods, those re-engaged through Facebook were more likely at initial recruitment to have a younger child (p =.02), to be a single parent (p =.04), less educated (p

In the 2017 final report of the Australia’s Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, recommendations noted the importance of school-based prevention efforts to create child-safe communities. In this study, we report on a national evaluation of the nature and availability of child sexual abuse prevention programs delivered in Australian primary schools. A survey instrument, anchored in empirical evidence, was distributed to all providers of child sexual abuse prevention programs in Australian primary schools serving children aged 4 to 13 years. Respondents were program coordinators or facilitators who provided data on 35 school-based child sexual abuse prevention programs that reached 631,720 children (approximately 26% of the Australian primary school student population) in 1 year. On average, each program reached 18,049 children in a calendar year (ranging from 200 to 80,000 children). Median child age for program exposure was 8 years. However, program duration was poorly reported so it was difficult to establish what program dosage was received. Most programs (80%-94%) covered specific item content, “always or often,” for 13 important areas of content, including five of seven items that had the strongest evidence of effectiveness, derived from a recent Cochrane Review (e.g., distinguishing appropriate and inappropriate touching). Programs less frequently addressed such content as safety in using technology and perpetrator strategies (e.g., grooming). The findings provide important information about the scope and nature of child sexual abuse prevention programs, and baseline data against which future program advancements can be tracked.

This research examined longitudinal profiles for parental involvement in shared reading with children from age 2 to 6 years. Associations of the profiles with sociodemographics were explored, as well as associations with children’s achievement in Year 3 at school. Data were drawn from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children for 3,836 children in the Baby Cohort. Three longitudinal profiles were identified: (1) high-stable involvement, (2) medium-stable involvement, and (3) low-increasing involvement. Profile membership was distinguished by: child Indigenous status and non-English language at home, family socioeconomic position, number of siblings at home, and child’s early self-regulation. Membership in the low-increasing involvement group was associated with the likelihood of not attaining Australian minimum standards for reading, writing, and numeracy. Membership in the medium-stable involvement group was associated with the likelihood of not attaining minimum standards for reading.

Increasingly, young children are viewed as active citizens who can make meaningful decisions in their everyday worlds. However, limited research has explored children’s views about their participatory rights in classroom contexts. This longitudinal interview study followed 168 children from Year 1 (aged 6–7 years) to Year 3 (aged 8–9 years) of primary school, in Queensland, Australia, to understand their perspectives of being listened to by their teachers. Findings showed that most children believed teachers listened to their ideas, with the proportion of children expressing such views increasing over the three-year period. However, the children’s experiences of being listened to tended to occur during monologic rather than dialogic exchanges. Implications for future research, teaching, and learning are discussed.

Supported playgroups are community-based services that provide low intensity family support, through regular group sessions for parents and their young children. Led by a playgroup facilitator, the program aims to enrich children’s early learning, enhance positive parenting behaviors, provide social connections for parents, and enable access to other community services. Despite high community acceptance and government investment, little is known about the extent to which such services are effective. This paper reports findings from a systematic review of research on supported playgroups and their effectiveness to improve child, parent, and community outcomes. Thirty-four studies were included, of which 28 were conducted in Australia. Programs targeted a diverse range of families who were considered socially disadvantaged. Seven studies employed experimental or quasi-experimental designs from which reliable evidence for effectiveness could be established. A high proportion of studies were qualitative and included action research, case studies, or ethnographies. A range of qualitative and quantitative measures were used to assess child, parent, and community outcomes. While findings suggested that supported playgroup programs were highly valued by parents and other stakeholders, rigorous evidence of effectiveness for achieving desired improvements in child outcomes or parenting behavior was rare and limited by low quality study designs. More explicit theories of change about how different types of supported playgroup programs can meet diverse family needs are required. Such theories of change would provide directions for specific content and delivery approaches that could address and improve different child and parent outcomes targeted to specific populations of attending families.

This research considers the role of parenting practices and early self-regulation, on children's prosocial behaviour when they begin school. Data for 4,007 children were drawn from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). The analyses explored relations between self-reported parenting practices for mothers and fathers, using scales for parenting warmth and hostility, and parent report on children's emotional and attentional regulation at 2-3 years. Teacher reports for prosocial behaviour were obtained when children were 6-7 years. Maternal and paternal non-hostile parenting and warmth made significant, indirect contributions to later prosocial development, through influencing children's early self-regulation. These findings inform understandings about the intergenerational pathways through which children's self-regulation influences prosocial skills. Responsive caregiving by parents, and by adults in early childhood education programs, supports the development of early self-regulation. This, in turn, enables children to take greater advantage of the learning opportunities afforded to them at home and in early childhood education programs. Support for early self-regulation can offset effects of child and family risk factors on children's later development.

THIS PAPER PRESENTS ANALYSES of gender differences in classroom behaviours (e.g. attentiveness and task persistence) and early academic outcomes. Data is drawn from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian children (LSAC). In these analyses, data from Wave 1 data collection (2004) and Wave 2 data collection (2006) for the Kindergarten Cohort are used. A sample of 2315 children who were in Year 1 of school at Wave 2 data collection are the focus for the analyses reported. The analyses draw on teacher ratings of children's literacy and language competence and mathematical thinking in Year 1 of school; as well as ratings of children's self-regulatory behaviour in the classroom and level of problem behaviours. Girls were rated by their teachers as having better literacy and language outcomes that were predicted by more positive classroom behaviours. Results are discussed with respect to the influence of children's classroom behaviours on academic learning at the beginning of formal schooling.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a group parenting intervention designed to strengthen the home learning environment of children from disadvantaged families. Two cluster randomised controlled superiority trials were conducted in parallel and delivered within existing services: a 6-week parenting group (51 locations randomised; 986 parents) for parents of infants (aged 6–12 months), and a 10-week facilitated playgroup (58 locations randomised; 1200 parents) for parents of toddlers (aged 12–36 months). Each trial had three conditions: intervention (smalltalk group-only); enhanced intervention with home coaching (smalltalk plus); and ‘standard’/usual practice controls. Parent-report and observational measures were collected at baseline, 12 and 32 weeks follow-up. Primary outcomes were parent verbal responsivity and home learning activities at 32 weeks. In the infant trial, there were no differences by trial arm for the primary outcomes at 32 weeks. In the toddler trial at 32-weeks, participants in the smalltalk group-only trial showed improvement compared to the standard program for parent verbal responsivity (effect size (ES) = 0.16; 95% CI 0.01, 0.36) and home learning activities (ES = 0.17; 95% CI 0.01, 0.38) but smalltalk plus did not. For the secondary outcomes in the infant trial, several initial differences favouring smalltalk plus were evident at 12 weeks, but not maintained to 32 weeks. For the toddler trial, differences in secondary outcomes favouring smalltalk plus were evident at 12 weeks and maintained to 32 weeks. These trials provide some evidence of the benefits of a parenting intervention focused on the home learning environment for parents of toddlers but not infants. Trial Registration: 8 September 2011; ACTRN12611000965909. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11121-017-0753-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This study examined the socio-demographic factors associated with trajectories of parental involvement in shared book reading and other home activities for children aged 2–6 years. The study uses data from 3836 families participating in Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Latent growth curve models were estimated to describe associations between trajectories of parental involvement, socio-demographic factors, and children’s learning outcomes. Higher levels of parental involvement at 2 years were associated with better learning outcomes at 6 years. On average, the frequency of parental involvement in home learning activities decreased over time. Family socio-economic disadvantage and being a male child were associated with lower levels of parental involvement at age 2 years, and more rapid decreases in parental involvement in home activities over time. Continued attention is needed to identify effective strategies that can address inequalities in children’s home learning opportunities before children begin school.

Background Playgroups are a relatively unique form of family support program that is common in Australia which has high community acceptance and significant government investment. However, limited evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of playgroups to achieve better outcomes for children and their parents. This study describes patterns of playgroup participation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families with young children and examines the extent to which participation from birth to three years is associated with subsequent child, parent, and community outcomes. Methods This study uses three years of longitudinal data for 622 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were participants in the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC). Longitudinal associations between playgroup attendance when children were age 2 and 3 years and outcome measures for child vocabulary, motor skills, behavior problems, prosocial development, parent home learning engagement, resilience, advice-seeking and health service use, and community trustworthiness were examined using path analysis. Results Rates of playgroup participation in this sample group were generally lower than for Australian children overall. Playgroup attendance when children were age 2 to 3 years was associated with higher parental engagement in home learning activities when children were aged 4 years which, in turn, was associated with stronger expressive vocabulary scores for children. Conclusion The findings from this study suggest that playgroup participation can enhance the home learning environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Playgroups as a parent support program holds strong potential to reach and engage families, particularly in areas of high geographic isolation, which can realize improved outcomes for children, parents and communities.

This study reports data from teachers in regular school classrooms on their experiences of inclusion for 143 young children with disabilities. The children were recruited from early intervention programs and their experiences in regular schools were tracked across three years, from a Preparatory year to Year 2 of school. Across the three years, the children’s teachers rated the child’s placement in their classroom as appropriate and that resources and supports available to support inclusion were generally adequate. Teachers perceived a range of benefits for the child, peers, and themselves. However, teachers also identified significant challenges including time pressures and increased responsibilities; and various behavioural and developmental concerns that impacted on all children’s learning in the classroom. The various challenges deserve continued attention for successful inclusive practice.

Background Children’s sleep problems and self-regulation problems have been independently associated with poorer adjustment to school, but there has been limited exploration of longitudinal early childhood profiles that include both indicators. Aims This study explores the normative developmental pathway for sleep problems and self-regulation across early childhood, and investigates whether departure from the normative pathway is associated with later social-emotional adjustment to school. Sample This study involved 2880 children participating in the Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) – Infant Cohort from Wave 1 (0-1 years) to Wave 4 (6-7 years). Method Mothers reported on children’s sleep problems, emotional, and attentional self-regulation at three time points from birth to 5 years. Teachers reported on children’s social-emotional adjustment to school at 6-7 years. Latent profile analysis was used to establish person-centred longitudinal profiles. Results Three profiles were found. The normative profile (69%) had consistently average or higher emotional and attentional regulation scores and sleep problems that steadily reduced from birth to 5. The remaining 31% of children were members of two non-normative self-regulation profiles, both characterised by escalating sleep problems across early childhood and below mean self-regulation. Non-normative group membership was associated with higher teacher-reported hyperactivity and emotional problems, and poorer classroom self-regulation and prosocial skills. Conclusion Early childhood profiles of self-regulation that include sleep problems offer a way to identify children at risk of poor school adjustment. Children with escalating early childhood sleep problems should be considered an important target group for school transition interventions.

The focus of this chapter is on the everyday life of a group of toddlers in one Australian childcare centre and how the children create their peer culture. The phenomenological framework considers: How are children’s shared life-worlds manifested? What is important for the children in order to build their shared worlds? Data consisted of 10 mealtime observations available in the larger set of data involving staff and children in two toddler rooms. The analyses showed how these children engaged in shared play over mealtime as an everyday cultural routine. We identified reoccurring patterns in children’s play and how they vary and extend their intersubjective coexistence. We also noticed how seldom the teachers’ and children’s shared worlds seem to align, rather they often seem to confront.

Parent involvement is widely accepted as being associated with children’s improved educational outcomes. However, the role of early school-based parent involvement is still being established. This study investigated the mediating role of self-regulated learning behaviors in the relationship between early school-based parent involvement and children’s academic achievement, using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (N = 2616). Family socioeconomic position, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, language background, child gender and cognitive competence, were controlled, as well home and community based parent involvement activity in order to derive a more confident interpretation of the results. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that children’s self-regulated learning behaviors fully mediated the relationships between school-based parent involvement at Grade 1 and children’s reading achievement at Grade 3. Importantly, these relationships were evident for children across all socio-economic backgrounds. Although there was no direct relationship between parent involvement at Grade 1 and numeracy achievement at Grade 3, parent involvement was indirectly associated with higher children's numeracy achievement through children’s self-regulation of learning behaviors, though this relationship was stronger for children from middle and higher socio-economic backgrounds. Implications for policy and practice are discussed, and further research recommended.

This article documents the longitudinal and reciprocal relations among behavioral sleep problems and emotional and attentional self-regulation in a population sample of 4,109 children participating in Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC)-Infant Cohort. Maternal reports of children's sleep problems and self-regulation were collected at five time-points from infancy to 8-9 years of age. Longitudinal structural equation modeling supported a developmental cascade model in which sleep problems have a persistent negative effect on emotional regulation, which in turn contributes to ongoing sleep problems and poorer attentional regulation in children over time. Findings suggest that sleep behaviors are a key target for interventions that aim to improve children's self-regulatory capacities.

This article builds on our ongoing work in conceptualising an ‘evaluative stance’ framework to assist in understanding how leaders in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) make decisions about the selection of professional development options for themselves and their staff. It introduces the notion that evaluative mindsets can be considered in terms of attitudes towards decision-making that are based on personal epistemologies. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews, it explores the mindsets of six experienced leaders in two long-established ECEC organisations in Australia with respect to their decision-making about professional development. The article concludes with a consideration of the potential utility of the framework and the coding template used in this exploratory study.

Unprecedented policy attention to early childhood education internationally has highlighted the crucial need for a skilled early years workforce. Consequently, professional development of early years educators has become a global policy imperative. At the same time, many maintain that professional development research has reached an impasse. In this paper, we offer a new approach to addressing this impasse. In contrast to calls for a redesign of comparative studies of professional development programs, or for the refinement of researcher-constructed professional development evaluation frameworks, we argue the need to cultivate what we refer to as an ‘evaluative stance’ amongst all involved in making decisions about professional development in the early years – from senior bureaucrats with responsibilities for funding professional development programs to individual educators with choices about which professional development opportunities to take up. Drawing on three bodies of literature -- evaluation capacity building, personal epistemology, and co-production -- that, for the most part, have been overlooked with respect to early years professional learning this paper proposes a conceptual framework to explain why cultivating an evaluative stance in professional development decision-making has rich possibilities for systemic, sustainable, and transformative change in early years education.

Executive functions are important higher-order cognitive skills for goal-directed thought and action. These capacities contribute to successful school achievement and lifelong wellbeing. The importance of executive functions to children’s education begins in early childhood and continues throughout development. This study explores contributions of child and family factors in early childhood to the development of executive function in adolescence. Analyses draw on data from the nationally-representative study, Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Participants are 4819 children in the Kindergarten Cohort who were recruited at age 4-5 years. Path analyses were employed to examine contributions of early childhood family factors, including family socio-economic position, parenting behaviors, maternal mental health, and a child behavioral risk index, to the development of executive function in adolescence. The influence of children’s early self-regulatory behaviors (attentional regulation at 4-5 years and approaches to learning at 6-7 years) were also taken into account. A composite score for the outcome measure of executive function was constructed from scores on three Cogstate computerized tasks for assessing cognition and measured visual attention, working memory, and spatial problem-solving. Covariates included child gender, age at assessment of executive function, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, speaking a language other than English at home, and child’s receptive vocabulary skills. There were significant indirect effects involving child and family risk factors measured at 4-5 years on executive function at age 14-15 years, mediated by measures of self-regulatory behavior. Child behavioral risk, family socio-economic position and parenting behaviors (anger, warmth, and consistency) were associated with attentional regulation at 4-5 years which, in turn, was significantly associated with approaches to learning at 6-7 years. Both attentional regulation and approaches to learning were directly associated with executive functioning at 14-15 years. These findings suggest that children’s early self-regulatory capacities are the basis for later development of executive function in adolescence when capabilities for planning and problem-solving are important to achieving educational goals.

A pragmatic randomised controlled trial was used to investigate the effects of two forms of shared reading on children's language and literacy skills. Parents of 80 children in the preparatory year of school participated in an eight-week home reading intervention. Families were assigned to one of three groups: dialogic reading (DR), dialogic reading with the addition of print referencing (DR + PR), or an attention-matched control group. Analyses of change from pre- to post-intervention showed significant effects for the DR and DP+PR groups compared to the control group on three of the six emergent literacy measures: expressive language, rhyme, and concepts about print. At three-month follow-up assessment, the two intervention groups maintained significantly better performance on the measure of concepts about print only. These findings illustrate the potential of a brief home-based intervention for promoting children's emergent literacy.

This study examined the relationship between special health care needs and social-emotional and learning competence in the early years, reporting on two waves of data from the Kindergarten Cohort of Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Six hundred and fifty children were identified through the two-question Special Health Care Needs Screener as having special health care needs. Children with special health care needs were more likely to be male, to have been of low birth weight, to be taking prescription medications, to be diagnosed with a specific health condition and to be from families where the mother was less well educated. These children scored significantly lower on teacher-rated social-emotional and learning competencies prior to school compared to a control group of children without special health care needs. Multiple regression analyses indicated that being identified with a special health care need prior to school predicted lower social-emotional and learning competencies in the early years of school. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for policy and practice.

FOR MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION to be effective, it must be introduced in the early years and reinforced throughout the school years. It is important for teachers of young children to be equipped with the appropriate knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to promote multiculturalism in their classrooms. This paper reports on a survey involving preschool teachers in Singapore who were participating in an in-service training course. The teachers completed a questionnaire to indicate their understandings of multicultural education and their perceptions of its importance in early childhood education. The findings indicated that the teachers endorsed the need for multicultural education in preschools and the importance of children learning tolerance and understanding of other cultures in the Singaporean context. However, while preschool teachers held positive attitudes towards multicultural education, there was limited understanding of the challenges in implementing an anti-bias teaching and curriculum approach. The implications of these findings for preschool teacher education programs in Singapore and in other countries focus on supporting teachers in developing more critical and deeper understandings of multiculturalism.

Sing & Grow is a 10-week group music therapy intervention to promote positive parenting and child development for marginalized parents of birth to 3-year-old children. This paper examined whether changes from pre to post intervention varied according to implementation site, when the intervention was taken to scale nationally. Outcomes for 850 participants were compared for the site where the program was first established against three new locations; one site where implementation processes were more favorable relative to the other two sites. Overall, the findings provided only limited support for differential outcomes by site of implementation. Participants showed significant improvements in parent-reported parenting and child outcomes from pre to post that were similar across all sites. For clinician-reported outcomes, improvements over time were generally greater in the original site and the well-supported site compared to the sites where there were more implementation difficulties. These differences were partly accounted for by differences in the characteristics of participants receiving programs in different sites and differences in the clinicians’ ratings of program quality and the levels of support and training provided. However, confounding by the source of measurement requires cautious interpretation of clinician data. This study further highlights the potential for music therapy as an early parenting intervention, and the need for more rigorous evaluations in this field.

The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) is a major national study examining the lives of Australian children, using a cross-sequential cohort design and data from parents, children, and teachers for 5,107 infants (3–19 months) and 4,983 children (4–5 years). Its data are publicly accessible and are used by researchers from many disciplinary backgrounds. It contains multiple measures of children’s developmental outcomes as well as a broad range of information on the contexts of their lives. This paper reports on the development of summary outcome indices of child development using the LSAC data. The indices were developed to fill the need for indicators suitable for use by diverse data users in order to guide government policy and interventions which support young children’s optimal development. The concepts underpinning the indices and the methods of their development are presented. Two outcome indices (infant and child) were developed, each consisting of three domains—health and physical development, social and emotional functioning, and learning competency. A total of 16 measures are used to make up these three domains in the Outcome Index for the Child Cohort and six measures for the Infant Cohort. These measures are described and evidence supporting the structure of the domains and their underlying latent constructs is provided for both cohorts. The factorial structure of the Outcome Index is adequate for both cohorts, but was stronger for the child than infant cohort. It is concluded that the LSAC Outcome Index is a parsimonious measure representing the major components of development which is suitable for non-specialist data users. A companion paper (Sanson et al. 2010) presents evidence of the validity of the Index.

While there has been extensive research exploring quality in childcare programs for children older than three years, less attention has been directed to the nature of infants’ experiences in centre‐based childcare programs. In this study, six childcare workers and six centre directors located in centre‐based childcare programs in metropolitan Australia were interviewed about their beliefs about quality care and training for infants. In each of the participating centres, the infant programs were also observed using an observational measure that focused on the nature of adult–infant interactions. Both centre directors and childcare workers expressed beliefs that quality in infant care was related to affective dimensions (e.g. care, love, attention) and programming for infants’ learning and development. They also expressed views that infant care training should have a strong practical focus to provide the necessary knowledge and skills for interacting with infants. Only centre directors discussed beliefs abo...

The progress of a nationally representative sample of 3632 children was followed from early childhood through to primary school, using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). The aim was to examine the predictive effects of different aspects of communicative ability, and of early vs. sustained identification of speech and language impairment, on children's achievement and adjustment at school. Four indicators identified speech and language impairment: parent-rated expressive language concern; parent-rated receptive language concern; use of speech-language pathology services; below average scores on the adapted Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III. School outcomes were assessed by teachers' ratings of language/literacy ability, numeracy/mathematical thinking and approaches to learning. Comparison of group differences, using ANOVA, provided clear evidence that children who were identified as having speech and language impairment in their early childhood years did not perform as well a...

Epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowing and knowledge) have provided interesting insights into effective teaching and learning in higher education over the last 30 years. However, to date, little research has taken place in regard to teaching and learning in the technical and further education (TAFE) context in Australia. Seventeen 1st and 2nd year child care students studying for a Diploma in Children's Services were interviewed about the nature of their epistemological beliefs. The findings revealed new ways of thinking about evaluativistic beliefs, described as “practical evaluativism”. These beliefs may have implications for the way in which students evaluate theory and practice for implementation in their own child care practice.

Background. The quality of child care is of social and economic significance worldwide. The beliefs that child care workers hold about knowing and knowledge (epistemological beliefs) influence the quality of their professional work. However, attention to epistemological beliefs is rarely a focus in vocational education programmes. Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of child care students’ epistemological beliefs. Sample(s). All first- and second-year students completing a Diploma of Children’s Services at three separate training institutes in a large metropolitan area in Australia were invited to participate in the study. There were 46 first- and 31 second-year students (77 in total, 71 females). Method. This study used semi-structured interviews based on a child care scenario to enable students to articulate their epistemological beliefs. A descriptive-interpretative approach in which interviews were analysed for patterns of meaning was used in the content analysis. The categories, based on the work of Kuhn and Weinstock (2002), included objectivism, subjectivism, and evaluativism. While this proved to be a useful framework, the authors remained open to new categories emerging. This constituted the interpretive component of the analysis. Therefore, the data were analysed using both data-driven and theory-led approaches to analysis, which still made it possible to take account of many viewpoints before arriving at the categories of beliefs. The categories were audited by a second researcher to establish trustworthiness and credibility. Results. The findings of this study revealed a range of epistemological beliefs; however, a new way of thinking about evaluativistic beliefs called 'basic evaluativism' emerged. This view of knowledge relates to the construction of evidence-based practice rather than knowledge as is typically the case in evaluativistic beliefs. Conclusions. Implications for the need to address epistemological beliefs in vocational education programmes for child care workers are discussed.

This paper describes an analysis of interview transcripts for 77 first- and second-year students enrolled in a vocational education course for child-care work. The purpose was to identify their conceptions of learning. All six categories of conceptions, as identified originally by Marton et al. (1993), were found. However, more than 50% of the conceptions were at level A (increasing knowledge). This category was richer and more differentiated than found in other research and had a practical, applied focus. The participants did not generally situate their learning in a formal context based on reading theoretical material. This finding provides a new perspective on conceptions of learning. The results are compared with research in vocational, informal, workplace and teacher learning. The conceptions of learning held by the child-care students could present a challenge for lecturers in the vocational programme who expect that students will underpin practical skills with theoretical knowledge. It is less like...

This research investigated the nature of play activities and the social engagement of young children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in inclusive early childhood settings. Twelve focus children with a diagnosis of ASD participated in the research. These children were enrolled in regular early childhood education programs with typically developing peers aged four to five years. A comparison group of 30 children with typical development were also included in the research. Children completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) to assess their linguistic competence. Time-sampled observations of free play activities were made in the preschool settings on two occasions for periods of one hour. Teachers also provided an assessment of children’s peer acceptance and social behaviour. The observational data and teacher reports indicated that the focus children spent proportionally less time than their peers in activities requiring higher levels of social skills. However, focus children engaged in most types of play but with lower levels of engagement than the comparison group. This indicated that the focus children were able to perform the play and social behaviours that were of interest in the observations. These children with ASD were capable of more extensive social and play engagement because they had demonstrated the requisite skills. These results indicated the need for greater teacher support to scaffold and support the interactions of children with ASD with their typically developing peers in order to increase their social and play participation in inclusive programs.

This exploratory research analyzes child care workers’ beliefs about the nature of their practice in center-based child care programs. Twenty-one female child care workers who worked with toddlers (aged 1 to 3 years) participated in the research. The participants were videoed in their practice and later interviewed about how good practice in child care could be described. In the interview, the video of participants’ practice was also reviewed to discuss salient videoed events to elicit further evidence about the nature and structure of beliefs that informed practice. The focus of the data analysis was to ascertain how affective, cognitive and executive functions of teaching in child care were represented in the practitioners’ beliefs and how well those beliefs were integrated into a relational structure. All child care workers identified the affective (care) function as a feature of their practice in working with toddlers. Fewer participants (71%) identified the cognitive (education) function or the executive function (38%) as features of their role. Only two child care workers were judged to have a highly sophisticated and relational belief structure integrating affective, cognitive, and executive functions in how they discussed their practice with toddlers. Greater emphasis in professional training for work in child care settings should be placed on exploring the expectations and beliefs that child care workers hold about their role in teaching young children and how that role is instrumental in supporting early learning.

Over the last decade, research related to personal epistemological beliefs has offered insight into how to promote effective teaching and learning across educational settings. Personal epistemological beliefs reflect an individual's views about what knowledge is, how knowledge is gained, and the degree of certainty with which knowledge can be held. However, there has been no research that specifically investigates the relationship between such epistemological beliefs and early childhood practice. This paper draws together current research findings on epistemological beliefs and tertiary learning to provide a conceptual framework which can be used in early childhood teacher education programs to provide a basis for investigating early childhood teachers' understanding about their own learning and how they use this knowledge in their practice.

The rights of participation for children in child care programs have not received strong attention. This is because the primary purpose of such programs is not to serve the needs of children. Government in many western countries support and promote child care primarily to serve economic imperatives related to parental participation in employment. The nature of many child care programs act against the recognition of the rights of young children in these institutional settings unless adults appreciate that children are agents of their own learning. This paper reports an empirical analysis of child care workers’ understandings of toddlers’ learning, within centre-based child care programs. The analyses draw on responses from 21 child care workers to questions about how children learn, how they know when children have learnt something, and examples of learning by young children which they had observed in their practice. The analyses provide insight into child care practices as the child care workers explain their experiences and understandings about children’s learning. The analyses revealed a sense of mutual engagement in learning between adults and children. Children’s participation is encouraged by collaboration between adults and children, shared understandings, and adult respect for children’s autonomy and independence.