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This article presents the outcomes of a study conducted in Victoria, Australia, that recognised teachers' knowledge and understanding of phonics teaching, and early literacy acquisition processes more generally. In total, 45 teachers and 220 students from the 18 focus schools who engaged in the reform initiative agreed to participate in this study. The questions posed considered understandings associated with the professional learning programme and processes that support the implementation of the phonics teaching and the impact this had on students' literacy learning. We share the data used to map teachers' stories of change and practice and some of the key factors, including structures, practices and attitudes, that influenced the implementation. The impact on students' reading and writing outcomes throughout the reform process are also reported. Combined, the findings indicate that the teaching of phonic knowledge, integrated into rich contexts for learning, contributed to improvements in teaching and students' early literacy skills. Furthermore, this study fills an important and common missing gap in professional learning as it explores implementation processes and practice in the classroom. The results inform continuing reform efforts and targeted research necessary to refine phonics teaching practice and further advance students' literacy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated school connectedness, student engagement, academic grades, and student affect. Factor analyses of 331 adolescent students (Years 7, 9, and 11 in Australia), validated a four-factor model of school engagement. The factors revealed in the analyses were described as (1) future and task focus, (2) planning and motivation, (3) positive roles and models, and (4) positive social engagement. Cluster analyses revealed two typologies of students: a thriving group scoring significantly higher on all four factors than a striving group. There was a consistent number of students in each group across Years 7, 9 and 11. Compared to students in the striving group, on average, students in the thriving group scored significantly higher on grades (i.e., mathematics and English). Moreover, students in the thriving group were significantly higher on content and excited affects, and significantly less depressed and distressed compared to the students in the striving group. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores strategies that support Aboriginal parents' mastery of evidence-based early learning strategies, and their impact on young Aboriginal children's learning outcomes. The three-year study followed 32 parent-child dyads attending Families as First Teachers (FaFT) playgroups in two remote Northern Territory communities in 2015–2017. Trained FaFT staff provided parents with coaching in the use of Conversational Reading—an evidence-based shared reading strategy in first language—at FaFT. The study examined patterns of parent mastery across the three-year study period, the relationship between levels of parent-child participation at FaFT (program dosage) and parent mastery, and the impact of parent mastery of Conversational Reading on young Aboriginal children's language and learning outcomes. By including measures of parent-child participation and parent mastery of key program strategies at three time points, the study also provides a picture of the fidelity of program implementation across the study period. The findings indicate that parents' mastery of strategies (and thus the fidelity of program implementation) increased over time in line with the program dosage parents received. Higher levels of parent-child participation at FaFT and parent mastery of strategies at the end of the program were positively associated with children's language and learning outcomes. This study demonstrates that the provision of coaching at playgroup is an effective way to build parent capacity in the implementation of evidence-based early learning strategies, and that supporting parent mastery of teaching strategies has the potential to improve the learning outcomes of young children in remote Aboriginal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of early writing recognize that learning to write is a complex process requiring students to attend to the composition of the text and the transcription of the ideas. The research discussed here examined six dimensions of early writing—text structure, sentence structure, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and handwriting—and how each dimension relates to message construction. Specifically, this research aimed to consider the relationships between the authorial and secretarial aspects of writing, in order to support formative assessment and teaching. The research also considered whether there were underlying clusters of students who were engaging with the various dimensions in differing ways as they learned to craft texts. The analysis of data showed a clear conceptualization of the authorial and secretarial aspects of writing, as reflected in a tool for analysing writing. The three authorial dimensions and three secretarial dimensions of writing were well defined statistically. Three clusters of students were identified as having varying degrees of competence across the six dimensions of writing: a group with consistently low scores; a group with consistently medium scores; and a consistently high-scoring group. Attainment for SES groups was reflected in the writing dimensions, and gender differences were also evident; however, the variance explained by gender and SES was small to moderate. The study has implications for supporting students who are at present struggling with the challenges of early writing. The results suggest that when teachers address the dimensions of the writing process in combination, based on an informed analysis of students' needs, they can focus their teaching and select instructional approaches to increase the efficacy of their teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The importance of teacher-child dialogue in facilitating young children’s language learning is well established in the research literature, with significant outcomes accrued from rich language use in the classroom (Shiel, Cregan, McGough & Archer, 2012). This study focuses on the opportunities teachers provide to engage children in talk during small group teaching sessions and considers teacher-child talk patterns, within and across preschool and school settings. The intention was to examine teacher talk behaviours that facilitate children’s language use and explore how teachers support children’s oral language development as they move from preschool to school. Teachers from a preschool and school setting serving children from a low socioeconomic region of outer western Melbourne in Victoria, Australia were invited to plan, implement, and record teaching interactions with small groups of children that specifically built on their oral language skills. This paper reports on the fine-grained analysis of the teacher-child talk patterns in two specific ways: (1) teachers’ talk behaviours, to review the discourse patterns used to foster young children’s language learning; and (2) the children’s responses, to ascertain the dialogic interplay that created opportunities for children’s talk and learning. The findings indicate that during talk where teachers were supporting children’s oral language, the teachers’ preference for closed questions that were directed toward the immediate stimuli resulted in limited responses from the children. This particular teacher-child talk pattern was dominant in both preschool and school settings. While the common teacher talk behaviours across both settings support the continuity of children’s learning, as they transition from preschool to school, there was little evidence of interactions that engaged children in rich dialogue to extend their oral language competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Success in literacy is critical to effective learning outcomes for all children, however for many Indigenous students who move variously between their Indigenous languages, Aboriginal English, and Standard forms of English the teaching of language and literacy has heightened significance and requires distinct, concentrated attention. This paper will consider principles for practice that have been derived from the adaptation of teaching programs implemented to effectively support Indigenous students’ (English) literacy learning. The three programs discussed: the Abecedarian Approach Australia (3a) for preschool children, the Literacy Acquisition for Pre-primary Students pilot program and Reading Recovery, a literacy intervention for students after one year of school. From the evidence presented, successful literacy outcomes for students can been related to engaging with and connecting to Indigenous communities and families, teachers’ professional skills and knowledge, the provision of responsive teaching interventions and investment in well-researched proven programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Writing is a key area of literacy in the early years, however writing receives less research attention than reading despite its impact on students' learning generally, and literacy development specifically. Writing skills have also been shown to be quite stable−good writers in the early years stay good writers in the later years. Therefore it is critical to better understand the aspects of writing central to development that might support teaching and learning. In this paper we share findings from the analysis of 500 writing samples from 250 students. The students were in Year 1, which is the second year of school in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia. Samples were collected at two points in time (approximately four to five months apart) and analysed using a writing analysis tool developed by the authors in an earlier stage of the study. The results reported and discussed here show levels of attainment and changes in students' writing in the areas of text structure, sentence structure, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and handwriting, and also highlight relationships between these dimensions as students develop increasing control over writing. Socio-educational advantage, gender differences, and findings specific to children who learn English as an additional language are also reported. The findings have implications for practice in the early years of schooling. They also offer a conceptualisation of students' early writing based on an analysis process that integrates the authorial and secretarial dimensions of writing and provides teachers with relevant data to plan instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher education in universities continues to diversify in the twenty-first century. Just as course offerings, course delivery, staffing and the teaching/research mix varies extensively from university to university so does the procedure for pre-service teacher selection. Various factors bear on selection procedures and practices however few university courses have rigorous testing procedures for candidate selection. Further, there has been an over-reliance on grade scores and interview as preferred selection methods. A method of selection based on a comprehensive and broad spectrum set of tests and questionnaires is proposed on which to base selection. We suggest that a model comprised of previous achievements, tests of ability and reasoning, self and social interaction are the best indicators and that scores on these factors should be taken into account to provide valid and reliable data on which to make good decisions when selecting candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support our interpretation of literacy practice in preschools, this study considered Green’s articulation of Literacy in ‘3D’. This model emphasises learning that brings together the operational, the cultural and the critical dimensions of literacy, considering these dimensions to be interlocking and of equal importance. The philosophy underpinning the model is that it is counterproductive to start with issues of skills and techniques outside of authentic contexts of situated social practice. Using the ‘3D’ model as the lens through which to view learning, this paper draws attention to the practices of three preschool teachers who participated in the Young Learners’ Project: Preschool Teachers Sub-study in 2008 and 2009, as illustrative of the range of learning experiences teachers supported. Findings from the application of the 3D model to preschool contexts drawing on video, survey and interview data indicate differentiated practice across a range of commonly found preschool experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the Young Learners' Project, which is a large scale longitudinal study that aims to identify a number of factors associated with positive outcomes in literacy in the first year of school: the role of the preschool teacher, home life and child characteristics. In particular, it presents the design of one sub-study within the larger project that is focusing on the beliefs, theoretical constructs and literacy practices of 25 preschool teachers. The paper deliberates the methodological choices of a group of researchers who set out to represent in diverse ways, and for diverse purposes, the layered meanings inherent in preschool teachers' beliefs and practices in relation to early literacy development. In particular, through reference to illustrative extracts of a single case analysis, the paper explores the possibilities and complexities of adopting mixed methods and in doing so, responds to a call for researchers to make explicit the purposes and challenges of case study methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary understandings of reading development acknowledge the compilation and coordination of a range of skills and strategies (Paris, 2005). The development of both decoding and comprehension, integrated into reading acquisition processes, reflects this building of complementary reading skills. Hence, the research reported here aimed to examine early reading instruction to gain insight into how skilled teachers incorporate this duality of purposes into instructional practices. In order to closely examine students at the beginning stages of reading instruction 16 Reading Recovery teacher/student dyads were observed, with book reading interactions coded and analysed to detail teacher attention. The results reveal how teachers guide students towards the co-construction of text meanings and highlights teachers' and students' active engagement in talk interactions, as central to the instructional process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the explicit goal of today's school students being active citizens, critically engaged and democratically minded over the long course of their schooling, the authors of this article focus on the notions of rhetoric and, relatedly, rhetorical agency. While these notions are increasingly understood in secondary school contexts, their application in primary and early-childhood settings is under-explored. We define and propose rhetorical agency as a purposeful focus of school literacy practice and pedagogy, illustrating this with four examples in which rhetorical agency can be supported in the primary classroom. These relate to research we have undertaken or supported around children learning bilingually, students engaging in place-based investigations, rich text use, and critical literacy in the early years. Ultimately, we invite consideration of how primary classrooms and public schooling, and more specifically the practice of language and literacy education, might be enhanced expressly through a rhetorical lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]