Early learning programs that promote children’s developmental and educational outcomes

This resource sheet reviews international and Australian research evidence for the characteristics of early learning programs that are effective in promoting developmental and learning outcomes. The early years of life are the best opportunity to lay the foundations for a child’s future. By getting it right in early childhood, we plant the seeds for tomorrow’s engaged and active student, productive and skilled worker, and confident and loving parent. Investments of time and money in the early years have been shown to be far more cost-effective than investments made at any other time. The skills children develop as infants, toddlers and preschoolers are cumulative and form the basis for later skill development. Early learning contributes to a chain of effects that either reinforces initial achievements or exacerbates initial difficulties. As a result, children enter school with marked differences in the cognitive, emotional, attention-related, self-regulatory, learning and social skills needed for success in the school environment, and these differences are predictive of later academic success. Progress during the school years depends partly on early levels of functioning and partly on family socioeconomic status. Throughout the early years, socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with poorer outcomes in language and literacy, communication, socioemotional functioning and early learning skills. Attending an early learning program in the years before school has been shown to have significant benefits for children’s development, particularly for children growing up in situations of socioeconomic disadvantage or special need. However, many of these children miss out due to problems of access and uptake or cost and quality. This resource sheet reviews international and Australian research evidence for the characteristics of early learning programs that are effective in promoting developmental and learning outcomes. The bulk of this research is not Indigenous-specific. The review focuses on centre-based or school-based education and care settings; universal and targeted approaches to program delivery; and Australian studies that address the needs of Indigenous children. &nbsp

Social Mobility, Life Chances, and the Early Years

It is widely agreed that the early years are a particularly important time for efforts to increase social mobility, because a good deal of inequality is already apparent by the time children start school, and because children's development may be less amenable to change after they enter school. But it is less clear how much policies can reduce inequality in the early years, or what policies might be most effective, given the multiple influences on development in the early years and given the complex effects of policies. In this paper, I review what we know from research about what affects development in the early years and examine the current UK policy framework in light of that research. I then make recommendations for priorities for next steps to improve social mobility and other desired outcomes in the early years and thereafter. We know a good deal from research about what quality means, and about what types of experiences are best for children. The research points to some clear next steps in early years policy. These include: extending paid parental leave to 12 months; offering a more flexible package of supports to families with children under the age of 2 or 3; providing high-quality centre-based care to 2 year olds, starting with the most disadvantaged; and providing a more integrated system of high-quality care and education for 3 to 5 year olds.Social mobility, parental leave, childcare, early years

Using multimodal analysis to unravel a silent child’s learning

Although the English Foundation Stage Curriculum for children aged 3 to 5 years recognises that children learn through talk and play and through ‘movement and all their senses’ (DfEE & QCA, 2000: 20), there is comparatively little theoretical understanding of how children learn through diverse ‘modes’, such as body movement, facial expression, gaze, the manipulation of objects and talk, and there is little practical guidance on how practitioners can support children’s ‘multimodal’ learning. Indeed, mounting research evidence indicates that since the introduction of a national early years curriculum and early years assessment schemes, practitioners have felt under increased pressure to focus on children’s verbal skills in order to provide evidence of children’s literacy and numeracy skills in preparation for primary education (see Flewitt, 2005a & 2005b). In the context of these changes, this article relates the story of Tallulah, a 3-year-old girl with a late July birthday, who, like many summer-born children in England, spent one year in an early years setting before moving to primary school aged just 4 years. The article draws on data collected as part of an ESRC-funded study that explored the different ‘modes’ young children use to make and express meaning in the different social settings of home and a preschool playgroup (Flewitt, 2003). Examples are given of how Tallulah communicated her understandings at home through skilful combinations of talk, gaze direction, body movement and facial expression, and how others in the home supported Tallulah’s learning. These are then compared with examples of how Tallulah communicated in playgroup, primarily by combining the silent modes of gaze, body movement and facial expression. The article identifies how the different social settings of home and preschool impacted upon her choices and uses of different expressive modes

Improving access to urban and regional early childhood services

This resource sheet focuses on how to improve access to early childhood services located in metropolitan regions and large country towns where the majority of Indigenous people live. However, many studies do not differentiate urban from remote geographic contexts in reporting on effective strategies. Therefore, strategies that appear to be most appropriate to urban and regional settlements have been reported here, while those pertaining particularly to remote areas are not covered. Many of the strategies that are described here may also apply equally in remote settlements, with consideration of additional access challenges; for example, distance from services and difficulty attracting staff to remote townships. This resource sheet draws on about 30 studies to explore practical ways to improve access to a range of early childhood services for Indigenous Australians living in urban and regional centres. While most studies are Australian, international evidence has been incorporated where appropriate. There are few evaluations that test whether and how different strategies and mechanisms contribute to improved accessibility. We are therefore reliant upon documented practice experience in drawing out this resource sheet’s findings and principles

Engaging Indigenous parents in their children’s education

This resource sheet identifies some of the key practices that have underpinned programs or practices for schools and early learning environments that have successfully engaged Indigenous parents with their children’s education. Introduction There is a considerable body of research documenting the poor student and school performance for Indigenous students. Engaging families, especially parents, in the education of their young children at home and at school is increasingly viewed as an important way to support better learning outcomes for children. This resource sheet reviews the available literature on ‘what works’ in supporting the involvement of Indigenous parents in their children’s education. In their review, Emerson et al. reported that ‘positive parental engagement in learning improves academic achievement, wellbeing and productivity’

Parenting in the early years: effectiveness of parenting support programs for Indigenous families

This resource sheet examines programs for Australian Indigenous families that effectively support parenting in the early years. This is not a systematic review of all programs; instead, it presents briefly on the evidence for parenting programs generally and then focuses specifically on the evidence for such parenting programs in helping Indigenous families. Programs that focus on supporting parenting in the early years aim to influence the behaviours of children, parents or families in order to reduce the risk or ameliorate the effect of less than optimal social and physical environments. This paper focuses on two types of parenting support programs: parenting programs - short-term interventions aimed at helping parents improve their relationship with their child;  home visiting programs - which include various programs, supports and services delivered to the family by a person visiting the home

Strategies and practices for promoting the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

This resource sheet reviews programs that aim to promote social and emotional wellbeing and identifies those that have been evaluated and shown to be effective in relation to Indigenous people. Social and emotional wellbeing is a term that is synonymous with mental health and wellbeing, and is widely used in policy and program documentation related to Indigenous people, as well as in the literature. The definition of social and emotional wellbeing used in this resource sheet is articulated in the National strategic framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ mental health and social and emotional well being 2004–2009: A positive state of wellbeing in which the individual can cope with the normal stress of life and reach his or her potential in work and community life in the context of family, community, culture and broader society. A range of programs, including education, housing and employment programs, that do not have specific objectives related to promoting mental health, have the potential to positively affect social and emotional wellbeing. These programs are covered in other resource sheets published by the Clearinghouse. A link to these resource sheets is in Table A2 on page 11. The focus of this resource sheet is on the promotion of social and emotional wellbeing and the prevention of mental illness. Treatment services specifically for people with a drug addiction and/or established mental illness are not considered in detail. Strategies to reduce alcohol and other drug-related harm are also not included as they are the subject of the resource sheet Reducing alcohol and other drug related harm. The association between mental illness and suicide is well established. A separate resource sheet Strategies to minimise the incidence of suicide and suicidal behaviour has been prepared, therefore programs whose primary purpose is suicide prevention are not considered in this resource sheet. This resource sheet assesses the effectiveness of Australian and international programs whose primary purpose is to promote the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in urban and remote locations

Skills, Capabilities and Inequalities at School Entry in a Disadvantaged Community

Socioeconomic inequalities in children’s skills and capabilities begin early in life and can have detrimental effects on future success in school. The present study examines the relationships between school readiness and sociodemographic inequalities using teacher reports of the Short Early Development Instrument in a disadvantaged urban area of Ireland. It specifically examines socioeconomic (SES) differences in skills within a low SES community in order to investigate the role of relative disadvantage on children’s development. Differences across multiple domains of school readiness are examined using Monte-Carlo permutation tests. The results show that child, family and environmental factors have an impact on children’s school readiness, with attendance in centre-based childcare having the most consistent relationship with readiness for school. In addition, the findings suggest that social class inequalities in children’s skills still exist within a disadvantaged community. These results are discussed in relation to future intervention programmes.School readiness, Socioeconomic inequalities, Monte-Carlo permutation tests

Adult pedestrian behavior when accompanying children on the route to school

Objective: Pedestrian injuries are a major cause of morbidity and mortality to children, especially boys. Adults serve as pedestrian role models and provide learning opportunities for children when walking to school. The research objectives were to investigate adult pedestrian behavior when accompanying boys and girls. Methods: Behavioral observation of 140 adult pedestrians accompanying 4- to 9-year-old children was done in British residential locations. Observations took place at light-controlled crossings, speed-restricted school safety zones, and mid-block unmarked crossing sites. Behaviors observed included stopping at the curb, waiting at the curb, looking left and right before and during road crossing, holding hands, talking, and walking straight across. Results: In general, adults modeled safe road crossing behaviors. Adult safe behavior scores were higher when accompanying girls than when accompanying boys. No statistically significant differences were found by child age group. The fewest safe pedestrian behaviors were observed at light-controlled crossings. Conclusions: Adult pedestrians behave differently when with boys and girls and at different types of road crossing site. Interventions aimed at reducing pedestrian injuries to children may need to take these different everyday experiences into consideration