Parent-reported speech and language in early childhood is an early indicator of Indigenous Australian children's literacy and numeracy outcomes

The following important article has just been published: 

McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., McMahon, C., Wang, C., & Evans, J. R. (2025). Parent-reported speech and language in early childhood is an early indicator of Indigenous Australian children's literacy and numeracy outcomes. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 56(3), 730-746. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_LSHSS-23-00200 

Here is the abstract 

Purpose:
The aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate parent-reported children's speech and language in early childhood as an early indicator of Indigenous Australians' school-age educational outcomes.
Method:
Participants were 1,534 children from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) whose parents reported on expressive and receptive speech and language concern (SLC) at 3–5 years using the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status. A total of 467 children (30.4%) were identified as having SLC, of whom 308 had only expressive SLC, 65 had only receptive SLC, and 81 had both expressive and receptive SLC. Educational outcomes included (a) National Assessment Program–Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests (Grade 3, 8–9 years), (b) teacher-reported literacy and numeracy on the Academic Rating Scale (ARS; 8–9, 9–10 years), and (c) research officer–administered Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (PAT-Reading; 6–7, 7–8, 8–9, 9–10 years) and Progressive Achievement Tests in Mathematics (PAT-Maths; 8–9, 9–10 years).
Results:
After controlling for covariates (child age, sex, having hearing problems, having a disability, speaking an Indigenous language, parent education, family life events, community socioeconomic status, and remoteness), SLC was associated with significantly lower scores on all NAPLAN subtests (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar, Numeracy), teacher-rated ARS for Language and Literacy (9–10 years), and PAT-Reading (6–7 years) and PAT-Maths (9–10 years). Subgroup comparisons indicated that children with both expressive and receptive SLC had the poorest outcomes on NAPLAN and ARS subtests.
Conclusion:
Parental reporting of Indigenous Australian children's SLC in early childhood is an important early indicator of education outcomes at school, indicating the importance of families throughout a child's trajectory of learning and development.

Accepted - Parent-reported speech and language in early childhood is an early indicator of Indigenous Australian children’s literacy and numeracy outcomes

The following paper has been accepted for publication:

McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., McMahon, C., Wang, C., & Evans, J. R. (2025, in press March 2025). Parent-reported speech and language in early childhood is an early indicator of Indigenous Australian children’s literacy and numeracy outcomes. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.

Here is a short summary:

This longitudinal study of 1,534 Indigenous Australian children demonstrated that parent report of speech and language concern in early childhood is an important early indicator of education outcomes at school. Families are important knowledge holders throughout a child’s trajectory of learning and development.

Here is the abstract

Purpose: To longitudinally investigate parent-reported children’s speech and language in early childhood as an early indicator of Indigenous Australians’ school-age educational outcomes.
Method: Participants were 1,534 children from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) whose parents reported on expressive and receptive speech and language concern (SLC) at 3–5 years using the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS). A total of 467 children (30.4%) were identified as having SLC, of whom 308 had only expressive SLC, 65 had only receptive SLC, and 81 had both expressive and receptive SLC. Educational outcomes included (a) National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests (grade 3; 8–9 years), (b) teacher-reported literacy and numeracy on the Academic Rating Scale (ARS) (8–9, 9–10 years), (c) research officer-administered Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT)-Reading (6–7, 7–8, 8–9, 9–10 years) and PAT-Maths (8–9, 9–10 years).
Results: After controlling for covariates (child age, sex, having hearing problems, having a disability, speaking an Indigenous language, parent education, family life events, community socio-economic status, and remoteness), SLC was associated with significantly lower scores on all NAPLAN subtests (reading, writing, spelling, grammar, numeracy); teacher-rated ARS: Language and Literacy (9–10 years); and PAT: Reading (6–7 years) and Maths (9–10 years). Sub-group comparisons indicated that children with both expressive and receptive SLC had the poorest outcomes on NAPLAN and ARS subtests.
Conclusion: Parental reporting of Indigenous Australian children’s speech and language concern in early childhood is an important early indicator of education outcomes at school, indicating the importance of families throughout a child’s trajectory of learning and development.

Indigenous Australian children’s speech and language in early childhood: Parent report as a predictor of school-age academic outcomes

Prof Linda Harrison and I have been working on revisions for our co-authored paper titled "Indigenous Australian children’s speech and language in early childhood: Parent report as a predictor of school-age academic outcomes". This is part of our current research with the Rural Health Research Institute.

Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSIC) team

 What a pleasure to be invited to catch up with the Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSIC) team at the Department of Social Services in Canberra and to meet visiting PhD student (Anita) who is working with Sami-speaking children in Norway.

As a result of this discussion I now have a FLoSse researcher page here - McLeod, Sharynne | FLOSSE | Longitudinal Studies (dss.gov.au).

 

Parent perspectives of the relationships between ear health and children’s speech and language

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication 

Morrow, A., Orr, N., Nash, K., Clague, L., Coates, H., Cross, C., Evans, J. R., Gunasekera, H., Harkus, S., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., McMahon, C., Neal, K., Salins, A. & Macniven, R. (2023, in press January). Parent perspectives of the relationships between ear health and children’s speech and language in the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. Children, 10(1), 165. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10010165 

Here is the abstract: 

Health and wellbeing are holistic concepts that are perceived to be inseparable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We examined relationships between parent-reported ear symptoms for 787 Indigenous children at two time points (age 2-3 years, age 4-5 years) and two parent-reported speech and language outcomes one year later (age 5-6 years). Most parents (80.2%) reported no concern about their child’s expressive language and (93.8%) receptive language. Binary logistic regression models examined ear health as a predictor of children’s expressive and receptive speech and language adjusting for sociodemographic and health covariates. For children without parent-reported ear symptoms there were lower odds of parental concern about expressive speech and language (aOR=0.45; 95% CI 0.21-0.99) and receptive language (aOR=0.24; 95% CI 0.09-0.62). Parents were less likely to have concerns about the child’s expressive speech and language if their child was female; lived in urban or regional areas; had excellent or very good global health; or had no disability when aged 2-5 years. Since parent-reported ear health and speech and language concerns were related, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children could benefit from culturally safe, strength-based, family-centred, integrated speech, language and ear health services.

This research was as the result of collaboration with Masters students and researchers at the HEARing Co-operative Research Centre including Prof Cath McMahon's team focusing on Indigenous people's ear health.

Conversations about Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children

Prof Linda Harrison and I have now met with the H:EAR Director, Professor Catherine McMahon at Macquarie University a few times. We have been discussing analysis of the valuable data from Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC). 

Prof Catherine McMahon, Sharynne and Prof Linda Harrison

Here are details about the H:EAR research: https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/healthy-people/centres/hear/news-and-events/news/news-items/new-funding-for-indigenous-hearing-health

LSIC ear health working group - Macquarie University

Rona Macniven invited Professor Linda Harrison and I to speak at the LSIC ear health working group at Macquarie University yesterday. We also heard presentations from the three Masters of Audiology students on their projects: Fina - determinants and health service access; Emma - education outcomes; Anita - speech and language 

Here are details about the team: https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/healthy-people/centres/hear/news-and-events/news/news-items/new-funding-for-indigenous-hearing-health

Research on a small budget: Free longitudinal data

One of the largest costs of undertaking research is data collection. The Australian Government’s Department of Social Services has been collecting longitudinal data on thousands of Australians for many years. While a lot of the data are numerical, requiring quantitative techniques, they also collect textual data that can be analysed using qualitative techniques. Data sets for up to 10,000 people  (adults or children) are available for free. Here is information from their website (https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/national-centre-for-longitudinal-data):

The NCLD provides access to new release of data for our four longitudinal studies through the Australian Data Archive Dataverse(link is external) platform. Dataverse provides no cost data access and allows authorised data users to download the datasets to their password-protected PC, secure network or approved cloud.
All four NCLD studies are now available on Dataverse:

• Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey is available at https://dataverse.ada.edu.au/dataverse/hilda
• Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) is available at https://dataverse.ada.edu.au/dataverse/lsac
• Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) is available at https://dataverse.ada.edu.au/dataverse/lsic
• Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA): The Longitudinal Study of Humanitarian Migrants is available at https://dataverse.ada.edu.au/dataverse/bnla 

Additionally, the Australian Government provides access to national census data.

Researchers from CSU's FOAE who have been publishing research using these studies include: Amy Macdonald, Graham Daniel, Sharynne McLeod, Audrey Wang, Michelle Brown and our HDR students and colleagues. Here are some of our papers:

1. Blake, H. L., Bennetts Kneebone, L., & McLeod, S. (2017). The impact of oral English proficiency on humanitarian migrants’ experiences of settling in Australia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13670050.2017.1294557
2. Blake, H. L., McLeod, S., Verdon, S., & Fuller, G. (2018). The relationship between spoken English proficiency and participation in higher education, employment and income from two Australian censuses. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(2), 202-215. doi:10.1080/17549507.2016.1229031
3. Brown, M. I., Wang, C., & McLeod, S. (2019). Reading with 1-2 year olds impacts later academic achievement at 8-11 years. Manuscript in submission.
4. Harrison, L. J., & McLeod, S. (2010). Risk and protective factors associated with speech and language impairment in a nationally representative sample of 4- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(2), 508-529. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0086
5. Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., Berthelsen, D., & Walker, S. (2009). Literacy, numeracy, and learning in school-aged children identified as having speech and language impairment in early childhood. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(5), 392-403. doi:10.1080/17549500903093749
6. McCormack, J., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., & McAllister, L. (2011). A nationally representative study of the association between communication impairment at 4-5 years and children's life activities at 7-9 years. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 54(5), 1328-1348. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0155
7. McLeod, S. (2011). Cultural and linguistic diversity in Australian 4- to 5-year-old children and their parents. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language, and Hearing, 13(3), 112-119.
8. McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2009). Epidemiology of speech and language impairment in a nationally representative sample of 4- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52(5), 1213-1229. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0085)
9. McLeod, S., & Verdon, S. (2015). Longitudinal patterns of language use, diversity, support, and competence. In Department of Social Services. (Ed.), Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. Report from Wave 5 (pp. 66-70). Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.
10. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & Wang, C. (2019). A longitudinal population study of literacy and numeracy outcomes for children identified with speech, language, and communication needs in early childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 47, 507-517. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.07.004
11. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., Whiteford, C., & Walker, S. (2016). Multilingualism and speech-language competence in early childhood: Impact on academic and social-emotional outcomes at school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 34, 53-66. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.08.005
12. McLeod, S., Verdon, S., & Bennetts Kneebone, L. (2014). Celebrating young Indigenous Australian children's speech and language competence. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(2), 118-131. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.11.003
13. Shahaeian, A., Wang, C., Tucker-Drob, E., Geiger, V., Bus, A. G., & Harrison, L. J. (2018). Early shared reading, socioeconomic status, and children’s cognitive and school competencies: Six years of longitudinal evidence. Scientific Studies of Reading, 22(6), 485-502. doi:10.1080/10888438.2018.1482901
14. Verdon, S., & McLeod, S. (2015). Indigenous language learning and maintenance among young Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. International Journal of Early Childhood, 47(1), 153-170. doi:10.1007/s13158-015-0131-3
15. Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Winsler, A. (2014a). Linguistic diversity among Australian children in the first 5 years of life. Speech, Language and Hearing, 17(4), 196–203. doi:10.1179/2050572814Y.0000000038
16. Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Winsler, A. (2014b). Language maintenance and loss in a population study of young Australian children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29, 168-181. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.12.003
17. Wang, C., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., Walker, S., & Spilt, J. L. (2018). Can teacher–child relationships support human rights to freedom of opinion and expression, education and participation? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 133-141. doi:10.1080/17549507.2018.1408855

Publications using data from LSAC, LSIC, and BNLA

Our SLM team have published the following papers using data from the Australian Government Longitudinal Studies (CSU authors are in bold). It has been an amazing source of data to answer many fundamental questions about children's speech and language and has been used to inform policy and practice over the past decade.

1. LSAC, LSIC and BNLA studies

Book chapter

McLeod, S., McCormack, J., & Blake, H. L. (2019, in press December). Communication, participation and cohort studies. In J. Law, S. Reilly & C. McKean (Eds.). Handbook of language development in a social context. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.  

2. Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC)

Book chapter

Daniel, G., Wang, C., Murray, E., Harrison, L. J. (2017). School choice and parent involvement among Australian children starting school.  In S. Dockett., W. Griebel., & B. Perry (Eds). Families and Transition to School (pp. 131-143). Dordrecht: Springer.

Journal articles 

Daniel, G., & Wang, C. (2017). Inclusion and the practice of repeating Kindergarten in Australia. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 22, 57-69. doi: 10.1080/19404158.2017.1367152  

Daniel, G., Wang, C., & Berthelsen, D. (2016). Early school-based parent involvement, children’s self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An Australian longitudinal study. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36, 168-177. doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.12.016  

Harrison, L. J. & McLeod, S. (2010). Risk and protective factors associated with speech and language impairment in a nationally representative sample of 4- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(2), 508-529.

Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., Berthelsen, D., & Walker, S. (2009). Literacy, numeracy and learning in school-aged children identified as having speech and language impairment in early childhood. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(5), 392-403.

McCormack, J., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S. & McAllister, L. (2011). A nationally representative study of the association between communication impairment at 4-5 years and children's life activities at 7-9 years. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(5), 1328-1348.  doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0155)

McLeod, S. & Harrison, L. J. (2009). Epidemiology of speech and language impairment in a nationally representative sample of 4- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52(5), 1213-1229.

McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & Wang, C. (2019). A longitudinal population study of literacy and numeracy outcomes for children identified with speech, language, and communication needs in early childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 47, 507-517. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.07.004 

McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., Whiteford, C., & Walker, S. (2016). Multilingualism and speech-language competence in early childhood: Impact on academic and social-emotional outcomes at school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 34, 53-66. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.08.005

Shahaeian, A., Wang. C., Tucker-Drob, E., Geiger, V., Bus, A., & Harrison, L. (2018). Early shared reading, socioeconomic status, and children’s cognitive and school competencies: Six years of longitudinal evidence. Scientific Studies of Reading, 22, 485-502. doi: 10.1080/10888438.2018.1482901 

Wang, C., Harrison, L., McLeod, S., Walker, S., & Spilt, J. (2018). Can teacher-child relationships support human rights to freedom of opinion and expression, education, and participation? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20, 133-141. doi:10.1080/17549507.2018.1408855 

Wang, C., Hatzigianni, M., Shahaeian, A., Murray, E., & Harrison, L. (2016). The combined effects of teacher-child and peer relationships on children’s social-emotional adjustment. Journal of School Psychology, 59, 1-11. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2016.09.003  

Wang, C., Williams, K., Shahaeian, A., & Harrison, L. (2018). Early predictors of escalating internalizing problems across middle childhood. School Psychology Quarterly, 33, 200-212. doi:10.1037/spq0000218   

3. Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC)

Journal articles

McLeod, S., Verdon, S., & Bennetts Kneebone, L. (2014). Celebrating young Indigenous Australian children’s speech and language competence. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(2), 118-131. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.11.003

Verdon, S., & McLeod, S. (2015). Indigenous language learning and maintenance among young Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. International Journal of Early Childhood, 47(1), 153-170. doi:10.1007/s13158-015-0131-3

Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Winsler, A. (2014b). Linguistic diversity among Australian children in the first five years of life. Speech, Language, and Hearing, 17(4), 196-203. doi:10.1179/2050572814Y.0000000038

Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Winsler, A. (2014a). Language maintenance and loss in a population study of young Australian children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29, 168-181. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.12.003

Government reports

McLeod, S. & Verdon, S. (2015). Longitudinal patterns of language use, diversity, support, and competence. In Department of Social Services (Ed.). Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children Report from Wave 5 (pp. 66-70). Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia. ISBN: 978-1-925007-73-2

4. Building New Life in Australia (BLNA)

Blake, H. L., Bennetts Kneebone, L. & McLeod, S. (2019). The impact of oral English proficiency on humanitarian migrants’ experiences of settling in Australia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(6), 689-705, doi:10.1080/13670050.2017.1294557

A long and productive research partnership

Today Linda Harrison and I worked together on revisions of an important paper that we hope will be published next year some time. Linda and I have had a very long partnership beginning when I was allocated an office across the hallway from Linda. Together we received one research excellence award, 5 grants (including an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant), co-supervised 3 research students, and written 27 publications (book chapters and articles) as well as presented many conference papers. We have undertaken research and writing  about children's speech and language that has been highly cited.

Here are some of the papers about children's speech and language we have published together:

1. Harrison, L. J., & McLeod, S. (2010). Risk and protective factors associated with speech and language impairment in a nationally representative sample of 4- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(2), 508-529. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0086)
2. Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., Berthelsen, D., & Walker, S. (2009). Literacy, numeracy, and learning in school-aged children identified as having speech and language impairment in early childhood. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(5), 392-403. doi:doi:10.1080/17549500903093749
3. Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., McAllister, L., & McCormack, J. (2017). Speech sound disorders in preschool children: Correspondence between clinical diagnosis and teacher and parent report. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 22(1), 35-48. doi:10.1080/19404158.2017.1289964
4. Holliday, E. L., Harrison, L. J., & McLeod, S. (2009). Listening to children with communication impairment talking through their drawings. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 7(3), 244-263. doi:10.1177/1476718x09336969
5. McAllister, L., McCormack, J., McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2011). Expectations and experiences of accessing and participating in services for childhood speech impairment. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 13(3), 251-267. doi:10.3109/17549507.2011.535565
6. McCormack, J., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., & McAllister, L. (2011). A nationally representative study of the association between communication impairment at 4-5 years and children's life activities at 7-9 years. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 54(5), 1328-1348. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0155)
7. McCormack, J., McAllister, L., McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2012). Knowing, having, doing: The battles of childhood speech impairment. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 28(2), 141-157. doi:10.1177/0265659011417313
8. McCormack, J., McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & McAllister, L. (2010). The impact of speech impairment in early childhood: Investigating parents' and speech-language pathologists' perspectives using the ICF-CY. Journal of Communication Disorders, 43(5), 378-396.
9. McCormack, J., McLeod, S., McAllister, L., & Harrison, L. J. (2009). A systematic review of the association between childhood speech impairment and participation across the lifespan. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(2), 155-170.
10. McCormack, J., McLeod, S., McAllister, L., & Harrison, L. J. (2010). My speech problem, your listening problem, and my frustration: The experience of living with childhood speech impairment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 41(4), 379-392. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2009/08-0129)
11. McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2009). Epidemiology of speech and language impairment in a nationally representative sample of 4- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52(5), 1213-1229. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0085)
12. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & McCormack, J. (2012). Intelligibility in Context Scale: Validity and reliability of a subjective rating measure. Journal of  Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 55, 648-656. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0130)
13. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., McAllister, L., & McCormack, J. (2013). Speech sound disorders in a community study of preschool children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 22(3), 503-522. doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2012/11-0123)
14. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., Whiteford, C., & Walker, S. (2016). Multilingualism and speech-language competence in early childhood: Impact on academic and social-emotional outcomes at school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 34, 53-66. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.08.005
15. McLeod, S., McAllister, L., McCormack, J., & Harrison, L. J. (2014). Applying the World Report on Disability to children’s communication. Disability and Rehabilitation, 36(18), 1518-1528. doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.833305
16. McLeod, S., McCormack, J., McAllister, L., Harrison, L. J., & Holliday, E. L. (2011). Listening to 4- to 5-year-old children with speech impairment using drawings, interviews and questionnaires. In S. Roulstone & S. McLeod (Eds.), Listening to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. (pp. 179-186). London: J&R Press.
17. Phạm, B., McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2017). Validation and norming of the Intelligibility in Context Scale in Northern Viet Nam. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 31(7-9), 665-681. doi:10.1080/02699206.2017.1306110
18. Wang, C., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., Walker, S., & Spilt, J. L. (2017). Can teacher–child relationships support human rights to freedom of opinion and expression, education and participation? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/17549507.2018.1408855
     

Analysing data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children in Canberra

This week Linda Harrison, Audrey Wang and I have been in Canberra visiting the Department of Social Services (DSS). We have been working with Fiona Skelton and Ana Sartbayeva who have been assisting us with the analysis of the Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children database. Speech Pathology Australia have commissioned this research. We really appreciated the insights from Fiona and Ana to ensure our analysis and interpretation of the data is the best it can be in order to respect the children and families who have contributed these data.

Sharynne, Fiona, Ana, Linda and Audrey at DSS, Canberra

Understanding children’s communication and educational needs using Australia’s longitudinal datasets

Today Linda Harrison, Audrey Wang and I presented an invited seminar at the Department of Social Services (DSS) in Canberra. The presentation was titled "Understanding children’s communication and educational needs using Australia’s longitudinal datasets". The audience included people from the National Centre for Longitudinal Data (DSS) and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The audience asked many questions and some asked for additional information following the presentation. It is great to see that our work is of relevance to members of the government who are responsible for developing policy.

Here is the abstract:

The Australian Government has funded research to create longitudinal datasets that provide valuable insights into children’s communication and educational needs:

• Growing up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) 
• Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSIC) 

Researchers from Charles Sturt University have analysed these datasets, learning many valuable insights that have informed policy and practice. Insights to be profiled during the seminar, include:

• Indigenous Australian children spoke between one and eight languages including: English, Indigenous languages, creoles, foreign languages, and sign languages. Children who spoke an Indigenous language were more likely to live in moderate to extreme isolation. 
• Multilingualism did not contribute to poorer educational and social-emotional outcomes at school. 
• The main predictor of academic difficulties at school was concern about 4- to 5-year-old children’s speech and language (regardless of monolingual or multilingual status). 
• Children with speech and language problems in early childhood achieved significantly lower scores on every NAPLAN test (reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy) at years 3, 5 and 7 compared to students without these problems. 
• Most children with speech and language problems had not seen a speech pathologist. 

The profiled research has been funded by Australian Research Council Discovery and Future Fellowship grants and Speech Pathology Australia. Insights from Australian Government’s longitudinal datasets have been profiled in the national media, published in high profile international academic journals, and used to inform government submissions including:

• Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Education Evidence Base (2016) 
• Senate Education and Employment References Committee into Inquiry into the current levels of access and attainment of students with disabilities (2015) 
• Senate Community Affairs References Committee into Prevalence of different types of speech, language and communication disorders and speech pathology in Australia (2014)

Indigenous Australian children’s speech and language: Academic outcomes and access to services

The following research project, commissioned by Speech Pathology Australia has been approved to commence in 2017:
McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., Wang, C. & Verdon, S. (2017). Indigenous Australian children’s speech and language: Academic outcomes and access to services.
We will analyse data from Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children to provide information that Speech Pathology Australia can use in their government submissions to support Indigenous Australian children to grow up strong.

Footprints in time: Wave 5 report

Sarah Verdon and I were invited to write an article for the Australian Government's report on wave 5 data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. It has just been published, and here is the reference and summary:

McLeod, S., & Verdon, S. (2015). Longitudinal patterns of language use, diversity, support, and competence. In Department of Social Services (Ed.), Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children.  Report from Wave 5 (pp. 66-70). Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.

Indigenous Australian children in Footprints in Time included in the current article were culturally and linguistically diverse. Many were multilingual with some speaking up to seven languages. Most of the children spoke English (with all of the children speaking English by Wave 4). One-fifth of children spoke an Indigenous language, and the percentage slightly increased over the four waves of data. Indigenous Australian children have rich cultural and linguistic traditions and their speech and language competence is promoted through family and community experiences, including book reading and telling stories. Almost all primary carers wanted their children to learn an Indigenous language at school in some capacity. Primary carers were concerned about children’s speech and language competence at similar rates as reported for all Australian children. While some children were receiving speech pathology services, others were unable to, or did not plan to access services. Encouraging Indigenous children’s speech and language competence is an important endeavour for families, communities and society to support children to grow up strong.

The full report is here

Collaborative Research Network focus on Indigenous children

Over the past three days members of the Early Years Education Collaborative Research Network came from Brisbane, Melbourne, and Dubbo to meet in Bathurst. Guest presenters were Dr Jean Phillips (QUT), Professor Jeannie Herbert (CSU), Fiona Skelton and Deborah Kikkawa from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children, Department of Social Services in Canberra. We learned a lot from these presenters and planned future research projects and grant applications.

L-R: Sue Grieshaber, Linda Harrison, Felicity McArdle, Sarah Verdon,
Kate Williams, Deborah Kikkawa, Fiona Skelton, Sharynne McLeod

Presentations from the 2014 AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference

Presentations from the 2014 AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference have been made available today at the following website: http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/research/50YearsOn_papers.html
More details about the conference and our presentation are available here.

Indigenous children learning languages: Media release

Charles Sturt University and Speech Pathology Australia have published media releases about Sarah Verdon's presentation at the Speech Pathology Australia national conference (CSU media release here). In response, Sarah has been invited to speak on the following radio stations: ABC 2CR (NSW Central West), 4MW (Torres Strait), ABC Western Plains/Dubbo, and 2MCEand a story has been published in the First Nations Telegraph.

Department of Social Services annual report on the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children

Sarah Verdon and I were asked to write a paper for the Australian Government's Department of Social Services annual report on the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. We have just learned it has been accepted for publication:
McLeod, S. & Verdon, S. (in press, May 2014). Longitudinal patterns of language use, diversity, support, and competence. Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children Wave 5 Report. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.

2014 AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference

This week Sarah Verdon and I have attended the 2014 AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference in Canberra. AIATSIS stands for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The theme of the conference is "Breaking barriers in Indigenous research and thinking". It has been an excellent conference with though provoking keynote speakers and session presenters. 

Sharynne, Fiona Skelton (LSIC), Laura Bennetts-Kneebone (LSIC), Sarah Verdon (CSU), Deborah Kikkawa (LSIC), Michael Walsh (AIATSIS), Christina Eira (VACL), Doug Marmion (AIATSIS)

We presented the following paper:
McLeod, S. & Verdon, S. (2014, March). Celebrating Indigenous Australian children's languages: Diversity, competence, and support. AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference, Canberra, Australia.
Our presentation is available here

 

Sharynne presenting a paper at the AIATSIS conference

During the conference we have had the opportunity to tour the AIATSIS building and look at the manuscript, photographic and sound archives.

AIATSIS Institute

 I have also been able to purchase a number of useful books about Indigenous education, Indigenous languages, Australian Aboriginal English, and some Indigenous children's literature as well.

Visiting the home of Footprints in Time

Today Sarah Verdon and I drove from Bathurst to Canberra to work with Deborah Kikkawa and Fiona Skelton to discuss papers and analyse data from the Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC). We are very grateful for their generous advice and time. In the next week or so Sarah will submit a paper to a journal considering Indigenous children's language maintenance, we will present a paper at the AIATSIS conference , and we will submit a paper to the wave 5 LSIC report.

Our CSU car at the front of the Department of Social Services building in Canberra