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.

Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024) SUMMARY

The Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024) was held from 25-28 November 2024. Organised by the Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group (ECIR), this virtual and asynchronous event brought together 1,338 researchers and professionals from 54 countries:

Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR China), Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia

LAUNCH: On Monday 25th November, the conference was officially launched by Professor Renée Leon, Vice-Chancellor and President, at a live-streamed event on the Bathurst campus. Professor Tony Dreise presented a keynote address entitled Giving voice to ‘villages’, listening to ‘Country’: It’s time to unlock the power of ‘place’. The audience enjoyed the music played by the Assumption Catholic Primary School Band. Students from the band also formed a press gallery to report on the launch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoBtflnofQ8). Afterwards, guests on campus visited the Treehouse for popcorn and refreshments.

WEBSITE: The conference website can be viewed here https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/ 

KEYNOTES: Over four days, ECV2024 showcased the work of the four keynote presentations, 

STREAMS: 147 oral presentations, and 200+ children’s drawings across three streams:

• Early childhood voices: international interdisciplinary research: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/by-topics/
  
• Multilingual children's speech development: https://multilingual-childrens-speech-development.csu.domains/by-language/
  
• Children draw playing global online gallery: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/
  

SYNCHRONOUS PARTICIPATION: Participants also engaged in six yarning circle discussions and a workshop on understanding different communications methods presented by Shirley Wong, who has lived experience of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

Here is the summary Dr Carolyn Gregoric wrote for the School of Education newsletter:

Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024

The Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024), held from November 25 to 28, has just concluded, leaving a lasting impact on all participants. Organised by the Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Research Group (ECIR), this virtual and asynchronous event brought together 1,338 researchers and professionals from 54 countries.

On Monday 25th November, the conference was officially launched by Professor Renée Leon, Vice-Chancellor and President, at a livestreamed event on the Bathurst campus. Professor Tony Dreise presented a keynote address entitled Giving voice to ‘villages’, listening to ‘Country’: It’s time to unlock the power of ‘place’. The audience enjoyed the music played by the Assumption Catholic Primary School Band. Students from the band also formed a press gallery to report on the launch. Afterwards, guests on campus visited the Treehouse for popcorn and refreshments.

Over four days, ECV2024 showcased the work of the four keynote presentations, 147 oral presentations, and 200+ children’s drawings across three streams - early childhood voices: international interdisciplinary research, multilingual children's speech development and children draw playing global online gallery. 

Participants also engaged in six yarning circle discussions and a workshop on understanding different communications methods presented by Shirley Wong, who has lived experience of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

The conference website can be viewed here https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

 

Preparing our new research with Tasmania

Today Dr Nicola Ivory and I spent time working on our invited research proposal with an education department in Tasmania. It is such an exciting project.