The Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (CPOL) trial is a study to investigate the impact of teacher led oral language promotion on child language, literacy and mental health.
CPOL is built on 3 areas of policy-relevant research; (1) the importance of the early years of school (2) the importance of teacher quality (3) the intrinsic relationship between oral language skills and future literacy, numeracy and social development.
Language competence (including spoken communication and literacy) is a major influence on children’s developmental pathways and life success. The ability to communicate and use language effectively impacts upon the capacity of children to learn, on their mental health and behaviour, on their future educational and employment achievements, and on their social and community participation opportunities. As a teacher’s effectiveness has a powerful impact on students, this study will determine whether a teacher professional learning program can lead to improved teacher knowledge and practice leading to improved student outcomes in oral language, literacy and mental health for early years’ primary school children.
This project builds on a successful pilot (Snow et al., 2014) and stands to significantly influence student learning in early years classrooms, by translating empirical evidence into changed teacher practices.
The aims of the project are to:
The project is led by the University of Melbourne (Professor Sharon Goldfeld) together with an experienced team from the health and education disciplines through a unique collaboration between the institutions listed below.
1.Goldfeld, S., Snow, P., Eadie, P., Munro, J., Gold, L., Orsini, F., Connell, J., Stark, H, Watts, A., & Shingles, B. (2020). Teacher knowledge of oral language and literacy constructs: results of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a professional learning intervention. Scientific Studies of Reading. doi:10.1080/10888438.2020.1714629.
2.Stark, H.L., Eadie, P.C., Snow, P.A., & Goldfeld, S.R. (2019). The impact of a sustained oral language professional learning program on Australian early years’ teachers’ knowledge, practice and beliefs: a mixed-methods exploration. Professional Development in Education. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2019.1603170.
3. Goldfeld, S., Snow, P., Eadie, P., Munro, J., Gold, L., Le, H.N.D., Orsini, F., Shingles, B., Lee, K., Connell, J. & Watts, A. (2017). Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (CPOL): protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of a school-based intervention to improve children’s literacy outcomes at grade 3, oral language and mental health. BMJ Open.
4. Stark, H.L., Snow, P.C., Eadie, P.A., Goldfeld, S.R. (2016). Language and reading instruction in early years’ classrooms: the knowledge and self-rated ability of Australian teachers. Annals of Dyslexia, 66(1), 228-254. doi:10.1007/s11881-015-0112-0.
5. Snow, P. C., Eadie, P. A., Connell, J., Dalheim, B., McCusker, H. J., & Munro, J. K. (2014). Oral language supports early literacy: A pilot cluster randomized trial in disadvantaged schools. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16(5), 495-506. doi:10.3109/17549507.2013.845691.
1. Snow, P. Goldfeld, S., Eadie, P., Munro, J., Gold, L., Le, H.N.D., Orsini, F., Shingles, B., Lee, K., Connell, J. & Watts, A. (October, 2018). Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (CPOL): A cluster randomised controlled trial of a school-based intervention to improve children’s literacy outcomes at Grade 3, oral language and mental health. Platform presentation at researchEd, Philadelphia, US.
2. Eadie, P., Goldfeld, S., Snow, P., Gold, L., & Munro, J. (2018, June). Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (CPOL): A cluster randomised controlled trial of a school-based intervention to improve children’s literacy outcomes at Grade 3, oral language and mental health. Paper presented at the Child Language Symposium, Reading, United Kingdom.
3. Eadie, P., Goldfeld, S., Snow, P., Munro, J., Gold, L., Le, H.N.D., Orsini, F., Shingles, B., Lee, K., Connell, J. & Watts, A. (2018, May). Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (CPOL): A cluster randomised controlled trial of a school-based intervention to improve children’s literacy outcomes at Grade 3, oral language and mental health. Paper presented at the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, Adelaide, Australia.
4. Stark, H.L, Snow, P.A., Eadie, P.A., & Goldfeld, S.R. (2017). Literacy instruction in the early years: Australian teachers’ knowledge and practice. Dyslexia SPELD Foundation Language, Literacy and Learning Conference. Perth, Western Australia.
5. Stark, H.L., Eadie, P.A., Snow, P.C., & Goldfeld, S.R. (2015). The knowledge, practice and beliefs of teachers in a large scale universal oral language intervention. Speech Pathology Australia National Conference. Canberra, Australia Capital Territory.
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Deakin University
Latrobe University (since 2015)
The Royal Children’s Hospital Education Institute
Monash University (2013-2015)
Catholic Education Commission of Victoria
Victorian Government Dept of Education & Training
For more information please contact Amy Watts, CPOL Project Manager.
