Evaluating the effects of the Let’s Read professional development program on the literacy promoting practices of early childhood educators

INTERVENTION: Early childhood educators in the intervention arm will undertake the Let's Read professional development. This professional development aims to up‐skill educators to enhance their emergent literacy promoting practices, and their capacity to engage with families about emergent literacy promotion. The professional development will involve two stages; (1) educators will complete a 4x1 hour Let's Read eLearning course online. (2) ongoing support will be provided to educators by a trained literacy skills coach within their early childhood education and care centre, who will assist them in the implementation of Let's Read strategies in their work for six months duration. The eLearning is to be completed in one sitting within a two week period prior to the start of the six month coaching intervention. The eLearning software monitors educators' course progress and completion. The specific learning objectives of the eLearning course are: 1) Increased understanding of early literacy and the rationale for supporting the development of an emergent literacy framework 2) Increased familiarity with the Let’s Read framework, including key messages and resources. 3) Increased understanding of the importance of working in partnership with families when supporting the development of early literacy skills. 4) Increased ability and confidence to facilitate conversations with families about early literacy 5) Increased awareness of strategies for implementing Let’s Read in early childhood education and care services and the community. Coaches are educational leaders already supporting educators in the participating centres. Coaches will receive training in the form of a two day face‐to‐face group workshop on the specific requirements of the coaching intervention delivered by a trained Let's Read facilitator. Coaching support sessions provided to educators by coaches will comprise at least once monthly individual one‐on‐one coaching sessions of 5‐20 minutes, as well as additional small group, face‐to‐face, email and telephone support sessions scheduled at the discretion of the coach as required. CONDITION: Early childhood educators' instructional practices ‐ literacy PRIMARY OUTCOME: Early childhood educators' engagement in emergent literacy promoting practices (composite outcome). ; ; The primary outcome measures comprise the following observation tools: ; ‐ the Interaction, Communication and Literacy (ICL) Skills Audit ‐ total scale score ; ‐ the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS‐R)/Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ITERS‐R) ‐ total scale score ; ‐ the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing (SSTEW) Scale ‐ total scale score ; ‐ a study developed literacy environment checklist ‐ total score Early childhood educators' knowledge, understanding, skills, values, and confidence in relation to engaging in emergent literacy promoting practices (composite outcome). ; ; Outcomes measures comprise the following educator self‐report tools: ; ‐ the Interaction, Communication and Literacy (ICL) Skills Audit self report tool (note this is separate to the ICL observation tool also listed as a primary outcome) ‐ measuring educator skills and confidence around emergent literacy promoting practices ; ‐ a study developed survey measuring educator knowledge, understanding and values around emergent literacy SECONDARY OUTCOME: Early childhood educators' knowledge, understanding, skills, values, and confidence in relation to engaging with families about emergent literacy (composite outcome). ; ; Outcome measure: ; ‐ a study developed educator self‐report survey Parents'/guardians' attitudes towards emergent literacy and engagement in literacy promoting activities with their children. ; ; Outcome measure: ; ‐ Self‐report survey, a composite of items adapted from the "attitude to reading survey" developed by Goldfeld, Quach, Nicholls, Reilly, Ukomunne and Wake (2012) and the Reading subdomain of StimQ‐Preschool INCLUSION CRITERIA: Educators must work as an educator/carer of children aged birth to five years at an Early Childhood Education and Care centre recruited into the study, and must provide informed consent in order to be included in the study. Parents/guardians must have at least one child attending an Early Childhood Education and Care centre recruited into the study, and consent to participate in the study through implied consent upon survey completion.