CCDE Annual Report 2012 - The Centre for Child Development ...

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Child Development and Education Research The Child Development and Education research stream at CCDE looks at the broad field of developmental health, particularly as it relates to brain development and early education. Growing bodies of evidence in recent years have shown that both ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’ in the earliest years of life significantly influence brain development and the wiring of neural pathways that have broad ranging impacts across the entire lifespan. It follows then, that good early child development programs can vastly improve outcomes for children’s behaviour, learning and health in later life, leading to enhanced overall life opportunities and outcomes. 8 The Centre for Child Development and Education
Research Highlights CHILD DEVelopment AND EDUcation RESEARCH Strong Start-Bright Futures (SSBF) evaluation concludes The Centre’s $2.5m research partnership with the NT Department of Education and Children’s Services (2009-2013) has enabled the collaborative evaluation of the first stage of the implementation of this extended service model of schooling in eight remote NT communities. The SSBF ‘College’ model included provision of the school-based early years program Families as First Teachers; increased support and training for school leadership teams; building school-community partnerships; and developing links with local industries and employers to support vocational education in schools and pathways into employment. The evaluation has shown some positive results in school attendance, particularly for children whose parents participated in the Families as First Teachers program. The improved support for school leadership teams and processes for recruiting, selecting and supporting teaching staff has also helped reduce the rate of teacher turn-over in remote schools. Science of Learning Research Centre Prof Sven Silburn was one of the 22 Chief Investigators in a national research consortium recently awarded a $16m ARC grant for the establishment of a Science of Learning Research Centre. This will enable CCDE researchers to collaborate with Prof Collette Tayler at the University of Melbourne in conducting the Indigenous education component of this national collaborative research program. It will also fund a post-doctoral fellowship for Dr Helen Harper (Indigenous educator and linguist) to continue her classroom based research on effective pedagogical strategies with Indigenous students in remote communities. How Early Life Conditions Affect the Development and Learning Outcomes: A Whole of Population Data-Linkage Study The Centre has partnered with the NT Department of Health and the SANT- Datalink Consortium in conducting a demonstration study using the newly established facility for confidential linkage of data drawn from separate administrative datasets. This is investigating how early life biological and social factors shape children’s readiness for learning at school, and subsequent school learning and behaviour outcomes. We are currently analysing selected information on over 45,000 NT-born children drawn from their birth, peri-natal, child health, Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) and NAPLAN records. The first study outputs are providing policy-relevant information on the relative importance of various early life factors on children’s longerterm pathways of development and learning. The data systems and analytical capacity developed through the project will enable new ways of monitoring population outcomes of policies and programs such as those about to be implemented through the Stronger Futures Strategy. Annual Report 2012 9
Page 1 and 2: 2012 Annual Report www.ccde.menzies
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Vision AND Strate
Page 5 and 6: MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR AND CHAIR
Page 7: Our Board Members Dr Chris Sarra Ch
Page 11 and 12: Research Highlights Indigenous Pare
Page 13 and 14: Research Highlights Child Protectio
Page 15 and 16: Research Highlights Youth Health an
Page 17 and 18: Research Highlights Suicide Prevent
Page 19 and 20: Louise, S., Warrington, N., McCaski
Page 21 and 22: Achievements and Awards Professor S
Page 23 and 24: All Staff Thanks to all the dedicat

CCDE Annual Report 2012 - The Centre for Child Development ...

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