An MCRI led study improved teachers short-to-medium term knowledge of oral language using a whole-of-classroom professional learning program. 

Strong communication and language skills enable children to learn and lay a foundation for mental health, behaviour and life opportunities.

In the early years of schooling, oral language competence is particularly important because it underpins the emergence and ongoing development of reading, and broader literacy skills. Improving teachers’ effectiveness is an important step in lifting children’s oral language and literacy outcomes.

Research in real-world settings

The Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (CPOL) randomised controlled trial aimed to do what few studies have done; explore the types of professional learning that build teacher capacity for improving children’s oral language – when implemented on a large scale.

The researchers also wanted to know if improvements in teachers’ oral language and literacy knowledge translate into changes in classroom practice and benefits for children’s language, literacy, and mental health.

The CPOL trial was successfully implemented in seventy-two schools over five-years from 2013-2017, in collaboration with Victorian Department of Education and Training and Catholic Education Commission of Victoria schools across Victoria, Australia.

The trial provides important insights into rigorous testing of school-based interventions and the ‘real world’ challenge of implementing change in teachers’ knowledge and their classroom practice.

New research snapshot

The CPOL study findings have been published in a new research snapshot.

Access the full snapshot here

For more information check out the CPOL project webpage.