Research

Over 40 years of research evidence highlights the positive and ongoing impact 3a has for children and families when used with individual children, frequently and intentionally.

The Abecedarian Approach was originally designed in the United States in the 1970s for young children and families experiencing disadvantage¹. Since the first Abecedarian study in 1972, the Approach has been implemented and researched extensively around the world². The language rich strategies embedded in the program have been shown to benefit the learning and development outcomes of children across diverse communities and contexts³ including Australia^4. Australian research studies have demonstrated the positive impact of 3a strategies on the quality and presence of educators’ daily interactions with children in educational programs and their positive impact on children’s learning and development outcomes⁵.

Australian research highlights that embedding 3a strategies in daily practice positively influences children’s learning and development, and that coaching in 3a supports educators’ mastery of strategies and the sustained implementation of evidence-based practices⁶. 3a speaks to Australian early childhood policy imperatives which focus on children’s participation in high quality programs⁷.