Research in Effective Education in Early Childhood (REEaCh)

The centre's purpose is to make a sustained impact upon the lives of young Australians through advancing the quality of early learning experiences for all children.

The REEaCh Centre has three priorities for research and engagement in early childhood education and care: the quality of early childhood education programs, the equitable participation of all children in high-quality programs, and supporting educational leadership to ensure sustained quality improvement in early learning programs.

Our research approach aims to be evidence-informed, collaborative, and culturally responsive, building the capacity of the profession and engaging diverse stakeholders.

REEaCh Research

Our two research streams focus on: Optimising Children’s Learning Outcomes and Thriving and Effective Workforce.

The REEaCh Centre was established in 2019, with a generous philanthropic investment from Jenny and John Leaper. Learn more

What's on at REEaCh

Educational Leadership in Early Childhood Microcredential series

Four microcredentials are offered as part of the Educational Leadership in Early Childhood Series. Microcredentials are 8-week online courses which are industry aligned and support ECEC educational leaders and educators to engage with cutting edge research and world-class pedagogical practice. Each microcredential can be taken as a stand-alone course, or you can complete all four microcredentials in the Educational Leadership in Early Childhood series as a pathway into the Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Teaching. Learn more about the first two microcredentials:

Leading Learning for Quality Improvement
Leading Learning through Partnerships

The Abecedarian Approach Australia (3a)

Staff in the REEaCh Centre are at the forefront of research, training and implementation of the 3a strategies Australia wide.

3a is a set of evidence-based teaching and learning strategies for early childhood educators and parents to use with children from birth to five. Research has shown that 3a delivers enhanced educational outcomes by enriching and enhancing educator practice – both before and after a child starts school.

For more information about 3a and training visit here.

The Abecedarian Approach Australia training is available through the Victorian Department of Education’s School Readiness Funding. Details are available on the Victorian Government website.

Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)™

The CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) Observation Training program enables participants to develop capacity and confidence in providing feedback on teacher practice to improve children’s learning and development outcomes. The program involves observing teacher-child interactions and providing feedback to help new and experienced teachers become more effective. The program also helps educational leaders and teachers to lead and develop other educators in their settings.

The Faculty of Education is an authorised trainer in CLASS in Australia across Toddler, Pre-K and K-3 levels. View more information about training.

CLASS Training is available through the Victorian Department of Education’s School Readiness Funding. Details are available on the Victorian Government website.

Learning Language and Loving It™ - The Hanen Program®

The Learning Language and Loving It Program was designed to provide early childhood educators with practical strategies for helping all children in the classroom build language and social skills, no matter what their learning and communication styles are, and even if they have special needs. The Program provides you with practical, research-based strategies for:

Promoting every child’s language development using natural everyday activities, routines and play
Becoming attuned to children’s interests so you can follow their lead, which is known to foster language development
Adjusting the way you talk to help children develop more advanced language skills
Promoting interaction among the children themselves
Facilitating language-learning in pretend play
Fostering emergent literacy skills.

A Hanen Certified speech-language pathologist and an early childhood education consultant lead the program. Over a 14-week period the course includes 8 group workshop sessions + 4-6 individual coaching sessions. During the program, you will use the guidebook Learning Language and Loving It: A Guide to Promoting Children’s Social, Language, and Literacy Development in Early Childhood Settings. Participants in the program will be required to purchase the Guide prior to commencing training. Learn more.

If you are interested in this program for your whole service or individually, please contact Dr Hannah Stark via email.

The Learning Language and Loving It training is available through the Victorian Department of Education's School Readiness Funding. Details are available on the Victorian Government website.

Kindergarten Language and Preliteracy Program

This program was designed to support teachers’ language and preliteracy teaching practice. The program is delivered over a term, for a total of three days: 2 days of initial content delivery, with time for participants to then test out new ideas/strategies and return for a final day to consolidate new learnings and report on the testing of new ideas/strategies. The program focuses on key aspects of language and preliteracy learning: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The program provides educators with practical ways to engage children in language and preliteracy, and includes a professional learning suite of activities and experiences that will improve content knowledge and pedagogical practice in early childhood language learning within the context of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). Participants will be provided with both theoretical and practical content, together with the provision of activities educators can use within their services to apply their knowledge and teaching strategies. Flexible delivery (e.g., online) can be provided to ensure accessibility to the program.

If you are interested in this program for your whole service or individually, please contact Dr Penny Levickis via email.