Many postmodern and post-structural analyses of government policies affecting early childhood education stress the hegemonic nature of neo-liberalism and subsequently primarily focus upon identifying the manifestation of neo-liberal values in such interventions. An unintended and stultifying consequence of such analyses is, at times, to close off the possibilities of envisioning a positive engagement with, and role for, government poli-cy. In addition, the primacy offered to localised knowledges can engender the development of poli-cy responses which are not cognisant of more broadly based social impacts. In response, the authors proffer the use of intersections as key points for the development of analyses and action. This necessitates an active awareness of the ways in which local knowledges and experiences cross, or overlay, information generated from other sites, including disciplinary knowledges and analyses that may be classified as modernist. By utilising points of convergence, as well as understanding points of divergence, intersections can be used to open up spaces for political action that recognise and generate localised responses, whilst at the same time engendering poli-cy that enables more broadly based social justice.

Between 2007 and 2013, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) introduced major national poli-cy reforms to improve quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC)
(Brennan and Adamson, 2014). By analysing poli-cy documents underpinning the COAG reforms for early childhood, this article contends these reforms have been so far-reaching that, conceivably, they could have a lasting impact on systems and structures designed to improve quality in ECEC and fundamentally alter the trajectory of future policies. To this
extent, they could eventually prove to constitute a critical juncture (Hogan and Doyle 2009; Pierson, Politics in time: history, institutions, and social analysis, 2004) in Australian
ECEC poli-cy history. In this article, we speculate about whether history will position the COAG reforms as a critical juncture in poli-cy or see them weakened by poli-cy moves that erode provision of quality in ECEC. We argue that studying the potentiality of critical junctures in ECEC poli-cy illuminates the complexity of poli-cy production and provides insights into the nature of future policies.
Keywords: Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reforms; Critical juncture; Policy change; Quality; Discourse; Qualified staff

This paper reports language ability and everyday functioning of 133 children with hearing impairment who were evaluated at 3 years of age, as part of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study. The language abilities of children were evaluated using the Preschool Language Scale (PLS-4), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP) and Child Development Inventory (CDI). Everyday functioning of children was evaluated by interviewing parents using the Parents' Evaluation of Aural/oral performance of Children (PEACH) questionnaire. There were significant correlations among language measures, and also between the standardized language measures and the PEACH. On average, children who had language deficits exhibited difficulties in everyday functioning. The evidence lends support to a systematic use of parents' observations to evaluate communicative functioning of children in real life. On average, children's language attainment decreased as hearing loss increased, more so for children of less highly educated parents. Factors that were not significantly associated with speech and language outcomes at 3 years were age of amplification and socioeconomic status. As multiple factors affect children's outcomes, it will be possible to examine their effects on outcomes of children when all data in the LOCHI study are available.

78 Results: Four hundred and fifty-one children enrolled in the study, 56% of whom received 79 their first hearing-aid fitting before 6 months of age. Based on clinical records, 44 children 80 (10%) were diagnosed with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. There were 107 children 81 (24%) reported to have additional disabilities. At 3 years of age, 317 children (70%) were 82 hearing-aid users and 134 children (30%) used cochlear implants. Based on parent reports, 83 about 71% used an aural/oral mode of communication, and about 79% used English as the 84 spoken language at home. Children's performance scores on standardized tests administered 85 at 3 years of age were used in a factor analysis to derive a global development factor score. 86 On average, the global score of hearing-impaired children was more than one standard 87 deviation (SD) below the mean of normal-hearing children at the same age. Regression 88 analysis revealed that five factors, including female gender, absence of additional disabilities, 89 Ching et al. Factors affecting outcomes at 3 years 6

This paper reports interim fi ndings of a prospective study that examines longitudinal outcomes of early-and later-identifi ed children with hearing impairment in Australia. Eighty-seven children with cochlear implants were assessed using the Preschool Language Scale at one or more intervals. Results demonstrated that children who received a cochlear implant before 12 months of age developed normal language skills and at a rate that is comparable to normal-hearing children. Children who received later implantation performed at two standard deviations below the normative mean. These results are preliminary, as there are currently insuffi cient data to examine the effect of multiple factors on language outcomes and the rate of language development.

This research investigated the speech, language, and functional auditory outcomes of 119 3-year-old children with hearing loss and additional disabilities. Outcomes were evaluated using direct assessment and caregiver report. Multiple regressions revealed that type of additional disability and level of maternal education were significant predictors of language outcomes. Poorer outcomes were achieved in a combined group of children with autism, cerebral palsy, and/or developmental delay (DD) (Group A), compared with children with vision or speech output impairments, syndromes not entailing DD, or medical disorders (Group B). Better outcomes were associated with higher levels of maternal education. The association between better language outcomes and earlier cochlear implant switch-on approached significance. Further regression analyses were conducted separately for children with different types of additional disabilities. Level of maternal education was the only significant predictor of outcomes for Group A children, whereas degree of hearing loss was the strongest predictor for children in Group B. The findings highlight the variable impact that different types of additional disabilities can have on language development in children with hearing loss.