Dynamic Assessment Language Tasks and the Prediction of Performance on Year-End Language Skills in Preschool Dual Language Learners

The Effect of Performance Feedback on the Implementation Fidelity of Narrative Mediated Learning Sessions by School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to gather evidence about the efficacy of performance feedback for improving school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP) narrative mediated learning implementation fidelity and (b) to determine SLPs' knowledge and attitudes about dynamic assessment (DA).

METHOD

This investigation used a single-subject case design with baseline, intervention, and generalization phases. Participants were three elementary school SLPs who each conducted 13 DA sessions over 4 days. Data were collected on the number of mediated learning experience (MLE) procedures completed per session. The independent variable included training and performance feedback. During the intervention phase, clinicians received performance feedback using a fidelity rubric. In the generalization phase, each clinician was observed conducting three DA sessions to determine if fidelity to the rubric was maintained.

RESULTS

All three clinicians demonstrated immediate, significant improvement when performance feedback was introduced. This was evidenced by all intervention phase data points for each clinician falling outside the baseline 2-SD band. Two clinicians maintained MLE procedural fidelity with 0% nonoverlapping data between the intervention and generalization phases.

CONCLUSIONS

Performance feedback using a fidelity rubric is an effective intervention for improving narrative MLE procedures and fidelity. The training, feedback, and experience gained by the participants shifted their perspectives about DA and its utility as an evaluation tool for culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Examining concept development classroom interaction quality and children's developmental progress in state pre-K/head start programs using pre-K CLASS and LAP-3

Concept Development [CD] in the early years cannot be complete without teachers' support. However, limited research exists. This research aimed to assess CD classroom interactional quality and its relationship with other quality dimensions/domains and children's overall development using the data collected in State Pre-K/Head Start classrooms with Pre-K CLASS and LAP-3. Data collected from 171 classrooms underwent analysis with Python and SPSS. Pre-K CLASS scores showed that with the exception of one high-quality classroom, all other classrooms were categorized as either mid-quality or low-quality CD. Moreover, most teachers showed lower interactional quality not only in the CD dimension but also in the Quality of Feedback [QF] and Language Modeling [LM] dimensions of Instructional Support [IS], than in the dimensions of Emotional Support [ES] and Classroom Organization [CO] domains. The results indicated that CD, QF, and LM quality dimensions did not differ across the classrooms or districts. However, ES, CO, and IS domains differed significantly. While the observed differences for ES and CO were similar between the two districts, District 1 had higher mean IS scores than District 2. Furthermore, LAP-3 scores of 2514 children showed that 26.7 % of children scored below the expected level in cognitive development and 35.5 % scored below in language development by the end of the school year, with a higher proportion of male children falling in this category. Nonetheless, children attending State Pre-K/Head Start classrooms demonstrated an average gain of 4 months beyond their chronological age. The multi-level regression analysis of Pre-K CLASS and those LAP-3 scores showed no statistically significant relationship between interactional quality and children's developmental progress. Children in mid-quality CD classrooms showed slightly more progress in all areas of development, except in personal/social, compared to children in low-quality CD classrooms. Similarly, children in mid-quality IS classrooms outperformed those in low-quality IS classrooms in all LAP-3 areas except personal/social and pre-writing as well. In conclusion, the current research suggests that many teachers struggle not only to effectively provide high-quality CD teacher-child interactions but also high-quality IS teacher-child interactions in their classrooms. Comprehensive in-service training on CD and an alternative assessment tool that extends beyond the 72-month age limit are strongly recommended. This is important to ensure that teachers are equipped with the necessary skills and motivation to provide high-quality education to young children to prevent developmental delays in children.

Early Identification of Children at Risk of Communication Disorders: Introducing a Novel Battery of Dynamic Assessments for Infants

PURPOSE

Many children with communication disorders (CDs) experience lengthy gaps between parental reporting of concerns and formal identification by professionals. This means that children with CDs are denied access to early interventions that may help support the development of communication skills and prevent possible negative sequelae associated with long-term outcomes. This may be due, in part, to the lack of assessment instruments available for children younger than 3 years of age. This study therefore reports on promising preliminary data from a novel set of valid dynamic assessment (DA) measures designed for infants.

METHOD

We recruited 53 low-risk children and two groups of children considered to be at high risk for CDs (n = 17, social high risk, and n = 22, language high risk) due to family members with language and social communication difficulties. The children were between 1 and 2 years of age and were assessed using a battery of five DA tasks related to receptive vocabulary, motor imitation, response to joint attention, turn taking, and social requesting. A set of standardized measures were also used.

RESULTS

The DA tasks showed high levels of interrater reliability and relationships with age across a cross-sectional sample of children from the low-risk group. Three tasks showed moderate to strong correlations with standardized measures taken at the same age, with particularly strong correlations between the DA of receptive vocabulary and other receptive language measures. The DA of receptive vocabulary was also the only task to discriminate between the three risk groups, with the social high risk group scoring lower.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide preliminary information about early DA tasks, forming the basis for further research into their utility. DA tasks might eventually facilitate the development of new methods for detecting CDs in very young children, allowing earlier intervention and support.