Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools current issue

From the Editor... [From the Editor...]

Nippold, M. A. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:12 PST

Effects of a Supplemental Spanish Oral Language Program on Sentence Length, Complexity, and Grammaticality in Spanish-Speaking Children Attending English-Only Preschools [Articles]

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a supplemental Spanish language instruction program for children who spoke Spanish as their native language and were attending English-only preschool programs. Specifically, the study evaluated the program's effects on the children's Spanish sentence length in words, subordination index, and grammaticality of sentences.

Method

Forty-five Spanish-speaking children attending English-only prekindergarten classrooms were selected for study. Of those, 15 children received 30 min of Spanish instruction 5 days a week for 16 weeks. The program targeted 5–10 vocabulary words a week, dialogic book reading, phonemic awareness, and letter knowledge. The remaining 30 children participated in regular preschool English instruction. Students were evaluated before intervention, immediately after intervention, and 4 months following intervention.

Results

Repeated measures analyses of variance indicated that the children who received the small-group supplemental Spanish language instruction made significant gains in their Spanish sentence length in words and subordination index when compared to those receiving regular English-only classroom instruction. There were no differences in the children's grammaticality of sentences.

Discussion and Clinical Implications

The findings demonstrate that a daily short native language program has significant effects on sentence length in words and subordination index in English language learners who are attending English-only preschool programs.

The Academic and Functional Academic Skills of Youth Who Are at Risk for Language Impairment in Residential Care [Articles]

Hagaman, J. L., Trout, A. L., DeSalvo, C., Gehringer, R., Epstein, M. H. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

Undiagnosed language impairment (LI) for youth in residential care is a concern as similar populations have shown elevated levels of language delays. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to identify the percentage of youth in residential care who are at risk for LI and to compare the demographic, academic achievement, and functional academic skills of youth with or without possible LI.

Method

Participants were 80 youth in residential care. Risk for LI was determined using the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals—4 Screening Test (E. Semel, E. H. Wiig, & W. A. Secord, 2004). Independent-samples t tests and chi-square analyses were conducted to assess the differences between groups. Measures used included the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement (R. W. Woodcock, K. S. McGrew, & N. Mather, 2001) and the Kaufman Functional Academic Skills Test (A. S. Kaufman & N. L. Kaufman, 1994).

Results

More than half of the sample (54%) were identified as being at risk for LI. Statistically significant differences between youth with and without LI were found on academic variables. Specifically, youth who were at risk for LI presented academic achievement and functional academic scores in the low to low-average ranges.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that there is a need to screen youth entering residential programs for possible LI. Implications for treatment and program planning are discussed.

A Review of Developmental and Applied Language Research on African American Children: From a Deficit to Difference Perspective on Dialect Differences [Articles]

Stockman, I. J. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

The contemporary practices of delivering speech, language, and hearing services in schools reflect palpable gains in professional sensitivity to linguistic and cultural diversity.

Method

This article reviews the dominant research themes on the oral language of African American preschoolers who contribute to such diversity in the United States. Specifically, it contrasts the historical and current frameworks that have guided studies of (a) such children's acquisition and use of English and (b) the strategies used to assess and modify their language.

Conclusion

Research initiatives that can expand knowledge about this group are proposed.

Data Recycling: Using Existing Databases to Increase Research Capacity in Speech-Language Development and Disorders [Prologue]

Justice, L. M., Breit-Smith, A., Rogers, M. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

This clinical forum was organized to provide a means for informing the research and clinical communities of one mechanism through which research capacity might be enhanced within the field of speech-language pathology. Specifically, forum authors describe the process of conducting secondary analyses of extant databases to answer questions of relevance to speech and language development and disorders.

Method

This prologue defines the concept of secondary analysis of databases and provides an overview of each of the articles that make up the forum.

Conclusion

Researchers invested in addressing basic and applied problems of relevance to speech and language services in schools can make use of a variety of extant databases to increase research capacity.

The National Outcomes Measurement System for Pediatric Speech-Language Pathology [Clinical Forum]

Mullen, R., Schooling, T. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA's) National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS) was developed in the late 1990s. The primary purpose was to serve as a source of data for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who found themselves called on to provide empirical evidence of the functional outcomes associated with their clinical services for child and adult clients who were exhibiting various speech-language pathologies. The present discourse focuses on data that were collected in school settings from the prekindergarten NOMS and the K–12 NOMS. This initial account describes how the data collection systems were developed and the data were collected as well as an overview of the information contained in these databases.

Method

ASHA's Functional Communication Measures (FCMs) were used to describe the disorder-specific communicative dysfunction(s) of each student. These data were obtained at the initiation of a child's speech-language pathology services and again at the time of discharge from these treatments by the SLP.

Results

As of December 2007, data on more than 2,000 preschool students and 14,000 K–12 students have been reported to these 2 NOMS components by SLPs working in school settings.

Discussion

The availability of these data has proven to be a very valuable tool with respect to the efforts of school-based SLPs and administrators to document the beneficial impact of speech-language pathology services in school settings.

Advancing Research on Children With Speech-Language Impairment: An Introduction to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort [Clinical Forum]

Mashburn, A. J., Myers, S. S. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS–K; U.S. Department of Education, 2000) includes comprehensive assessments of home, classroom, and school contexts and developmental outcomes for a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 children who began kindergarten in 1998–1999. The purposes of this article are to describe the ECLS–K and provide an example of how to use these data to advance speech-language-hearing research.

Method

Special education questionnaires were analyzed from subsamples of children with diagnosed disabilities. The frequencies of different disabilities at kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade were calculated, and for children whose primary diagnosis was speech-language impairment, special education experiences were summarized.

Results

There are relatively large subsamples of children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and speech-language impairments. Among children with speech-language impairments, there is substantial variability in special education experiences with regard to the amount of time children received services, location of services, types of instructional methods, and extent to which modifications were made to the general education curriculum.

Conclusion

The comprehensive assessments, large subsamples of children with diagnosed disabilities, and detailed information about special education services makes the ECLS–K a useful resource for advancing the development of theory, effective classroom practices, and evidence-based policies that promote the well-being of children with special needs.

The Language and Literacy Development of Head Start Children: A Study Using the Family and Child Experiences Survey Database [Clinical Forum]

Hammer, C. S., Farkas, G., Maczuga, S. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

This article provides information about the Head Start Family and Children Experiences Survey (FACES). It also presents the findings of a study that capitalizes on the strengths of the data from FACES to investigate the impact of child and family characteristics, speech-language impairment, and the home literacy environment on the language and early literacy outcomes of children from low-income families.

Method

Data from the FACES 1997 cohort were used in this study. Variables included in the analysis were child and family characteristics (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity, etc.); parent report of speech-language impairment; frequency of home literacy activities; and children's scores on vocabulary, letter-word identification, and early reading assessments.

Results

The results revealed that children's vocabulary abilities in Head Start were affected by maternal education, ethnicity, and the frequency of home literacy activities, and children's letter-word identification abilities were impacted by maternal education and the child's gender and age. Additionally, children's reading abilities in kindergarten were predicted by ethnicity, speech-language impairment, and the home literacy environment, as well as by children's vocabulary and letter-word identification abilities in Head Start.

Conclusion

The findings demonstrate the unique contributions that the home literacy environment and the presence of speech-language impairment during preschool make in children's early reading outcomes.

Using Language Sample Databases [Clinical Forum]

Heilmann, J. J., Miller, J. F., Nockerts, A. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

Over the past 50 years, language sample analysis (LSA) has evolved from a powerful research tool that is used to document children's linguistic development into a powerful clinical tool that is used to identify and describe the language skills of children with language impairment. The The Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT; J. F. Miller & A. Iglesias, 2008) Software Project has developed several databases of language samples from more than 6,000 typical speakers. This article presents an overview of the SALT databases and then demonstrates the power of these databases in classifying children with language impairment.

Method

Conversational language samples were elicited from 244 children with language impairment who were between 3 and 13 years of age. Language production measures generated from these transcripts were compared to measures from 244 transcripts in the SALT conversational database. A series of discriminant function analyses were completed to document the sensitivity and specificity of the language sample measures.

Results

The language sample measures were effective in classifying children based on their language status, with correct identification of 78% of the children with language impairment and 85% of the children who were typically developing.

Conclusion

The SALT databases provide a useful tool for the clinical management of children with language impairment.

Home Literacy Experiences and Early Childhood Disability: A Descriptive Study Using the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Program Database [Clinical Forum]

Breit-Smith, A., Cabell, S. Q., Justice, L. M. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

The present article illustrates how the National Household Education Surveys (NHES; U.S. Department of Education, 2009) database might be used to address questions of relevance to researchers who are concerned with literacy development among young children. Following a general description of the NHES database, a study is provided that examines the extent to which parent-reported home literacy activities and child emergent literacy skills differ for children with (a) developmental disabilities versus those who are developing typically, (b) single disability versus multiple disabilities, and (c) speech-language disability only versus other types of disabilities.

Method

Four hundred and seventy-eight preschool-age children with disabilities and a typically developing matched sample (based on parent report) were identified in the 2005 administration of the Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) Survey in the NHES database. Parent responses to survey items were then compared between groups.

Results

After controlling for age and socioeconomic status, no significant differences were found in the frequency of home literacy activities for children with and without disabilities. Parents reported higher levels of emergent literacy skills for typically developing children relative to children with disabilities.

Conclusions

These findings suggest the importance of considering the home literacy experiences and emergent literacy skills of young children with disabilities when making clinical recommendations.

The EpiSLI Database: A Publicly Available Database on Speech and Language [Clinical Forum]

Tomblin, J. B. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

This article describes a database that was created in the process of conducting a large-scale epidemiologic study of specific language impairment (SLI). As such, this database will be referred to as the EpiSLI database. Children with SLI have unexpected and unexplained difficulties learning and using spoken language. Although there is no uniform standard for the diagnosis of SLI, the construct encompasses a language deficit occurring in the presence of grossly normal sensory and nonverbal cognitive abilities (H. Tager-Flusberg & J. Cooper, 1999). Although these language difficulties are most apparent during the preschool and early school years, evidence now exists that these problems are usually present well into adulthood and are probably present throughout a person's life (see, for instance, C. J. Johnson et al., 1999; S. E. Stothard, M. J. Snowling, D. V. M. Bishop, B. B. Chipchase, & C. A. Kaplan, 1998; J. B. Tomblin, 2008).

Discussion

Much of what we know of these children has come from research on children who have been clinically identified and served. Certainly, by studying those who are being served, our research base is most likely to be relevant to clinical services. However, there is a danger in this research strategy. It is quite possible that not all children with SLI are clinically identified and served within our service delivery systems. In such circumstances, there is the potential for systematic factors to influence which children do or do not find their way to clinical service.

Clinical Implications

If our research questions are concerned with the characteristics of the actual population of children with SLI that exists in our communities and not just those who are being served, then we need to turn to methods of epidemiology to aid our research.

Genetic Influences on Language, Reading, and Mathematics Skills in a National Sample: An Analysis Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth [Clinical Forum]

Hart, S. A., Petrill, S. A., Kamp Dush, C. M. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:57:13 PST

Purpose

The present study had two purposes: provide an illustration of use of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Children's (CNLSY; U.S. Department of Labor, 2009) database and use the database to seek convergent evidence regarding the magnitude and significance of genetic effects influencing low and typical performers on measures of language, reading, and mathematics.

Methods

A kinship algorithm that assigned a degree of genetic relatedness to all available pairings was applied to the 1994 wave of the CNLSY sample. Four cognitive achievement outcomes related to language, reading, and mathematics were analyzed across the general sample as well as for children selected below the lowest 20^th percentile.

Results

The tests of receptive vocabulary, decoding, reading comprehension, and mathematics all suggested estimates of group heritability and full sample heritability of moderate effect sizes, and all estimates were statistically significant. Furthermore, all estimates were within confidence intervals of previously reported estimates from twin and adoption studies.

Conclusion

The present study provides additional support for significant genetic effects across low and wide ranges of specific achievement. Moreover, this study supports that genetic influences on reading, language, and mathematics are generalizable beyond twin and adoption studies.