TY - JOUR
T1 - Iterative development of a home review program to promote preschoolers’ vocabulary skills
T2 - Social validity and learning outcomes
AU - Soto, Xigrid
AU - Seven, Yagmur
AU - McKenna, Meaghan
AU - Madsen, Keri
AU - Peters-Sanders, Lindsey
AU - Kelley, Elizabeth Spencer
AU - Goldstein, Howard
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by Grant R324150132 from the Institute of Education Sciences awarded to the University of South Florida. This work would not have been possible with the collaboration of teachers, parents, and children. We also thank the research assistants who assisted in this project: Carson Aho, Zoey Diaz, Chayanne Hughes, Anna Kresek, and Jennifer Rosado. We appreciate the expert assistance provided by John Ferron on the statistical analyses for adapted alternating treatment designs.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Purpose: This article describes the iterative development of a home review program designed to augment vocabulary instruction for young children (ages 4 and 5 years) occurring at school through the use of a home review component. Method: A pilot study followed by two experiments used adapted alternating treatment designs to compare the learning of academic words taught at school to words taught at school and reviewed at home. At school, children in small groups were taught academic words embedded in prerecorded storybooks for 6 weeks. Children were given materials such as stickers with review prompts (e.g., “Tell me what brave means”) to take home for half the words. Across iterations of the home intervention, the home review component was enhanced by promoting parent engagement and buy-in through in-person training, video modeling, and daily text message reminders. Visual analyses of single-subject graphs, multilevel modeling, and social validity measures were used to evaluate the additive effects and feasibility of the home review component. Results: Social validity results informed each iteration of the home program. The effects of the home program across sites were mixed, with only one site showing consistently strong effects. Superior learning was evident in the school + home review condition for families that reviewed words frequently at home. Although the home review program was effective in improving the vocabulary skills of many children, some families had considerable difficulty practicing vocabulary words. Conclusion: These studies highlight the importance of using social validity measures to inform iterative development of home interventions that promote feasible strategies for enhancing the home language environment. Further research is needed to identify strategies that stimulate facilitators and overcome barriers to implementation, especially in high-stress homes, to enrich the home language environments of more families.
AB - Purpose: This article describes the iterative development of a home review program designed to augment vocabulary instruction for young children (ages 4 and 5 years) occurring at school through the use of a home review component. Method: A pilot study followed by two experiments used adapted alternating treatment designs to compare the learning of academic words taught at school to words taught at school and reviewed at home. At school, children in small groups were taught academic words embedded in prerecorded storybooks for 6 weeks. Children were given materials such as stickers with review prompts (e.g., “Tell me what brave means”) to take home for half the words. Across iterations of the home intervention, the home review component was enhanced by promoting parent engagement and buy-in through in-person training, video modeling, and daily text message reminders. Visual analyses of single-subject graphs, multilevel modeling, and social validity measures were used to evaluate the additive effects and feasibility of the home review component. Results: Social validity results informed each iteration of the home program. The effects of the home program across sites were mixed, with only one site showing consistently strong effects. Superior learning was evident in the school + home review condition for families that reviewed words frequently at home. Although the home review program was effective in improving the vocabulary skills of many children, some families had considerable difficulty practicing vocabulary words. Conclusion: These studies highlight the importance of using social validity measures to inform iterative development of home interventions that promote feasible strategies for enhancing the home language environment. Further research is needed to identify strategies that stimulate facilitators and overcome barriers to implementation, especially in high-stress homes, to enrich the home language environments of more families.
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U2 - 10.1044/2019_LSHSS-19-00011
DO - 10.1044/2019_LSHSS-19-00011
M3 - Article
C2 - 32073362
AN - SCOPUS:85083002758
SN - 0161-1461
VL - 51
SP - 371
EP - 389
JO - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
JF - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
IS - 2
ER -