Beliefs about Participation-Based Practices in Early Intervention

Researchers have noted divergent findings with respect to the relationships of practitioners’ beliefs and their implementation of recommended practices. With Q-sort methods, this study examined practitioners’ beliefs about practices in early intervention with samples of current practitioners (n = 211) and preservice students (n = 142). Findings indicated that practitioners rated participation-based practices as less strongly held beliefs when compared with several other early intervention practices, and students’ responses revealed beliefs that were in contrast with participation-based beliefs. In addition, results showed that practitioners’ beliefs were more similar to respondents from institutions of higher education than were the preservice students

Early Interventionists’ Perspectives on Teaching Caregivers

Relatively little is known about the role of early interventionists as teachers of caregivers. The current study was conducted to better understand interventionists’ perspectives about teaching caregivers. A national sample of 1525 multi-disciplinary interventionists completed an online questionnaire which elicited information about interventionists’ preferences for use of caregiver teaching strategies, factors influencing decisions about teaching strategy use as well as comfort in, frequency of, and barriers to teaching caregivers. Use of a range of teaching strategies across contexts was reported. Differences emerged in teaching strategy preference based on experience in teaching specific skills and years of experience in early intervention. Ten themes emerged as rationales for teaching strategy selection. Interventionists reported moderate confidence in and frequency of caregiver teaching and few barriers to teaching. Results suggest a preference for use of multiple strategies and selection factors based on experience, perceived caregiver benefit, or other general factors such as interventionist preference

Identifying strategies early intervention occupational therapists use to teach caregivers.

This study investigated early intervention occupational therapists\u27 use of strategies to teach caregivers. A sample of 40 videotapes made by early intervention occupational therapists was randomly selected from an archival videotape data set of provider home visits. The sample included 20 videotapes illustrating traditional services and 20 videotapes illustrating therapists providing participation-based services. Videotapes were rated using the Teaching Caregivers Scale, which rates three variables on 30-s intervals: (1) routine, (2) provider role, and (3) strategies used to teach caregivers during early intervention home visits. Regardless of the model of service, explicit teaching strategies were rarely used during home visits

It Depends: The Conditional Correlation Between Frequency of Storybook Reading and Emergent Literacy Skills in Children At Risk for Language Difficulty

The current study examined the association between frequency of storybook reading and emergent literacy in 212 children at risk for language impairment, assessed during the fall semester of kindergarten. Measures included parent-reported storybook reading, as well as direct assessments of print knowledge, letter awareness, and expressive vocabulary. Results suggested nonsignificant to moderate (r = .11 to .25) correlations between frequency of storybook reading and child emergent literacy across the entire range of environment and ability. Quantile regression results suggested that the association was highest at low frequency of storybook reading, particularly for print knowledge, approaching r = .50. Moreover, the association between frequency of storybook reading and emergent literacy was highest at higher levels of emergent literacy for print knowledge, but particularly for letter naming, approaching r = .80. These results suggest that in children with language difficulties, the relationship between aspects of the home environment and emergent literacy is conditional upon the quality of the home environment as well as child’s proficiency in emergent literacy skills

Quality of the Literacy Environment in Inclusive Early Childhood Special Education ECSE Classrooms

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of the literacy environment in inclusive early childhood special education (ECSE) classrooms (N = 54). The first aim was to describe the quality of the literacy environment in terms of structure (i.e., book materials and print/writing materials) and instruction (i.e., instructional support). The second aim was to examine the interrelationships among teacher and classroom characteristics and the quality of the literacy environment. Results showed that, on average, the quality of the structural literacy environment was low to moderate, and the quality of the instructional literacy environment was generally low. The number of children who were Dual Language Learners related to the quality of the structural literacy environment. The quality of the instructional literacy environment was positively associated with two teacher variables (teacher education and self-efficacy) and was negatively associated with one teacher variable (the number of language and literacy workshops attended). Implications are discussed

So Many Books They Don’t Even All Fit on the Bookshelf”: An Examination of Low-income and Ethnic Minority Mothers’ Home Literacy Practices, Beliefs, and Influencing Factors

Given the need to enhance the academic language and early literacy skills of young children from low-income homes and the importance of the home literacy environment (HLE) in supporting children’s development, the purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the HLE of low-income African-American and Latino mothers of preschool children living in the United States. Specifically, research aims were to examine HLE practices, beliefs and influential factors as well as to compare the HLE of African-American and Latino, specifically Puerto Rican, families. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 African-American and 10 Puerto Rican mothers. Data were analyzed using the consensual qualitative research method. Twelve themes were identified: provision of educational materials, engagement with books, focus on print, implicit language opportunities, focus on other pre-academic skills, social interactions with books, influence of school, influence of other adults, parent reading interest/ability, child reading interest, parent commitment to child’s success, and family stressors. Few differences emerged between African-American and Puerto Rican mothers. Implications for language and literacy intervention development are discussed

Depression, Control, and Climate: An Examination of Factors Impacting Teaching Quality in Preschool Classrooms

This study investigated the relationship of preschool teachers’ self-reported depressive symptomatology, perception of classroom control, and perception of school climate to classroom quality as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS Pre-K). The sample consisted of 59 urban preschool classrooms serving low-income and linguistically diverse students in the northeastern and southeastern United States. Results of hierarchical linear modeling revealed that teachers’ individual report of depressive symptomatology was significantly and negatively predictive of their observed instructional support and classroom organization quality domains. The findings of this study have implications for increasing access to mental health supports for teachers in an effort to minimize depressive symptoms and potentially improve classroom quality

Relations between Home Literacy Environment, Child Characteristics, and Print Knowledge for Preschool Children with Language Impairment

To contribute to the modest body of work examining the home literacy environment (HLE) and emergent literacy outcomes for children with disabilities, this study addressed two aims: (a) to determine the unique contributions of the HLE on print knowledge of preschool children with language impairment (LI); and (b) to identify whether specific child characteristics (oral language ability, print interest) moderated these relations. The sample consisted of 119 preschool children with LI. HLE was conceptualized as frequency of storybook reading and literacy teaching during book reading. Frequency of storybook reading was a unique predictor of print knowledge, which is consistent with research on children with typical language. Literacy teaching did not predict print knowledge, which diverges from research on children with typical language. No interactions between the HLE and child characteristics were significant, but language ability and print interest play a role in understanding individual differences in literacy development

Relations between Home Literacy Environment, Child Characteristics, and Print Knowledge for Preschool Children with Language Impairment

To contribute to the modest body of work examining the home literacy environment (HLE) and emergent literacy outcomes for children with disabilities, this study addressed two aims: (a) to determine the unique contributions of the HLE on print knowledge of preschool children with language impairment (LI); and (b) to identify whether specific child characteristics (oral language ability, print interest) moderated these relations. The sample consisted of 119 preschool children with LI. HLE was conceptualized as frequency of storybook reading and literacy teaching during book reading. Frequency of storybook reading was a unique predictor of print knowledge, which is consistent with research on children with typical language. Literacy teaching did not predict print knowledge, which diverges from research on children with typical language. No interactions between the HLE and child characteristics were significant, but language ability and print interest play a role in understanding individual differences in literacy development