Feasible Implementation Strategies for Improving Vocabulary Knowledge of High-Risk Preschoolers: Results From a Cluster-Randomized Trial.

Purpose Many children begin school with limited vocabularies, placing them at a high risk of academic difficulties. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of a vocabulary intervention program, Story Friends, designed to improve vocabulary knowledge of at-risk preschool children. Method Twenty-four early-childhood classrooms were enrolled in a cluster-randomized design to evaluate the effects of a revised Story Friends curriculum. In each classroom, three to four preschoolers were identified as having poor language abilities, for a total of 84 participants. In treatment classrooms, explicit vocabulary instruction was embedded in prerecorded storybooks and opportunities for review and practice of target vocabulary were integrated into classroom and home practice activities. In comparison classrooms, prerecorded storybooks included target vocabulary, but without explicit instruction, and classroom and home strategies focused on general language enrichment strategies without specifying vocabulary targets to teach. Intervention activities took place over 13 weeks, and 36 challenging, academically relevant vocabulary words were targeted. Results Children in the treatment classrooms learned significantly more words than children in the comparison classrooms, who learned few target words based on exposure. Large effect sizes (mean d = 1.83) were evident as the treatment group averaged 42% vocabulary knowledge versus 11% in the comparison group, despite a gradual decline in vocabulary learning by the treatment group over the school year. Conclusions Findings indicate that a carefully designed vocabulary intervention can produce substantial gains in children's vocabulary knowledge. The Story Friends program is feasible for delivery in early childhood classrooms and effective in teaching challenging vocabulary to high-risk preschoolers. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13158185.

Effects of a Supplemental Spanish Phonological Awareness Intervention on Latinx Preschoolers' Dual Language Emergent Literacy Skills.

Purpose Preschoolers' phonological awareness (PA) and alphabet knowledge (AK) skills are two of the strongest predictors of future reading. Despite evidence that providing at-risk preschoolers with timely emergent literacy interventions can prevent academic difficulties, there is a scarcity of research focusing on Latinx preschoolers who are dual language learners. Despite evidence of benefits of providing Latinxs with Spanish emergent literacy instruction, few studies include preschoolers. This study examined the effects of a supplemental Spanish PA and AK intervention on the dual emergent literacy skills of at-risk Latinx preschoolers. Method A multiple probe design across four units of instruction evaluated the effects of a Spanish supplemental emergent literacy intervention that explicitly facilitated generalizations to English. Four Latinx preschoolers with limited emergent literacy skills in Spanish and English participated in this study. Bilingual researchers delivered scripted lessons targeting PA and AK skills in individual or small groups for 12-17 weeks. Results Children made large gains as each PA skill was introduced into intervention and generalized the PA skills they learned from Spanish to English. They also improved their English initial sound identification skills, a phonemic awareness task, when instruction was delivered in Spanish but with English words. Children made small to moderate gains in their Spanish letter naming and letter-sound correspondence skills and in generalizing this knowledge to English. Conclusion These findings provide preliminary evidence Latinx preschoolers who are dual language learners benefit from emergent literacy instruction that promotes their bilingual and biliterate development.

Iterative Development of a Home Review Program to Promote Preschoolers' Vocabulary Skills: Social Validity and Learning Outcomes.

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.

Classwide Extensions of Vocabulary Intervention Improve Learning of Academic Vocabulary by Preschoolers.

Purpose Many preschoolers, especially those from low-income households, would benefit from instruction to enrich their vocabulary and language repertoires. Yet, explicit instruction of vocabulary and language skills generally occurs infrequently in early childhood education settings. This study investigated the additive effects of teacher-led, classwide review strategies to a previously studied small-group intervention on children's learning of academic vocabulary. Method Participants included 23 children with limited oral language skills at risk for reading difficulties enrolled in single-case experimental designs. Effects of the classroom strategies alone also were examined in 10 children with above-average language abilities from 2 classrooms. Results Visual analyses of the adapted alternating treatments designs showed consistent learning improvements when vocabulary instruction was extended into the classroom for 12 children, ceiling effects were evident for 3 participants regardless of condition, and inconsistent or minimal effects were demonstrated by 8 participants. Multilevel modeling used to evaluate the effects statistically revealed strong treatment effects. In addition, the 10 children with above-average language showed impressive learning of vocabulary words from books subject to teacher review strategies in comparison to words from books to which they were not exposed. Teachers varied in the extent to which they implemented review strategies in their classrooms. Nevertheless, their responses to social validity assessments were positive, supporting the feasibility of this intervention. Conclusions The addition of classwide review and practice opportunities is an effective means of enhancing the effects of an easy-to-implement small-group intervention that teaches challenging vocabulary words within prerecorded stories. This approach holds promise as a way to shrink the pervasive word gap that typically exists when children in high-poverty communities enter school.

Moving Forward Four Words at a Time: Effects of a Supplemental Preschool Vocabulary Intervention.

Purpose This study evaluated the effects of an automated, small-group intervention designed to teach preschoolers challenging vocabulary words. Previous studies have provided evidence of efficacy. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the program after doubling the number of words taught from 2 to 4 words per book. Method Seventeen preschool children listened to 1 prerecorded book per week for 9 weeks. Each storybook had embedded, interactive lessons for 4 target vocabulary words. Each lesson provided repeated exposures to words and their definitions, child-friendly contexts, and multiple opportunities for children to respond verbally to instructional prompts. Participants were asked to define the weekly targeted vocabulary before and after intervention. A repeated acquisition single-case design was used to examine the effects of the books and embedded lessons on learning of target vocabulary words. Results Treatment effects were observed for all children across many of the books. Learning of at least 2 points (i.e., 1 word) was replicated for 74.5% of 149 books tested across the 17 participants. On average, children learned to define 47% of the target vocabulary words (17 out of 36). Conclusions Results support including 4 challenging words per book, as children learned substantially more words when 4 words were taught, in comparison to previous studies. Within an iterative development process, results of the current study take us 1 step closer to creating an optimal vocabulary intervention that supports the language development of at-risk children.

Modeling Alphabet Skills as Instructive Feedback Within a Phonological Awareness Intervention.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the efficacy of an instructive feedback strategy for modeling letter names and sounds during presentation of positive feedback within a small-group phonological awareness intervention for preschoolers. METHOD: Two experiments were conducted using multiple-baseline designs across children and behaviors. Letter name and sound identification and performance on a phonological awareness fluency measure served as the primary outcome variables. Six children completed Experiment 1. A progressive time delay was added to instructive feedback to elicit a response from the 9 children in the second experiment. RESULTS: In the first experiment, 6 children demonstrated gains on phonological awareness but not alphabet knowledge. With the addition of progressive time delay in the second experiment, all 9 children demonstrated gains on letter name and sound identification as well as phonological awareness skills. CONCLUSIONS: Progressive time delay to prompt children's responses appears to bolster the effects of instructive feedback as an efficient strategy for modeling alphabet skills within a broader early literacy curriculum. Modeling alphabet skills did not detract from, and may have enhanced, phonological awareness instruction for preschoolers.