Best Practice in Assessing School-Age Language and Literacy

10/2/2015

Best Practice in Assessing School- Age Language and Literacy Amy Costanza-Smith, PhD, CCC-SLP Jenny Larsen, PhD, CCC-SLP Claire Leake, MS, CCC-SLP OSHA, October 10, 2015

Introductions & Disclosures

Advance organizer

• Overview of assessment model • Standardized language assessment • Language sample elicitation and analysis • Assessing literacy

• BREAK

• Putting it all together - CASE STUDIES – Interpreting results – Formulating diagnoses – How to present results to family and other professionals – Recommendations

1 10/2/2015

Overview of Assessment Model

• PSU Speech and Hearing Clinic • Referrals for learning concerns • One visit, 2-3 hours • Pre-visit information

Assessment overview

• File review • Case history • Child interview • Oral language assessment – Standardized/Norm-referenced measures – Functional: language sample analysis • Literacy assessment – Phonological processing – Reading - decoding, fluency, comprehension – Spelling – Written language • Dynamic assessment

The evaluation

• File Review • Case history • Parent interview – Medical/developmental history – Family history – Other diagnoses – What’s been done before • Child interview – Child perspective – What do they do when they need help

2 10/2/2015

Oral Language Assessment

• Standardized language assessment • Language sample

Standardized oral language assessment • Is a disorder or weakness in oral language contributing to literacy difficulties? • Is oral language age-appropriate? • Is there a pattern of strengths and weaknesses?

Standardized oral language assessment • Test selection • Want tools that measure several aspects of oral language – Especially morphology, syntax & semantics • Want tools with strong psychometric properties – Spaulding, Plante & Farinella, 2006 • Consider several client factors – age – time – Concerns – previous assessments

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Standardized oral language assessment • Measures we frequently use in our school-age language & literacy clinic: • CELF-5 • OWLS-2 • CASL • TOLD-P4

CELF-5

• Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-5th Edition (Wiig, Semel & Secord, 2013) • Ages 5;0-21;11 Subtests (typically 4 of these comprise a Core Language Score) – Word classes – Following Directions – Formulated Sentences – Recalling Sentences – Understanding Spoken Paragraphs – Word Definitions – Sentence Assembly – Semantic Relationships – Pragmatics Profile • Also Reading Comprehension & Structured Writing (ages 9;0-21;11)

OWLS-2

• Oral and Written Language Scales, 2nd Edition (Carrow-Woolfolk, 2011) • Oral Language (ages 3;0-21;11) – Listening Comprehension – Oral Expression • Written Language (ages 5;0-21:11) – Reading Comprehension – Written Expression

4 10/2/2015

CASL

• Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999) • Ages 3-21 • Subtests (3-5 of these make up the Composite score)

Basic Concepts Grammatical Morphemes Antonyms Sentence Comprehension Synonyms Grammaticality Judgment Sentence Completion Nonliteral Language Idiomatic Language Meaning from Context Syntax Construction Inference Paragraph Comprehension Ambiguous Sentences Pragmatic Judgment

TOLD-P:4

• Test of Language Development-Primary: 4th Edition • (Newcomer & Hammill, 2008) • Ages 4;0-8;11 – Picture Vocabulary – Relational Vocabulary – Oral Vocabulary – Syntactic Understanding – Sentence Imitation – Morphological Completion – Supplementary • Word Analysis • Word Discrimination • Word Articulation

Oral Language Assessment

• Standardized language assessment • Language sample analysis

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Why Language Sample Analysis?

• Spontaneous language in real-life contexts • Tasks are developmentally appropriate • Supports standardized/formal testing • May reveal weaknesses in complex syntax, literate vocabulary, pragmatics (Nippold, 2014) • Appropriate for bilingual or English as a second language learners • Helps develop intervention goals and document progress

Types of Language Samples

• Play • Conversation • Narrative • Expository

Tools for Language Sample Analysis

• Voice Recorder • Analysis Software (e.g., SALT Software) • Story Retell: Books • Expository: Planning Sheet • Optional: Digital Playback Equipment

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What can/should we measure?

• Productivity • # words, # c/t units • Syntactic complexity • Mean Length of Utterance • Subordination Index • Types of clauses • Lexical diversity • Number of different words • Literate vocabulary • Intelligibility • Mazes • Errors

Additional Considerations

• Conversation • Turn-taking skills • Topic initiations • Contingent remarks • Narration • Story Structure • Organization/Cohesion • Use of mental states terms and dialogue • Expository • Use of planning tools • Organization/Cohesion • Background knowledge of listener

SALT Software

• Consistent format for elicitation, transcription and analysis • Coding rules to facilitate transcription • Ability to analyze transcript instantly with more than 50 measures • Ability to compare samples to databases of transcripts from typical speakers • Wealth of free training available online • www.saltsoftware.com

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Step 1

• Select Type of Language Sample to Elicit and Record – Play, Story Retell, Expository, Conversation – Is it developmentally appropriate? – Will it highlight the strengths and difficulties you observe? – Will it elicit complex syntax?

SALT Databases-English

Database Age Range Grade in School

Play 2;8-5;8 P, K

Conversation 2;9-13;3 P, K, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7

Narrative NSS 5;2-13;3 K, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7

Narrative Story FWAY: 4;4-7;5 FWAY: P, K, 1 Retell PGHW: 7;0-8;11 PGHW: 2 APNF: 7;11-9;11 APNF: 3 DDS: 9;3-12;8 DDS: 4

Expository 10;7-15;9 5, 6, 7, 9

SALT Databases-Bilingual Spanish/English

Database Age Range Grade in School

Bilingual FWAY: 5;0-9;9 FWAY: K, 1, 2, 3 Spanish/English FGTD: 5;5-8;11 FGTD: K, 2 Story Retell FOHO: 6;0-7;9 FOHO: 1

Bilingual 5;0-9;7 K, 1, 2, 3 Spanish/English Unique Story

8 10/2/2015

Step 2

• Transcribe the Language Sample • SALT developed a list of transcription conventions: – Interrupted or abandoned statements – Intelligibility – Bound morphemes – Mazes (filled pauses, repetitions, revisions) – Omissions and Errors – Overlapping speech – Whatever you want! You can make up your own codes.

Step 3

• Analyze the Transcript • Compare to age-matched peers or prior sample • Generate a Standard Measures Report • Transcript Length • Syntax/Morphology • Semantics • Discourse • Intelligibility • Mazes and Abandoned Utterances • Verbal Facility and Rate • Omissions and Error Codes

Step 4

• Interpret the Results • Use databases as well as your knowledge of language development and developmental norms

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Assessment overview

Literacy Assessment

• Phonological processing • Word recognition • Spelling • Reading fluency • Reading comprehension • Written language

Phonological Processing

• Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP-2) – Diagnostic procedure – Prognostic indicators • Previously completed measures (ex. DIBELS) • Functional measures of phonemic awareness

10 10/2/2015

Phoneme Segmentation

• http://www.readingrockets.org/atoz/1138/vid eo

Phonological Processing (Bishop & Snowling, 2004) • Phonological awareness – Reflect on and manipulate speech sounds • Phonological memory – Short term representation of speech sounds – Implicated in severe/persistent RD, LI • Phonological retrieval – Locate and match string of sounds to meaning • Complex phonological production

PP Profiles

• Double deficit generally = increased severity (Wolf & Bowers, 1999) – Phonological awareness & retrieval – Rapid naming may also tap attention, perception, memory, lexicon, articulation – Suggestive of more broad pattern of deficit

11 10/2/2015

Word Recognition

• Test of Word Reading Efficiency – Fluency vs. accuracy • Word Attack on Woodcock-Johnson • Sight word inventory (Dolch, etc.) • Functional assessments – Curriculum-based – Behaviors around word attack

Spelling

• Developmental inventory is critical • SPELL (Masterson et al., 2006) or Words Their Way (Bear et al., 2012), others? • Levels/aspects of spelling knowledge – Stage model (Chall, 1983, etc.) – Multilinguistic model (Masterson & Apel, 2014)

• http://mypearsontraining.com/pdfs/TG_WTW _assessment.pdf?checked=1443723559

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Multilinguistic Model (Masterson & Apel, 2014) • Spelling is variably influenced by: • Phonological awareness • Orthographic knowledge • Semantic awareness • Morphological awareness • Mental orthographic images

Reading Fluency

• Rate, accuracy, prosody • QRI-5 • GORT-4? • Look to standards

Reading Comprehension

• OWLS-2 • TILLS (We have not used) • QRI • Others? • CELF-5 subtest

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• What do we want to find out about reading comprehension ? – Dependent on grade – Look to standards – Genre – Discipline

CCSS ELA 5th Grade

• Craft and Structure • 5.RI.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area. • 5.RI.5 Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts. • 5.RI.6 Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.

• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas • 5.RI.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently. • 5.RI.8 Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s). • 5.RI.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Reading Comprehension

• Additional considerations – Sentence-level comprehension – Metacognitive skills • Self-monitoring • Purpose for reading

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Written Language Assessments

• Process and product components • Standardized – OWLS, TOWL, others? • Writing samples-analyze product – Price & Jackson, 2015 • Observing process – Planning, organizing, etc.

Written Language

• Oral language assessment (including language sampling) – Observe vocabulary use and understanding – Syntax use and understanding – Foundational skills can be leveraged during intervention for written language

Writing Samples

• What to analyze (Price & Jackson, 2015) – Vocabulary: specific types of words; NDW; look to expectations – Sentence measures: C-unit length; types of sentences; clausal density; errors – Discourse measures: length/productivity, genre- specific organization and structure

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• What do we look for in process (Graham & Perrin, 2007)? – Task initiation – Planning/organizing – Edit – Revisions

Dynamic Assessment

• Based on what we find in the rest of our assessment.

Case Studies