METHODS FOR SCREENING, ASSESSING, AND PROFILING SPOKEN AND EMERGENT STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES IN YOUNG CHILDREN

JAUMEIKO COLEMAN, PHD, CCC-SLP, FNAP SUNSHINE MOSS, PHD LAURIE GAUGER, PHD, CCC-SLP SALLYANN GIESS, PHD, CCC-SLP

This presentation corresponds with an ASHA Live Chat with the same title that took place on November 10, 2020, 7-9 p.m. ET. (https://www.asha.org/events/live/methods-for- screening-assessing-and-profiling-spoken-language/) INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION

• Learning Outcomes • Overview • Simple View of • Screening and Assessment Considerations • Emergent Literacy Period: Profiles of • Instructional Best Practices • Concluding Remarks LEARNING OUTCOMES LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Identify factors that predict later reading ability in young children

• Describe key methods for screening and assessing spoken and written language in prekindergarten through first grade children

• Discuss different profiles of spoken and written language strengths and weaknesses in preschool through first grade children and directions for intervention OVERVIEW OVERVIEW

• This presentation is associated with another presentation and an ASHA Live Chat, both titled as follows: The SLP’s Role in Contributing to Early Successful Literacy Development in Young Children At-R is k for Academ ic Difficulties (https://www.as ha.org/events/live/slp-role-to-early-s ucces s ful-literacy-development- in-young-children/)

• Adequate spoken language development is a fundamental skill for literacy acquisition.

• Strong skills requires apt spoken language comprehension and word decoding and recognition skills.

• When assessing and treating spoken language, emerging literacy, and literacy skills, subskills within neurocognition, , spoken language, print awareness, and literacy need to be considered. OVERVIEW

• This presentation will:

• Highlight the importance of phonological awareness and spoken language skills in achieving reading skills, including reading comprehension.

• Address how different types of screening and assessment can be used to indicate spoken language and literacy needs.

• Provide an overview of the types of spoken language and written language profiles that can be identified when a comprehensive assessment of phonological awareness and spoken and written language skills occurs.

• Suggest intervention programs and best practices that target specific skills within the realms of phonological awareness and spoken and written language. SIMPLE VIEW OF READING TIME

Scarborough, H.S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook for Research in Early Literacy (pp. 97-110). New York, NY: Guilford Press. SIMPLE VIEW OF READING (GOUGH & TUNMER, 1986)

SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT CONSIDERATIONS ASSESSMENT PURPOSE DIFFERENT TYPES AND PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

• Screening: Determines the need for further assessment: Usually a pass/fail or meets/does not meet “score”

• Diagnostic Evaluation: Reveals strengths and weaknesses. Usually anchored to norm-referenced scores and based on a cut score

• Progress Monitoring: Provides data on effectiveness of intervention

• Dynamic Assessment: Serves to establish treatment goals and to differentiate disorder versus difference (see ASHA for tutorial) DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCREENING METHODS DIFFERENT TYPES OF DIAGNOSTIC METHODS TASKS THAT CAN BE USED FOR READING SCREENING

Kindergarten Phonological awareness • Blending sounds or segments • Onset-rime Letter identification Letter-sound association Rapid naming of letters Must also screen for expressive and receptive language COMMON PROFILES OF CHILDREN WITH READING DIFFICULTIES IN EMERGENT LITERACY PERIOD PROFILE FOR CHILD WITH DEVELOPMENTAL CHILD: 5.8 YEARS

Language Skill Oral Language Written Language Receptive 13 (84th %ile) Expressive Syntax 9 (37th %ile) Listening Comprehension 8 (25th %ile) Letter Knowledge 3 (1st %ile)** Rhyme Knowledge 3 (1st %ile)** Deletion 5 (5th %ile)* Knowledge 4 (2nd %ile)** Sound Identification 4 (2nd %ile)** Reading 6 (9th %ile)* Rapid Automatic Naming 80 sec (passing < 104) Emergent Writing Wrote lines on paper/no letters INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS: DEVELOPMENTAL DYSLEXIA

Target Skill Programs

Rhyming Multisensory phonics and -based reading and • Identification and production of rhyming words programs Phonological awareness • Orton-Gillingham • Counting or tapping syllables • Wilson Reading System • Blending and deleting syllables in compound words • Language Tool Kit • Lindamood Individualized Sequences • Phoneme matching, blending, deleting, and counting Program Letter knowledge • Matching uppercase and lowercase letters • Letter identification • Letter Phonic knowledge • Identify letter-sound correspondences • Read and spell syllables and short words with short vowel sounds PROFILE FOR CHILD WITH SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE DEFICITS CHILD: 6.10 YEARS

Language Skill Oral Language Written Language Receptive Vocabulary 5 (5th %ile)* Expressive Syntax 4 (2nd %ile)** Listening Comprehension 6 (9th %ile)* Letter Knowledge 3 (1st %ile)** Rhyme Knowledge 3 (1st %ile)** Phoneme Deletion 6 (9th %ile)* Phonics Knowledge 9 (37th %ile) Sound Identification 5 (5th %ile)* Sight Word Reading 6 (9th %ile)* Rapid Automatic Naming 112 sec (passing < 104)* Emergent Writing Wrote 1st letters of words INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS: SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE DEFICITS

Target Skill Programs Spoken Language • Vocabulary • Visualizing and Verbalizing • Listening comprehension for narratives • Talkies Program for Oral Language Comprehension and • Production of narratives and other forms Expression of discourse • Story Grammar Marker Emergent Literacy • Phonological awareness • Comprehensive language programs with an explicit • Phonemic awareness phonics component, such as Language! • Letter knowledge • Passages for , such as QuickReads and • Development of advanced phonics Read Naturally One-Minute Readers • Read and spell syllables and short • Games to increase automaticity, such a Guesstures, words with short vowel sounds Charades, Pictionary, Scattergories • Sight word reading PROFILE FOR CHILD WITH BORDERLINE LANGUAGE SKILLS CHILD: 6.3 YEARS

Language Skill Oral Language Written Language Receptive Vocabulary 7 (16th %ile)* Expressive Syntax 8 (25th %ile) Listening Comprehension 8 (25th %ile) Letter Knowledge 8 (25th %ile) Rhyme Knowledge 8 (25th %ile) Phoneme Deletion 7 (16th %ile)* Phonics Knowledge 8 (25th %ile) Sound Identification 5 (5th %ile)* Sight Word Reading 8 (25th %ile) Rapid Automatic Naming 117 sec (passing < 104)* Emergent Writing Wrote 1st letters of words INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS: BORDERLINE LANGUAGE SKILLS

Target Skills Activities Increase exposure to language and emergent literacy experiences Spoken Language Tier 2 instruction: small group instruction that addresses • Vocabulary, syntax, story retelling, listening comprehension, fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics comprehension and vocabulary. Instruction should be intensive, systematic and explicit with progress monitoring. Emergent Literacy • Passages for guided reading, such as QuickReads • Phonological/phonemic awareness and Read Naturally One-Minute Readers • Letter identification • Games to increase automaticity, such a Guesstures, • Phonics Charades, Pictionary, Scattergories • Automaticity INSTRUCTIONAL BEST PRACTICES BEST PRACTICES: HOW & WHAT

• How: Structured language intervention that is explicit, systematic, intensive, and tailored to the spoken and written language needs of the child • What: Language structure is taught at the levels of sounds, syllables, meaningful parts of words, sentence structure, and paragraph and discourse organization (Birsh, 2019) • Phonological awareness (e.g., rhyming, sound categorization) • Spoken language (e.g., listening comprehension, vocabulary) • Early literacy (e.g., letter knowledge, letter-sound association)

• CONCLUDING REMARKS CONCLUDING REMARKS

• The ultimate reading goal is to comprehend what was read.

• To achieve that goal, phonological awareness and spoken and written language skills must all be adequate. Foundational Skills for Reading Comprehension: Simple View of Reading Framework (Gough & Tunmer, 1986) CONCLUDING REMARKS

• Use of appropriate screening and assessment tools is necessary for identifying and monitoring development of phonological awareness and spoken and written language skills.

• Dynamic assessment is key in determining the type of support needed to facilitate acquisition of phonological awareness and spoken and written language skills. Screening

Re- Diagnostic evaluation Evaluation

Progress Dynamic Monitoring Assessment CONCLUDING REMARKS

• Understanding profiles of spoken and written language development further inform comprehensive therapy plans and treatment goal development.

• Application of best practices is instrumental to efforts to enhance phonological awareness and spoken and written language skills. Sample Spoken and Written Language Profiles and Intervention Considerations

Language Skill Developmental Spoken and Written Borderline Sample Intervention Programs Dyslexia Language Deficits Language & Practices Difficulty Receptive Vocabulary ++ - -/+ Early Vocabulary Connections Expressive Syntax + - + Visualizing and Verbalizing Listening Comprehension + -/+ + Peer Assisted Learning Strategy Letter Knowledge - - + Phonological Awareness Training plus Letter Knowledge Training Rhyme Knowledge - - + Ladders to Literacy Phoneme Deletion - -/+ -/+ Ladders to Literacy Phonics Knowledge - + + Earobics Sound Identification - - - Ladders to Literacy Sight Word Reading -/+ -/+ + Ladders to Literacy Rapid Automatic Naming - - - Literacy Express Emergent Writing - - - Doors to Discovery ++: 13 or higher (above average) +: 8-12 (average) -/+: 6-7 (low average) -: 5 or lower (below average) INSTRUCTIONAL BEST PRACTICES

• Multisensory: AVKT • Auditory • Visual • Kinesthetic • Tactile

• Systematic and cumulative, direct instruction, diagnostic teaching

• “I do, we do, you do” • Demonstrate • Guide • Peer models and practice • Independent Questions or Feedback?– Contact Us

Jaumeiko Coleman, PhD, CCC-SLP, FNAP [email protected]

Sunshine Moss, PhD [email protected]

Laurie Gauger, PhD, CCC-SLP [email protected]

SallyAnn Giess, PhD, CCC-SLP [email protected] REFERENCES

• American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA; No Date). Dynamic Assessment. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/practice/multicultural/issues/dynamic-assessment/

• Birsh, J. (2019). What is multisensory structured language? Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 45(2), 13-18.

• Moats, L. (2019). Structured Literacy™: Effective instruction for students with dyslexia and other related reading difficulties. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 45(2), 10-11.

• National Center on Improving Literacy (2020). State of Dyslexia. Information retrieved from https://improvingliteracy.org/state-of-dyslexia