THE EFFECTS AND FEASIBILITY OF USING TIERED INSTRUCTION TO INCREASE CONVERSATIONAL TURN TAKING FOR PRESCHOOLERS WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES A dissertation submitted to the Kent State University College and Graduate School of Education, Health, and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Sandra Hess Robbins May 2013 © Copyright, 2013 by Sandra Hess Robbins All Rights Reserved ii A dissertation written by Sandra Hess Robbins B.S.Ed., University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, 2002 M.Ed., Kent State University, 2006 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2013 Approved by ____________________, Co-director, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Kristie Pretti-Frontcak ____________________, Co-director, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Sanna Harjusola-Webb ____________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Christine Balan ____________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Richard Cowan Accepted by ____________________, Director, School of Lifespan Development and Educational Mary Dellman-Jenkins Sciences ____________________, Dean, College of Education, Health, and Human Services Daniel F. Mahony iii ROBBINS, SANDRA HESS, Ph.D., May 2013 Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences THE EFFECTS AND FEASIBILITY OF USING TIERED INSTRUCTION TO INCREASE CONVERSATIONAL TURN TAKING FOR PRESCHOOLERS WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES (282 pp.) Co-Directors of Dissertation: Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, Ph.D. Sanna Harjusola-Webb, Ph.D. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of using tiered instruction to increase the frequency of conversational turn taking (CTT) among preschoolers with and without disabilities in an inclusive setting. Three CTT interventions (Universal Design for Learning, Peer Mediated Instruction, and Milieu Teaching) were organized on a hierarchy of intensity and implemented in an additive manner. Using an increasing intensity across participants with a reversal design, child progress was monitored over time and children were moved through tiers based on level of need. A functional relationship between tiered instruction and CTT was found for nine of 13 child participants and the strongest intervention effects were observed at tier one. All but one child participant showed an increase in conversational turn taking from baseline to reinstatement. Teacher fidelity of implementation was monitored at each tier. Her overall average was 90% with the highest percent occurring in tier one. Resulting contributions to the literature include a better understanding of the feasibility of tiered instruction for the inclusive early childhood classroom, the effectiveness of tiered instruction for increasing CTT, and practical considerations for implementation of tiered instruction across tiers and phase change decisions. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am pleased to acknowledge those who have made the completion of this project possible. First and foremost, I need to thank my family for their patience and understanding. My parents, siblings, children, and husband provided me with endless love and support and always encouraged me to stay focused. I extend my deepest gratification to the members of my committee: my co-chairs Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak and Dr. Sanna Harjusola-Webb, and also Dr. Richard Cowan and Dr. Christine Balan. I am grateful for their relentless feedback, wisdom, and support. I will never be caught saying “good enough” again. I need to thank the experts at the LENA Foundation, who provided me with ongoing assistance and problem solving throughout the project. When my computer crashed, when the algorithms weren’t working, when the software wouldn’t load, they were there to help. I wish to acknowledge my research assistants, Benjamin and Kailey, and the many dear friends I made in the doctoral program. No one understands what you need better than the people who are sharing an experience with you. I also extend my gratitude to Sarah and Jessica, who helped me edit and finalize my dissertation. Most importantly, I need to thank the teachers, children, and families who made my research a reality. A special thank you goes to Brooke for committing her time and helping me work through the kinks during the pilot study. Finally, I could not have done it without my lead teacher, Rachel Bendel. Her passion and dedication to the field of early childhood education will be forever etched in my heart. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER I. LITERATURE SYNTHESIS ..................................................................................1 Conversational Turn Taking: A Social Communication Skill .................................2 Social Communication ........................................................................................3 Conversational Turn Taking ...............................................................................5 Conversational Turn Taking Instruction .............................................................6 Play-based interventions ................................................................................7 PPR ...........................................................................................................7 Play scripts ................................................................................................8 PMI ...........................................................................................................8 Behaviorally-based interventions.................................................................10 Direct instruction ....................................................................................10 Milieu teaching .......................................................................................11 Incidental teaching .............................................................................12 Mand model .......................................................................................13 Time delay .........................................................................................14 Organizing CTT Instruction by Intensity ..........................................................15 Tiered Instruction ...................................................................................................16 Elements of Tiered Instruction..........................................................................16 Tiered Instruction Research ..............................................................................18 Parts of the whole.........................................................................................19 Intervention targets ......................................................................................21 Research methods ........................................................................................22 Intervention fidelity and feasibility ..............................................................24 Future directions ..........................................................................................25 Dissertation Research Proposal..............................................................................26 Tiered Conversational Turn Taking Instruction ...............................................26 Universal design for learning - tier one .......................................................27 Peer mediated instruction – tier two ............................................................30 Milieu teaching – tier three ..........................................................................31 Research Questions ...........................................................................................32 v II. METHOD ..............................................................................................................34 Setting ....................................................................................................................34 Participants .............................................................................................................36 Adult Participant ...............................................................................................36 Child Participants ..............................................................................................37 Measures ................................................................................................................44 Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System .........................................45 AEPS Family Report.........................................................................................50 Child Interest Survey ........................................................................................52 Language Environment Analysis (LENA) System ...........................................53 Preschool Language Scale - 4 ...........................................................................55 Reinforcement Inventory ..................................................................................56 Tier One UDL Fidelity Measure .......................................................................57 Tier Two PMI Fidelity Measure .......................................................................58