Model Demonstration Center for Promoting Language and Literacy Readiness in Early Childhood

Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies
University of Kansas

Abstract:

The purpose of this Model Demonstration Center for Promoting Language and Readiness in Early Childhood is to improve the early language learning and readiness opportunities provided to infants and young children with disabilities served in early childhood Part C and Part B programs of IDEA receiving center- and/or home-based services. Through this Center, the knowledge base pertaining to those practices and interventions most effective in promoting early language development and readiness skills will be increased based on (1) a review of the literature supporting evidence-based strategies focused on early language and literacy readiness, and (2) staff development and technical assistance focused on functional, evidence-based practices to promote communication and language for young children birth through 5 years with disabilities.
The Center will be a vehicle to support the use of evidence-based naturalistic language and early literacy interventions across four programs serving children receiving intervention services through Part C and following their transition into Part B/619 or other preschool services. Infants and toddlers from each participating site will receive intervention delivered by early educators and/or parents to promote language and early literacy readiness. Through the Center, approximately 225 infants and toddlers will be recruited and followed to monitor their progress after receiving the intervention. Children across participating sites will have the opportunity to receive the intervention so it is estimated that over 1,200 will benefit from the Center.

The intervention disseminated through this Center in partnership with participating sites includes, functional, naturalistic strategies to promote communication and language derived from Responsive Intervention Prelinguistic and Milieu Teaching, Dialogic Reading and Shared Book Reading which have an extensive research base supporting their effectiveness and extends upon previous research conducted on the strategies by the team. The language-promoting strategies disseminated and evaluated through this Center include a combination of strategies such as, following a child’s lead, commenting and labeling, strategies to prompt communication and the use of these strategies across play, care routines and early literacy activities within the context of the natural environment. Interventions are individualized and delivered through a collaborative professional development model based on consultation, coaching, and methods to ensure the fidelity of intervention implementation across activities and ongoing progress monitoring.

A multi-method, multi-informant approach will be used to document the use of the model by the participating early childhood educators and to document the effects of the intervention model on the communication development of infants and toddlers and preschool-aged children with disabilities. Ongoing professional development will be provided through workshops and delivery of project resources to special education, general education and program administration within each of the sites to ensure the sustainability of the model.

Website: Model Demonstration Center