Supporting Vocabulary among Preschoolers at Risk for Developmental Language Disorder: A Teacher Professional Development Intervention

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 1:45 pm - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Professional Development and Coaching

Abstract

This Professional Development Intervention project (PDI; actual intervention name and citations blinded for review) included a year-long package of supports to help preschool teachers foster language and vocabulary development among children ages 2-5 years with or at risk for developmental language delay (DLD). An underpowered RCT tested the effectiveness of the project for teachers’ classroom instructional quality and children’s learning of both vocabulary that the program specifically focused on (as measured by a project-aligned assessment) and generalized vocabulary (as measured by a standardized vocabulary assessment measure). Results showed that PDI significantly increased teachers’ fidelity to intervention strategies and the global quality of instruction. PDI children learned more taught words; however, conditions were no different on standardized vocabulary knowledge.

Authors

• Annemarie Hindman, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Barbara Wasik, Temple University