Improving Early Language and Literacy Skills in Pre-K Children Using Teacher Training for Children With and Without Language Disorders

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating a teacher training program called Early Achievements - Shaping Early Language and Literacy Skills EA-SHELLS aimed at improving language-related literacy skills in inclusive prekindergarten classrooms. The study focuses on children with and without developmental language disorders or delays. The goal is to see if the training helps teachers use better instructional strategies and if students taught by trained teachers show improved language skills. Early phases showed promising results, leading to a randomized control trial phase. Teachers in the trial are randomly assigned to either a Full Training group or a Quick Training group. The Full Training group participates in a 6-hour virtual workshop plus about 14 in-person coaching sessions over approximately 14 weeks, focusing on language-based literacy skills during book reading and related activities. The Quick Training group continues usual teaching without training during data collection but is offered coaching after the study ends. The EA-SHELLS approach uses strategies like focused stimulation and naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention with story retelling using picture cards and 3D props. Participants include pre-K teachers and their students aged approximately 45 to 65 months. Data collection occurs before, during, and after the training period and includes assessments of vocabulary, narrative skills, listening comprehension, and teacher instruction fidelity. Other measures include teacher confidence and satisfaction surveys. The study monitors student language development and teacher strategy use over 14 weeks, with teacher coaching sessions tracked to assess training impact.

Early Achievements - Shaping Early Language and Literacy Skills