Measuring Language Comprehension Development in the Primary Grades

项目摘要 发育性语言障碍（DLD）是一种高度流行的神经发育障碍， 影响生活的许多方面，包括识字、教育程度和就业 机会不幸的是，大多数患有DLD的儿童没有被发现，也没有得到改善的服务。 他们的成果。该项目的长期目标是改善DLD的识别，并促进 改善支持所有儿童语言和识字发展的系统。我们将描述 使用新颖的，小组管理的语言理解在小学年级的发展轨迹 重点关注以下技能的措施：（a）在小学阶段得到显著发展，（B） 通常在学术环境中，（c）对阅读理解很重要，（d）适合使用 来自不同文化和语言背景的学生。使用团体管理的措施 促进可行性，并允许在现实世界的教室实际实施。测量语法的项目， 词汇，和新的词义推导将被开发和校准，以创建一个跨年级的 语文成绩的纵向衡量尺度。语言理解的发展变化 将在K级和1级每年进行三次语言理解测试 (e.g.,秋季、冬季、春季）和2年级一次给药。我们将评估临床和教育 新的语言理解措施的有效性进行了加速队列设计研究 从K年级到3年级，并将其与语言和阅读能力的标准化测量相关联 每年级一次将使用（a）传统的二进制 敏感性、特异性和似然比的分类分析，以及（B）具有尖端连续性的 测量模型后一种模型将估计个体变化沿着连续，使我们能够 评估学生的趋势随着时间的推移，而不是简单的及格-不及格标准，这可能是任意的， 前后矛盾这些信息将有助于临床医生确定何时儿童可能表现出充分的表现 但有接近临床阈值的风险，以及当接受语言支持的儿童人数增加时， 回到一个更典型的同龄人的表现水平或教学水平。

PROJECT SUMMARY Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder with significant impacts on many aspects of life functioning including literacy, educational attainment, and employment opportunities. Unfortunately, most children with DLD are not identified and do not receive services to improve their outcomes. The long-term goal of this project is to improve the identification of DLD and to contribute to improved systems of support for language and literacy development for all children. We will characterize the developmental trajectory of language comprehension in the primary grades using novel, group-administered measures focusing on skills which (a) undergo significant development in the primary grades, (b) appear frequently in academic settings, (c) are important for reading comprehension, and (d) are appropriate for use with students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The use of group-administered measures promotes feasibility and allows for practical implementation in real-world classrooms. Items measuring syntax, vocabulary, and derivation of novel word meanings will be developed and calibrated to create an across-grade vertical scale of measurement for language performance. Developmental change in language comprehension will be evaluated with three administrations of language comprehension measures per year in grades K and 1 (e.g., Fall, Winter, Spring) and one administration in grade 2. We will evaluate the clinical and educational validity of the novel language comprehension measures by conducting an accelerated cohort design study spanning grades K through 3 and relating them to standardized measures of language and reading abilities that will be administered once in each grade. Clinical utility will be examined using (a) traditional binary classification analyses of sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios, and (b) with cutting-edge continuous measurement models. The latter models will estimate individual change along a continuum, allowing us to evaluate student trends over time rather than simplistic pass-fail criteria, which may be arbitrary and inconsistent. This information will help clinicians identify when children may appear to be achieving adequately but at risk of approaching a clinical threshold, as well as when children receiving language supports are rising back up toward a level of performance more typical of their peers or level of instruction.