Measuring Language Comprehension Development in the Primary Grades

项目总结 发展性语言障碍(DLD)是一种非常普遍的神经发育障碍，具有显著的 对生活功能的许多方面的影响，包括识字、教育程度和就业 机遇。不幸的是，大多数患有DLD的儿童没有得到确认，也没有得到改善的服务 他们的结果。该项目的长期目标是改进对DLD的识别，并为 改善支持所有儿童的语言和识字发展的系统。我们将描述 小学生使用新奇团体训练后语言理解的发展轨迹 侧重于以下技能的措施：(A)在小学年级取得重大发展，(B)出现 通常在学术环境中，(C)对阅读理解很重要，(D)适合使用 有来自不同文化和语言背景的学生。集体管理措施的使用 促进可行性，并允许在现实世界的课堂上实际实施。测量语法的项目， 将开发和校准词汇和新词含义的派生，以创建一个跨级 语言成绩的垂直衡量标准。语言理解的发展变化 将在K年级和1年级每年进行三次语言理解测试 (例如，秋季、冬季、春季)和二年级的一次管理。我们将评估临床和教育 通过加速队列设计研究新奇语言理解测验的效度 从K年级到3年级，并将它们与语言和阅读能力的标准化测量相关联 这将在每个年级进行一次。临床效用将使用(A)传统的二进制进行检查 敏感度、特异度和似然比的分类分析，以及(B)前沿连续 测量模型。后一种模型将沿着连续体估计个体变化，从而使我们能够 评估学生随时间变化的趋势，而不是简单的及格标准，后者可能是武断的 前后不一致。这一信息将帮助临床医生确定儿童何时可能表现出足够的成就 但面临着接近临床门槛的风险，以及接受语言支持的儿童正在增加的风险 退回到与他们的同龄人或指导水平更具代表性的表现水平。

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.