CENTER FOR RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION IN EARLY … · CENTER FOR RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD ... Juniper Gardens Children‟s Project, ... The Total Communication Score

CENTER FOR

RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Utah Conference on Effective Practices for Teachers and Human Service Professionals:

Interventions Across the Lifespan

Utah State University, Logan UT, June 23, 2011

Response to Intervention

(RTI) with Infants/Toddlers

Early Communication

(Break Out #1)

Charles R. Greenwood and

Judith J. Carta

Juniper Gardens Children‟s Project,

University of Kansas

Today’s Presentation

This presentation discusses what we have learned developing a

measure of children‟s growth in early communication skills for

practitioners during the 6 to 42 of age.

Data are presented showing the dynamic patterns of changes in

early skills in reference to more complex skills over time

The RTI approach developed by the authors for screening, risk, and

intervention decision making is described using the measure.

Results of a Tier 2 language interventions implemented by Early

Head Start home visitors and parents are presented.

Implications for child care and early intervention are discussed.

An RTI approach requires tools that

support evidence-based practice?

Access to measures of short-term growth and development that can be used for

universal screening of all children

progress monitoring for children receiving interventions in a decision-making model

Access to effective, feasible interventions for use in Tier 1, 2, and 3 services

Access to professional development and decision making support enabling implementation

Development of measures of short-term

growth in early communication skills for

infants and toddlers

A major limitation to the RTI approach in early childhood is lack of validity measure of short-term growth that practitioners can use to determine a child‟s response to intervention

In 2002, we began work to develop such measures

Carta, J. J., Greenwood, C. R., Walker, D., & Buzhardt, J. (2010). Using IGDIs: Monitoring progress and improving intervention results for infants and young children. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

Language to Literacy

Connection: Domains

Infant/Toddler Preschool (PreK) Early Elementary (K-3)

Early Language and

Communication

Language and Early

Literacy

Early Literacy and Reading

Prelinquistic Language Phonological Awareness Phonological Awareness

Oral Language Alphabet Knowledge Alphabetic Principle

Oral Language

(Vocabulary)

Vocabulary

Oral Comprehension Accuracy and Reading

Fluency

Reading Comprehension

Language to Literacy

Connection: Measurement

Infant/Toddler IGDIs Preschool IGDIs DIBELS

www.igdi.ku.edu http://ggg.umn.edu/ https://dibels.uoregon.ed/

Early Communication

Birth to 3

Language and Early Literacy

3 to 5

Early Literacy

K to 3rd Grade

Gestures Letter Orientation Letter Naming Fluency

Vocalizations Sound Identification Initial Sound Fluency

Single Words

Utterances

Rhyming Phoneme Segmentation

Fluency

Multiple Words

Utterances

Alliteration Nonsense Word Fluency

Definitional Vocabulary Oral Reading Fluency

Picture Naming Vocabulary Retelling Fluency

Which One Doesn’t Belong?

General Outcome: “The child uses gestures, sounds, words, or

sentences to convey wants and needs or to express meaning to

others”

Constructs: Prelinguistic Spoken

Communication Language

Indicators:

Gesture Vocalization Single Words Multiple Words

0--------6--------12--------18--------24--------30--------36

Months of Age

What Should the Infant/Toddler Early

Communication Indicator Measures?

For Example, Gestures

Notice how she

expresses her wants

and needs using

Gestures!

For Example, Multiple Word

Utterances

Vocalizations Multi-Word

Utterances

Single Words

Total Communication per Minute

Gestures

The Total Communication Score

The ECI Standard Protocol

6-minute play session with a familiar adult

Alternate forms: Fisher Price House and Barn

Adult follows child‟s lead (Does not take the

lead)

The occurrence of frequency of key skills are

recorded on a standard data form

Barn and House Forms

The Early Communication

IGDI (6 to 42 Months)

What are IGDIs and What do

they do?

Individual Growth and Development Indicators

Quick indicators of children's growth toward socially valued outcomes

Inform intervention decision making

Focus on key skill indicators rather than wide-band comprehensive skills

Other Common

“Indicators” Height/weight

Charts

Thermometer

•Quick and easy

•Relatively inexpensive

•Repeatable

•Indicates potential problem

and effectiveness of an

intervention

One Child’s Growth Chart

Developmental Trajectory

Approach

Early Head Start Normative Samples

(8% with IFSPs)

2006 N = 1480 Children

2010 N = 5883 Children, 26 programs in 2

states

ECI Mean Growth

Trajectories

ECI Total Communication

Trajectories for 26 EHS Programs

Greenwood, C. R., Buzhardt, J., Walker, D., Howard, W. J., &

Anderson, R. (In press). Program-level influences on the

measurement of early communication for infants and toddlers in

Early Head Start. Journal of Early Intervention.

ECI Key Skills Trajectories

Greenwood, C. R., Walker, D., & Buzhardt, J. (2010). The Early Communication Indicator (ECI) for infants and toddlers: Early Head Start growth norms from two states. Journal of Early Intervention, 32(5), 310-334.

ECI Key Skills by IFSP Status

Access to effective, feasible

interventions for use in Tier 1, 2, and 3

services

Examples: Commenting and Labeling

Parents Implementing

Commenting and Labeling

Teachers Implementing

Commenting and Labeling

Evidence of Effectiveness

References

Buzhardt, J., Greenwood, C. R., Walker, D., Anderson, R., Howard, W., & Carta, J. J. (in press). Effects of web-based support on Early Head Start home visitors‟ use of evidence-based intervention decision making and growth in children‟s expressive communication. National Head Start Association Dialog: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field.

Buzhardt, J., Walker, D., Greenwood, C., & Carta, J. (in press). A study of an online tool to support evidence-based practices with infants and toddlers (Research-to-Practice Summary). National Head Start Association (NHSA) Dialog: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field.

Access to professional development and

decision making support enabling

implementation

IGDI Website:

www.igdi.ku.edu

Publicly accessible material

IGDI descriptions

Materials needed for implementation

Scoring definitions

Scoring sheets

Administration checklists

Toys for administration

Psychometric properties

Training and certification resources

Intervention materials

Contact information

Online data system (password-

protected)

Data management

Web-based certification

Assessor management

Child rosters and demographics

Program-wide aggregated

reports

Data-based intervention

decision making tools (MOD)

Current Data System and MOD

Use IGDI Online data system use

Over 32,000 assessments entered into the data system

Over 11,000 infants and toddlers assessed

Approximately 1,100 user accounts (certified assessors, program

directors, data entry personnel, trainees, etc.)

Usage covers 22 states and three countries

MOD currently being tested in a limited number of midwestern

Early Head Start and Part C programs

Five Kansas Early Head Start programs currently using the MOD

Iowa Heartland Area Agency (Part C)

Online Certification Training

Web-Site Data Entry

Customizable Dynamic Reports

Individual Child Report

1. All data for single child

2. Total communication and Key Skill graphs

Program Report

1. Assessor info

2. Demographic summary of children in program

3. Info about ECI assessments conducted

4. Summary of children‟s communication proficiency

5. Graphs of average rate of total comm. and key skills

Project Report

Similar to program, but across ALL programs

OSEP Report

Information relevant to programs that need to report progress on specific OSEP outcomes

Graphs and Reports that Support

Data-based Decision Making

Base level support…

Progress Monitoring Graphs

Weighted Total Communication

Key Skill Elements

Program Reports

Identify children falling below benchmark

Identify children due for an assessment

Individual Child Reports

Child‟s Data

Summary

Child‟s Data Table

Individual Child Report

Critical child progress

information available

immediately upon login. (Only

available to program

directors/coordinators.)

Children due for an assessment

Instant

Progress

Monitoring

Information

Additional Support: Making

Online Decisions (MOD) System

Automate identification of low-performing children

Document decision making progress within the data

system

Intervention(s) used

Work with caregivers on implementing intervention

strategies

Caregiver intervention implementation

Intervention changes

Analysis of child’s response to the intervention

Is It Being Done?

The completed First Fidelity Checklist is entered

into the MOD

Provide caregiver with “Caregiver Checklist” if you

think he/she will complete it

Tilley’s Decision-making Model

We used Tilley‟s

decision making

model so that

children below

benchmark

receive more

intensive home

language services

sooner when

needed according

to the ECI

Making Online

Decisions (MOD)

Summary of MOD Steps

1) Entry into the MOD requires a valid ECI at least slightly below benchmark

2) Answer questions about any recent changes in the child‟s environment or medical issues

3) Child receives monthly ECIs

4) MOD recommends strategies tied to child‟s current language proficiency

5) Home visitor and caregiver(s) identify strategies most appropriate for family

6) Complete First and Follow-up checklists and enter them into MOD system

7) MOD monitors child‟s language progress

8) Home visitor continues to work with caregiver to identify what strategies are working and which ones are not

Is It Being Done?

On subsequent home visits, discuss the strategies with

caregiver(s)

How much are they using the strategies?

Which ones do they like the most?

Are they having trouble using them?

Are they noticing any language improvement?

Complete the Follow-up Checklist

Enter checklist into MOD

Is It Working?

Three ECI‟s after the caregiver(s) receive the

recommendations…

MOD analyzes ECI performance

1. ECI before and after the recommendations were provided

2. ECI slope

3. Expected ECI performance six months from now

Is It Working?

The “What Should Be

Done” recommendations

will adapt to reflect

changes in Olive‟s

performance on the Key

Skill Elements.

Is It Working?

Continue to discuss

strategies with parents

Children who rise out of

„grey area‟ and remain

there will stop monthly

monitoring and

checklists

Implications

To reach a new level of effectiveness,

practitioners will need a new generation of

tools and evidence-based practices

This work illustrates some of these tools

supporting home visitors and parents

implement an RTI approach to language

intervention for high risk children

Results appear highly promising in terms of

feasibility, scale, and child results