Description:

Purpose: This project is designed to complete validation research on the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills for identifying whether a student has a primary language impairment or language-based learning disability and to develop profiles of students’ language and literacy strengths and weaknesses. Unlike existing measures, the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills will assess both spoken and written language, be curriculum related and inform instruction, be easy and efficient to administer, and reliably and accurately identify students with language difficulties.

Project Activities: Approximately 2000 students throughout the United States will participate. Participants will include students with or at risk for language impairments or language-based learning disabilities, typically developing students, and students with autism spectrum disorder, hearing impairments, or intellectual disability. A series of four studies will be implemented to determine the predictive and criterion validity of the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills and whether the measure produces profiles of students with language or learning problems that deviate from those of their typically developing peers.

Products: The product of this project will be a fully developed and validated assessment of students’ language and literacy strengths and weaknesses and technical reports.

Structured Abstract

Setting: Students throughout the United States will participate.

Population: Approximately 2000 students who are 6-18 years old will participate. Participants will include students with or at risk for language impairments or language-based learning disabilities. The project will also include typically developing students and students with autism spectrum disorder, hearing impairments, or intellectual disability.

Intervention: The Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills is individually administered by practitioners and contains 10 subtests. The subtests assess vocabulary skills, phonemic awareness, decoding, listening and reading comprehension, and writing. It takes approximately 90 minutes to administer all of the subtests.

Research Design and Methods: Four studies will be conducted during the project period to provide information about the psychometric properties of the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills. The first study which measures typically developing students’ performance will provide information about interpreting individual student scores and the degree to which profiles of typically developing students differ from profiles of students with language or learning disorders. The second study will extend existing validation work and investigate use of the measure for planning instruction. The third study will enroll students with autism spectrum disorder, hearing impairment, and mild intellectual disability to establish whether the measure produces language and literacy profiles associated with each of these groups. The final study will provide evidence of the criterion-related and predictive validity of the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills and a companion Language and Literacy Questionnaire using other language and literacy assessments.

Control Condition: There is no control condition.

Key Measures: In addition to the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills measure described above, researchers will use other standardized measures of oral narrative abilities, phonological awareness, listening and reading comprehension, fluency, and writing.

Data Analytic Strategy: A series of analytic methods, including differential item functioning analyses, exploratory factor analysis, correlation analyses, and repeated measures analysis of variance, will be used to determine the predictive and criterion validity of the measures and whether profiles of students with language or learning problems deviate from those of their typically developing peers.

Products and Publications

Book chapter

Nelson, N. (2015). Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills (TILLS). In V.W. Berninger, and Advisory Panel (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Frameworks for Schools: Best Professional Practices for Serving the Needs of all Students. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Nelson, N.W. (2014). Integrating Language Assessment, Instruction, and Intervention in an Inclusive Writing Lab Approach. In B. Arfé, J., Dockrell, and V. Berninger (Eds.), Writing Development and Instruction in Children With Hearing, Speech, and Oral Language Difficulties (pp. 273–300). New York: Oxford University Press.

Book chapter, edition specified

Anderson, M.A., and Nelson, N.W. (2014). Public Policies Affecting Clinical Practice. In R. Paul, and P.W. Cascella (Eds.), Introduction to Clinical Methods in Communication Disorders (3rd ed., pp. 237–262). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Nelson, N.W. (2014). Classroom-Based Writing Assessment. In A. Stone, E. Silliman, B. Ehren, and G. Wallach (Eds.), Handbook of Language and Literacy Development and Disorders (2nd ed., pp. 524–543). New York: Guilford Press.

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Caesar, L., and Nelson, N.W. (2014). Parental Involvement in Language and Literacy Acquisition: A Bilingual Journaling Approach. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 30(3): 317–336 . doi:10.1177/0265659013513028

Ehren, B.J., Blosser, J., Roth, F.P., Paul, D.R., and Nelson, N.W. (2012). Core Commitment: The Common Core State Standards are Here and School-Based SLPs are in a Prime Position to Help Students. The ASHA Leader, 17(4): 10–13.

Hotz, G., Plante, E., Helm-Estabrooks, N., and Nelson, N.W. (2014). The Importance of Orientation in Evaluating Recovery in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury. International Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 5(4): 1–5. doi:10.4172/2329–9096.S5–004 Full text

Nelson, N.W. (2011). Questions About Certainty and Uncertainty in Clinical Practice. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 42(1): 81–87. doi:10.1044/0161–1461(2010/09–0046)

Nelson, N.W. (2013). Syntax Development in the School-Age Years: Implications for Assessment and Intervention. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 39(3): 9–15.

Nelson, N.W., and Crumpton, T. (2015). Reading, Writing, and Spoken Language Assessment Profiles for Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing Compared With Students With Language Learning Disabilities. Topics in Language Disorders, 35(2): 157–179. doi:10.1097/TLD.0000000000000055?

Prelock, P.J., and Nelson, N.W. (2012). Language and Communication in Autism: An Integrated View. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 59(1): 129–145. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2011.10.008

Tattersall, P., Nelson, N.W., and Tyler, A. (2015). A Pilot Study Comparing Two Nonword Repetition Tasks for Use in a Formal Test Battery. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 36(3): 172–176. doi:10.1177/1525740114549351

Tattersall, P., Nelson, N.W., and Tyler, A. (2015). Associations Among Nonword Repetition and Phonemic and Vocabulary Awareness: Implications for Intervention. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 31(2): 159–171. doi:10.1177/0265659014554719