IES Staff
Amy Sussman
Education Research Analyst
NCSER
About
Amy Sussman is the Program Officer currently overseeing NCSER’s Early Intervention and Early Learning and NCER’s Early Learning Programs and Policies research topics as well as large-scale Networks and R&D Centers in a variety of education research fields. Prior to joining IES in 2010, Dr. Sussman was the Program Director for the Developmental and Learning Sciences program at the National Science Foundation, an adjunct faculty member and researcher at Georgetown University studying early care and education, a Research Analyst at the American Institutes for Research, and an American Psychological Association Congressional Fellow serving in the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families. She received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Yale University.
Associated IES Content
Grant
Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (CSESA)
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1 in 88 children have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism is a pervasive disorder affecting multiple developmental outcomes (e.g., behavior, communication, cognitive skills). The heterogeneity of abilities poses a significant challenge for schools in determining how best to meet the needs of each child within the least restrictive environment. The research to date suggests that despite some mitigation in the sev...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324C120006
Grant
Special Education Research and Development Center on Reading Instruction for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Poor literacy skills have been characteristic of the deaf population for decades. National data suggest that median literacy rates of deaf high school graduates have remained consistently around the fourth grade level since the beginning of the twentieth century. About one in five deaf students who graduate from high school have reading skills at or below the second grade level; about one in three deaf students who graduate from high school have reading skills between the second and fourth g...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324C120001
Cooperative agreement
National Research Center on Advanced Education
The Center brings together experts from four research institutions and three SEAs to study high-priority issues in the area of advanced and accelerated education.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305C250014
The Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Network
In FY 2018, the Institute initiated a new grant program, Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Policy and Practice in Special Education to focus resources and attention on high-priority issues in special education and to create both a structure and process for researchers who are working on these issues to share ideas, build new knowledge, and strengthen their research and dissemination capacity. A Network consists of several research teams working on the same issue, coordinated by a
Minutes of Meeting: June 16, 2014
NBES meeting minutes on June 16, 2014
Early Intervention and Early Learning
The Early Intervention and Early Learning in Special Education (Early Intervention) topic supports research that contributes to the improvement of developmental outcomes and school readiness of infants, toddlers, and young children (from birth through age 5) with or at risk for disabilities.
Grant
Development of a Technology-Supported Adaptive Intervention for Young Children with Language Disorders and their Spanish-Speaking Caregivers
The purpose of this project is to develop and test Language and Play Every Day en español Online (LAPE-e Online), an adaptive, naturalistic communication intervention that uses new technology to coach Spanish-speaking Latinx caregivers to facilitate dual-language development in their young children with language disorders (LD). The growing population of Latinx children under age 3 with LD in the United States is at significant risk for later developmental and academic challenges without acc...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A240080
Grant
Evaluating the Impact of the STREAMin3 Curriculum to Improve the Quality of Children's Early Learning Experiences and Their School Readiness Skills
The goal of this study is to conduct an initial efficacy trial to test the impact of the STREAMin3 curriculum model. Many of America's youngest children attend private, center-based, early learning and care programs. The quality of these programs is often mediocre or poor. States are increasingly expanding their early childhood education (ECE) investments to improve the quality of programs serving infants and toddlers. However, much of the research advancing high-quality ECE experiences is f...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240080
Grant
An Initial Efficacy Trial of the Early Learning Matters (ELM) Curriculum
The researchers will test the initial efficacy of Early Learning Matters (ELM) for promoting school readiness. In recent years, the need for a research-informed, comprehensive curriculum for early care and education (ECE) settings has become evident. Critically, the existing comprehensive curricula that are most commonly used (e.g., Creative Curriculum, High Scope) either (1) have not been studied rigorously; (2) are expensive, making access a challenge for programs with few resources (e.g.,...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240113
Grant
Development and Innovations of the TRANSLATE (Teaching Reading and New Strategic Language Approaches to Emergent Bilinguals) Curriculum
In this project, the research team proposes to close gaps in literacy learning opportunities for middle grade (grades 4 through 6) multilingual learners (MLs) by iteratively developing and piloting a curricular approach, called Project TRANSLATE (Teaching Reading and New Strategic Language Approaches to English-learners). TRANSLATE aims to support the reading comprehension development of MLs, who represent a particularly heterogeneous population in terms of English language development level...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240185
Grant
Improving Student Behavior Supports in Elementary Schools Through a Team Communication and Coaching Fidelity Tool
This study will test the efficacy of a technology tool designed to improve the use and effectiveness of Tier 3 function-based behavior supports for students with chronic challenging behaviors. In the past two decades, there has been an increased focus on systems-wide positive behavioral supports to help student learning. However, educators often struggle to provide appropriate intervention options for students with complex needs. Barriers to implementing such Tier 3 interventions within a mu...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A230014
Grant
High Impact Models of Early Intervention Support: Accelerating Child Outcomes and Systems Policies
The purpose of this project is to analyze two large early intervention (EI) databases from the state of Kentucky (KY) to determine which EI service delivery models (in person, telehealth, or hybrid) most positively influence child developmental trajectories and for which children, especially among historically underrepresented families. EI services provide supports to children identified with or at risk for developmental delay under the age of 3 years. Traditionally, these services were prov...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A230160
Grant
Development of an Implementation Support Package to Install, Implement, and Sustain MTSS in Early Childhood Settings
It is widely recognized that early childhood education plays a significant role in children's development. Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) offers a dynamic and equitable early intervention and prevention approach based on a teaching philosophy that all children should receive the intensity of instruction needed to achieve. Early childhood researchers have developed individual interventions and assessments intended for use in MTSS. The research team developed some components of the int...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A230405
Grant
Words as Tools: Vocabulary Development for Emergent Bilinguals for Science and Beyond
The research team will develop and test a new intervention for emergent bilingual (EB) adolescents called Words as Tools. This intervention will be designed for use in English as a second language (ESL) classes to promote development of metalinguistic awareness with science vocabulary. Rather than teaching only the meaningsof science words, Words as Tools will equip students with flexible, generative word knowledge related to science content. Established principles of robust vocabulary instr...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A230397
Grant
Examining the Efficacy of Program-Wide Supports for Pyramid Model Implementation (PWS-PMT): Addressing Young Children's Social-Emotional Competence and Challenging Behavior
The purpose of this project is to conduct an initial efficacy study of a system of supports for implementing the Pyramid Model for Promoting Social-Emotional Competence program-wide (PWS-PMT) in early childhood programs. The Pyramid Model is a tiered framework of teaching practices for promoting social-emotional competence and addressing challenging behavior in young children . PWS-PMT describes the systems that programs put in place to support and sustain the use of Pyramid Model practices ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A230061
Grant
Supporting the Educational Attainment of Active and Former English Learners in High School in Chicago
This study will systematically examine the experiences and performance of high school English Learners (ELs), alert to differences among distinct subgroups: long-time ELs, former ELs, and late-arriving ELs, to help schools better support their educational attainment. ELs are less likely to graduate from high and enroll in college, but little is known about the factors most important for success among high school ELs.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220430
Grant
Integrated, Intelligent, and Interactive Technologies Building Young Children's Math Along Learning Trajectories
Integrated, Intelligent, and Interactive Technologies Building Young Children's Math Along Learning Trajectories
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220102
Grant
Efficacy of TeacherRead-MaestrosLeer for Enhancing the Foundational Language and Literacy Skills of Dual Language Learners
Interventions that improve the language and literacy outcomes of dual language learner (DLL) children before they enter kindergarten can improve the long-term academic outcomes of these children and produce long-term savings in supplemental and remedial education supports. Evidence about promising early interventions for DLLs is therefore highly policy relevant, especially since DLLs are a large and growing share of the U.S. student population. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220086
Grant
Observer Impression Scale of Preschool Children's Peer Social Competence
Observer Impression Scale of Preschool Children's Peer Social Competence
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220241
Grant
Exploring Malleable and Meaningful Factors in Preschool Teachers' Talk Related to Children's Language Outcomes
Early language development is critical to young children's school readiness. Strong language skills support children's academic achievement in reading, math, and broader academic areas. Substantial numbers of young children enter kindergarten with weak language skills, placing them at-risk for disabilities and ongoing school difficulties. Despite this, all preschool programs do not provide children with sufficient opportunities to develop their language skills. Too many classrooms provide lo...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220420
Grant
Longitudinal Impacts of the Boston Prekindergarten Program Through Early Adulthood
Decades of research shows that children who attend preschool enter kindergarten with stronger school readiness skills. However, questions about how long the benefits of preschool last have persisted since the first major public investment in preschool in the U.S in the 1960s. In partnership with the Boston Public Schools (BPS), researchers will conduct a follow-up study of the impacts of the Boston Prekindergarten (Pre-K) Program into early adulthood. Researchers will follow four cohorts of ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220036
Grant
Elevating Engineering with Multilingual Learners
When teachers transform classrooms into places that fuel curiosity, enable collaboration, and invite communication, students can become the problem-solvers of tomorrow. With the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), engineering is expected to be taught, yet most elementary teachers do not feel prepared. The goal of this project is to develop, study, and refine a professional learning (PL) intervention that helps grade 3-5 teachers develop the knowledge and skills they need to effectively...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220456
Grant
A Lottery-Based Efficacy Study of the District of Columbia Public Prekindergarten Program
While the evidence on short- and longer-term prekindergarten efficacy has grown in recent years, nearly all existing research comes from studies of programs for 4-year-olds. Increasing policy interest in programs for 3-year-olds, persistent disparities in access, and theories and evidence from economics, neuroscience, and developmental psychology highlight the need for new research so that policymakers, practitioners, and the public can make informed choices about investments in children's s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210506
Grant
Individual Growth and Development Indicators for Hmong Preschoolers: High-Quality Screening Tools for Diverse Learners
Research on language and literacy has provided information on English development, domain specific skills, and the trajectory of early literacy and language skills. However, little attention has been focused on low incidence populations, including ethnically and linguistically diverse students. Hmong Americans, one subgroup of Asian Americans, represent one of the most underserved cultural communities in the US. Hmong Americans represent an important Asian sub-group that may experience a neg...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210097
Grant
Computer Adaptive Storybook Assessment (CASA)
The purpose of this project is to develop a new tablet-based measure in English and Spanish, Computer-Adaptive Storybook Assessment (CASA), to monitor language and literacy progress in preschoolers with disabilities or at risk for later language difficulties. Language and early literacy development are key hallmarks for later academic and social success. Studies demonstrate a relationship between language and early literacy performance during preschool across three domains (oral language, ph...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A210088
Grant
Developing A2i Spanish Adaptive Progress Monitoring Assessments for PK-3rd Grade
The purpose of this project is to create a complementary Spanish version of the psychometrically robust English Assessment-to-Instruction (A2i) computer adaptive, progress monitoring assessments. The new instrument will be called A2i-Adquisición de Lectura en Español (A2i-ALE) and it will be 1) validated with a gold standard measure of Spanish literacy skills; 2) psychometrically comparable to the A2i English assessments, monitoring language and literacy learning in both languages; 3) able...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210136
Grant
Teaching Together: The Added Value of Tiered School Plus Home Interventions for Young Children At-Risk for Language Difficulties
The purpose of this project is to examine the efficacy of the Teaching Together program for pre-kindergarten (pre-k) children who are at risk of academic difficulties due to limited oral language skills. This project is unique in its focus on oral language supports in both the classroom and home settings. In early childhood classrooms serving low-income students, up to 50% of children may exhibit language difficulties, which are associated with long-term challenges for reading and academic s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210157
Grant
Red Light, Purple Light! Evaluating a Self-Regulation Intervention for Children in Early Learning Settings
Preschool is a critical time for the development of self-regulation, which is essential for children's long-term social and academic success. Developing and testing programs that help children develop self-regulation in preschool is critical to ensuring long-term success. This project will test the initial efficacy of Red Light, Purple Light (RLPL), a self-regulation intervention that was developed as part of an IES grant. The RLPL intervention is designed to promote children's school readin...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210502
Grant
Building Coaching Capacity: Development of the Core Competencies for Coaching Professional Development Program (C3PD)
The purpose of this project is to develop a generalizable professional development model, Core Competencies for Coaches Professional Development Program (C3PD), that supports coaches who work with early childhood classroom teachers in diverseprogrammatic contexts (public school pre-k, Head Start, childcare). The research team will iteratively develop a scalable, technology- mediated professional development model that trains coaches to implement evidence-based coaching strategies with earl...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210075
Grant
Initial Efficacy Trial of Florida Embedded Practices and Intervention with Caregivers
The purpose of this project is to examine the efficacy of Florida Embedded Practices and Intervention with Caregivers (FL-EPIC) on improving outcomes for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their caregivers. FL-EPIC is a fully developed, caregiver-implemented intervention for infants and toddlers receiving Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C services implemented within community-based early intervention (EI) programs. This evaluation is timely because Florida has...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A210081
Grant
Developing Early Achievements for Pre-K Children with Developmental Language Disorders: A Comprehensive Contextualized Embodied Approach
The aim of this project is to adapt the Early Achievements (EA) intervention, a classroom-based comprehensive intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder, for implementation with children having moderate to severe developmental language disorders (DLD). While speech-language pathologists are trained to provide the high-quality support needed to accelerate language learning in children with DLD, their caseloads are considered unmanageably large, limiting the intervention the...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A210031
Grant
Personalizing Literacy Instruction for English Learners
With growing numbers of English learners (ELs) in the U.S., there is a need to better understand how to support their literacy development during the early grades so that they can succeed academically. Three aims of this project are to: 1) examine the nature of literacy instruction in kindergarten through third grade EL classrooms; 2) examine child characteristics by instruction interaction effects on ELs' later language and literacy outcomes; and 3) investigate how the Assessment-to-Instruc...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A210077
Grant
Transdisciplinary Approaches to Improving Opportunities and Outcomes for English Learners: Using Engagement, Team-Based Learning, and Formative Assessment to Develop Content and Language Proficiency
This R&D Center is examining instruction of secondary English learners.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305C200016
Grant
Building Preschool Children's Complex Language Using Informational Texts
The purpose of this project is to teach complex language skills (that is, how to use information to draw inferences, use and understand syntactic/semantic relationships, and use and understand academic vocabulary) to preschool-age children during interactive book reading, mapping, and hands-on activities using informational texts.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200271
Grant
Developing and Testing a Blended Behavior and Language Intervention for Toddlers at High Risk for Persistent Developmental Language Disorders
This project aims to develop and evaluate the promise of Toddler Talk, a model that blends two evidence-based practices - Teaching Pyramid for Supporting the Social Emotional Development of Young Children (Pyramid Model) and Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) - to improve language development in toddlers at high risk for persistent developmental language disorders and poor social and academic outcomes. There are no current early interventions that address this population of young children and th...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A200193
Grant
Early Intervention for Young Children At Risk for ADHD: Evaluating Efficacy and Delivery Format for Behavioral Parent Education
The primary aim of the initial efficacy study is to examine the effects of face-to-face and online behavioral parent education (BPE), using the intervention Promoting Engagement for ADHD Pre-Kindergartners (PEAK), on parent knowledge of and fidelity with intervention strategies, parent treatment acceptability, child and parent behavior, and child early academic skills for families of young children at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Young children with ADHD exhibit ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A200010
Grant
Reading and Playing With Math: Promoting Preschoolers' Math Language Through Picture Books and Play Activities
The purpose of this study is to develop, refine, and evaluate a new math language intervention, Reading and Playing with Math (RP-Math). Math language is the specific content language (e.g., words and concepts such as more, fewer, a lot, many) that has distinct meanings when used in math contexts. It is one of the strongest predictors of growth in numeracy skills, and it underlies acquisition of numeracy skills. Yet there are currently no empirically supported tools for providing instruction...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200389
Grant
Development of a Responsive Computerized-Adaptive Assessment System for Pre-K Mathematics
Development of a Responsive Computerized-Adaptive Assessment System for Pre-K Mathematics
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200368
Grant
Individual Growth and Development Indicators: Automated Performance Evaluation of Early Language and Literacy in Español: IGDI-APEL Español
The purpose of this project is to expand the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI) suite of psychometrically robust measures for Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs) by developing and validating measures for 3-year-olds. In order to support educators in making databased decisions that will lead to improvements in student outcomes, these measures will be designed to be sensitive to the practical demands of conducting assessment in community early education settings by ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200090
Grant
Effects of Home and Classroom Practices on Language, Cognitive, and Social Development of Young Spanish-Speaking English Learners
Young English learners (ELs) living in poverty are at risk for later reading difficulties and are less likely than their peers to encounter the level of responsive, extended conversations in their homes and preschools needed for school readiness. Furthermore, many types of dual language programs in U.S. schools operate in ways that delay regular exposure to English until later grades, rather than systematically teaching in ways that build on students' knowledge of their home language to acce...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200251
Grant
Coach Facilitated Mobile Parent-Training Program for Women With Cognitive Delays Who Are Mothers of Infants
This project aims to develop an adaptation of the existing online Play and Learning Strategies (ePALS) parenting program for mothers with infants when the mothers have significant cognitive delays. Infants of mothers with cognitive delays are at significantly elevated risk for a host of detrimental outcomes, including neglect and abuse of children and school readiness problems. Research indicates that early interventions to improve parenting practices are effective in ameliorating these outc...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A200153
Grant
National Research and Development Center to Improve Education for Secondary English Learners
English Learners (ELs) in secondary schools face two types of challenges: barriers to accessing rigorous courses and a scarcity of quality learning opportunities in school that prepare them for life, careers, and civic participation. To understand policies and systems-level practices that are related to the school experiences of ELs in secondary schools, the National Research and Development Center to Improve Education for Secondary English Learners (the center) will carry out two lines of i...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305C200008
Grant
Efficacy of Story Friends Vocabulary Curriculum Targeting Preschoolers At Risk for Language and Literacy Disabilities
This project aims to evaluate the efficacy of Story Friends, a supplemental vocabulary curriculum targeting preschoolers who demonstrate oral language deficits that put them at risk for language and reading disabilities. Expanding a child's range of sophisticated academic vocabulary has the potential to contribute to the prevention of later reading problems. Story Friends can be implemented with high fidelity in preschool classrooms within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework. Whole-c...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A200179
Grant
Tools for Families
This project aims to develop and test for promise an intervention for preschool teachers to enhance their knowledge and skills to use relational and participatory family-centered practices to engage families of young children with disabilities in planning, implementing, and evaluating embedded instruction for early learning (EIEL) at school and at home. Tools for Families (TFF) will be a new component of EIEL, which currently includes Tools for Teachers, an existing IES-funded professional d...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A200044
Grant
Effect of Bilingual vs Monolingual Methods of Explicit English Vocabulary Instruction on 4th Grade Spanish-Speaking English Learners (EL)
This project will contribute to the knowledge base of strategies for explicit academic English vocabulary instruction as malleable factors that can impact academic language development in English learners (ELs). Researchers will investigate the effects of the strategic use of native language vocabulary definitions as supports for promoting academic English vocabulary learning.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200047
Grant
Validation of a Spanish-Language Social Reasoning Assessment for Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners
The overarching purpose of this project is to determine whether a Spanish-language version of Virtual Environment for Social Information Processing (VESIP-Sp) is valid for use by Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in third to seventh grade. There is increasing recognition that social-emotional competencies such as social information processing, or social reasoning, skills influence a wide range of students' functional outcomes. In parallel with this recognition of the importan...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A200463
Grant
Preschool Teachers' Postsecondary Coursework, Instructional Quality, and Children's Cognitive and Social-Emotional Outcomes
This study will examine the relationships between the teachers' coursework content, instructional quality, and children's cognitive, language, and social-emotional outcomes. There is a lack of consensus in the field of early childhood education about the knowledge, competencies, and qualifications that early childhood teachers need to be effective. There are mixed findings in the research literature regarding associations between teacher education, classroom quality, and children's school re...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190317
Grant
A Conceptual Efficacy Replication of the TELL Preschool Curriculum with Web-Based Implementation Support and Professional Development Variations
The purpose of this project is to investigate the efficacy of the Teaching Early Literacy and Language (TELL) curriculum when professional development (PD) support is delivered through a web-based platform with variations on the number of specific PD components. TELL and its associated PD was developed by the research team to address the needs of preschool-aged children with developmental speech and/or language impairment. The initial efficacy trial showed improvements in a variety of langua...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A190181
Grant
Evaluating the Efficacy of an Interdisciplinary Preschool Curriculum (EPIC)
This project will evaluate the efficacy of a new comprehensive interdisciplinary curriculum, Connect4Learning (C4L). Although the importance of all young children gaining competence in four core curricular domains-social-emotional, language and literacy, mathematics, and science-is well established, research results on the efficacy of comprehensive curricula is dismal, with no measurable effects in comparative studies and near zero effect sizes for the most commonly-used preschool curricula....
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A190395
Grant
Professional Development to Support Intervention Implementation of the Promoting Communication Tools for Advancing Language in Kids (PC TALK) for Infants and Toddlers at Risk for or with Disabilities
The goal of this project is to design and test a professional development (PD) framework to support implementation of Promoting Communication Tools for Advancing Language in Kids (PC TALK), an existing intervention aimed at supporting parents in improving the language learning opportunities and outcomes of infants and toddlers with or at risk for disabilities. Research has documented the association between early opportunities to learn and practice language in daily interactions and later la...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A190223
Grant
EMT en Español: Comprehensive Early Intervention to Support School Readiness Skills for Spanish-Speaking Toddlers with Language Delays
The goal of this study is to examine the efficacy of EMT en Español, a cultural and linguistic adaptation of Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT), to improve the language and related school readiness skills of young Spanish-speaking children with receptive and expressive language delays. Early language delays impact children's later communicative, social, behavioral, and academic skills and put children at risk for persistent language impairment. Therefore, early language intervention, particular...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A190177
Grant
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Research Network (MTSS-RN) Leadership Team
The MTSS Network Lead will provide the organizational structure needed to allow the Network to run smoothly, foster collaborative efforts across the Research Teams, and ensure that the Network achieves its research and leadership goals.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324N180020
Grant
Development of a Web-Based Integrated Behavior Support and Teacher Coaching System for Early Childhood Settings
The purpose of this project is to develop and test a collaborative, web-based tool to improve early childhood teachers' implementation of interventions for children with or at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). Despite the development of multi-tiered systems of supports and evidence for the efficacy of positive behavior supports and function-based interventions (aimed at preventing and reducing challenging behavior), many early childhood programs lack the capacity to implement...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A180061
Grant
Examining the Cost-effectiveness of Continuous Improvement Models for Preschool Teachers: Balancing PD Structures to Match Teacher Need
Examining the Cost-effectiveness of Continuous Improvement Models for Preschool Teachers: Balancing PD Structures to Match Teacher Need
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180406
Grant
Training Teachers to Teach Vocabulary (T3V): A Professional Development Intervention for Toddler and Preschool Teachers Serving Children at Risk for Communication Difficulties
The purpose of this project is to develop Training Teachers to Teach Vocabulary (T3V), a professional development (PD) intervention to support early childhood classroom teachers in using evidence-based instructional practices to improve vocabulary knowledge among young children at risk for communication difficulties (CD). Vocabulary development is a key predictor of children's success in learning to read and in school more generally. Although research has identified effective teaching practi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A180192
Grant
Development of an Intervention for Center-Based Early Childhood Care and Education Providers to Support Evidence-Based Instruction of Children with Developmental Disabilities
The purpose of this project was to develop a professional development (PD) intervention to help early child care and education (ECCE) providers improve their knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in implementing evidence-based instructional practices for children with language, cognitive, and/or social delays (i.e., developmental disabilities). ECCE providers play a vital role in the development and well-being of children, many of whom have or are at risk for developmental disabilities. Howev...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A180085
Grant
Developing an Extension of the TELL Curriculum for 3-Year-Old Children with Developmental Speech and/or Language Impairment
The purpose of this project was to develop and pilot test an expanded version of Teaching Early Literacy and Language across the Curriculum (TELL), a preschool curriculum designed to promote differentiated instruction for children with developmental speech and/or language impairments to improve oral language and early literacy skills. The expanded version of TELL, originally designed for 4-year-old children, extended the curriculum down to age 3. Many children with mild to moderate delays or...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A180093
Grant
Teacher and Peer Speech in Inclusion Classrooms: Malleable Factors Affecting Language Outcomes for Children with Disabilities
The purpose of this project is to use innovative technologies to understand the role of teacher and peer speech in the language development and social relationships of preschool children with disabilities in inclusive settings. There is evidence that language-related experiences in the classroom impact children's language development. However, previous studies have been relatively short in duration. In this study, the researchers will use technologies that allow for real-time measurement of ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A180203
Grant
Development of a Tiered Coaching Model to Support the Professional Development of Inclusive Early Childhood Educators
The purpose of this project was to develop a tiered coaching model with a decision-making framework to guide coaches in determining the level of support teachers need. This decision-making framework was aimed at enabling instructional coaches to match their feedback to the type and amount of support that preschool teachers need during different activities, with different children, and across different points in their careers. While professional development (PD) and coaching have become a com...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A170149
Grant
Professional Development to Support Teachers' Implementation of a Tiered Model for Promoting Social-Emotional Development of Infants and Toddlers
The purpose of this project is to support teachers' implementation of a tiered model for promoting social-emotional growth in infants and toddlers by adapting an existing evidence-based tiered model and refining a professional development (PD) approach to support the teachers' implementation. Many early childhood teachers lack important skills for supporting children's early social-emotional development. As a result, many children enter kindergarten with or at high risk for challenging behav...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A170118
Grant
Professional Development of an MTSS Model for Early Childhood Educators to Prevent Reading Disabilities
This project will develop a professional development (PD) model to support teachers in implementing an early literacy Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) in early childhood classrooms to improve reading outcomes for children who are at risk for reading disabilities. MTSS provides varying levels (tiers) of instruction to students based on assessments that are used in data-based decision making by educators. Early childhood educators are rarely provided instruction in the philosophy and fun...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A170073
Grant
Development of a Data-Based Decision Making System to Support Educators' Promotion of Infants and Toddlers' Cognitive Problem-Solving Skills
In this project, the research team will develop and test a web-based tool that supports infant-toddler service providers' use of child data to individualize services for children at risk for delay in cognition, gross motor skills, communication, or social skills. Despite evidence that using child data to inform services and curriculum decisions improves child outcomes, infant-toddler educators often lack the training and resources needed to monitor children's progress on key outcomes and ind...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A170141
Grant
Parent Plus: Language Coach
The purpose of this project is to develop and pilot test an intervention aimed at improving the language outcomes of preschool children with language impairment (LI) by teaching parents to use evidence-based strategies with their children. LI is the most common disability during the preschool years. Although children with LI receive speech-language services in a preschool setting, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) do not have time to train parents to support their children's language abili...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A160070
Grant
Development and Testing of the Family Behavior Support App
The purpose of this project is to develop and pilot test the Family Behavior Support App (FBSApp), an intervention aimed at supporting parents in implementing interventions with their young children with disabilities and challenging behaviors in home settings. Persistent challenging behavior observed at a young age is associated with poor social and academic outcomes, and the rates of challenging behavior are higher for children with developmental disabilities. Challenging behavior places s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A160086
Grant
Assessing the Comprehension of Language in 2-Year-Olds Using Touch-Screen Technology
The purpose of this project was to develop a reliable and valid computer-based language assessment for children ages 24-36 months. Past research demonstrated that early language skills are predictive of later language and academic skills. Therefore, early identification of children with language delays can lead to improvement in their later linguistic and academic outcomes. This project was modeled after a previously developed assessment, the Quick Interactive Language Screener or QUILS, for...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A160241
Grant
An Efficacy Trial of the Early Achievements Comprehensive Intervention for Preschoolers with Autism
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of the Early Achievements Intervention for Preschoolers with ASD (EA-ASD), an intervention aimed at addressing the learning challenges of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) implemented by teachers in authentic public preschool educational settings. The multifaceted learning challenges of children with ASD lead to entering school without the fundamental skills necessary for academic and social success. The EA-ASD interventi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A160228
Grant
A Model of Professional Development that Focuses on the Centrality of Teacher-Child Interactions in the Learning, Behavior, and School Readiness of Preschool Children with Disabilities or At-Risk for Disabilities
The purpose of this project is to develop a model of professional development that focuses on the teacher-child interactions of preschool teachers and children with or at risk for disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Previous research has demonstrated the critical role that teacher-child interactions play in young children's outcomes. Further, research has demonstrated the importance of coaching with feedback and evaluation for supporting teachers in their transfer of knowledge to classroom...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A160277
Grant
An Intervention for Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairment: Independence through the Mealtime Routines Model
The project goal was to develop an intervention that trains providers to work with families on positive mealtime routines for infants and toddlers with severe visual impairment. Mealtime routines encourage children to develop behaviors that foster independence, a critical skill for success in classroom settings. However, most infants and toddlers with visual impairment require assistance at mealtime due to their inability to observe and imitate mealtime skills and engage in positive social i...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A160139
Grant
Promoting ASAP Collaboration through Technology (PACT): An Intervention Modification to Enhance Home-School Collaboration
The purpose of this project was to develop and pilot test a web-based enhancement of the classroom-based Advancing Social-Communication and Play (ASAP) intervention to support collaborations between home and school. ASAP was designed to develop joint attention (shared attention toward an object or event with another person) and symbolic play (pretending), both pivotal skills for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although there is evidence that ASAP has an impact, there is ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A170151
Grant
Project SELECT: Social Emotional Learning in Early Childhood for Infants and Toddlers
The purpose of this project was to develop a social-emotional intervention, Social Emotional Learning in Early Childhood for Infants and Toddlers (SELECT), to increase the quality of key parent–child interaction skills, improve children's social-emotional skills, and ultimately improve school readiness for infants and toddlers with disabilities. Significant numbers of infants and toddlers-particularly those with developmental disabilities-have social-emotional problems that are neither rec...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150145
Grant
Validation of Cognitive Problem-Solving and Movement Infant-Toddler IGDIs for Screening and General Outcome Progress Monitoring
This study will examine the reliability and validity of two Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) - the Early Cognitive Problem Solving Indicator (EPSI) and the Early Movement Indicator (EMI) - designed for screening and progress monitoring in intervention decision making with infants and toddlers with and without disabilities. High-quality services for young children with or at risk for disabilities increasingly rely on the use of data for decision making. The IGDIs were desi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150166
Grant
Impact of Professional Development on Preschool Teachers' Use of Embedded-Instruction Practices: An Efficacy Trial of Tools for Teachers
The goal of this study was to examine the efficacy of Tools for Teachers (TfT), a professional development intervention for using embedded instruction practices with preschool children with disabilities. Embedded instruction involves intentional teaching of individual child learning goals within the context of routine classroom activities. Prior research has found evidence that this approach can be effective with young children with varying disabilities, but embedded instruction practices ar...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150076
Grant
Efficacy of the START-Play Program for Infants with Neuromotor Disorders
The purpose of this project was to evaluate the efficacy of Sitting Together And Reaching To Play (START-Play), an intervention designed to target sitting, reaching, and motor-based problem solving to improve development and readiness to learn in infants with motor delays or movement dysfunction. There is limited research examining the efficacy of early physical intervention on infants with neuromotor dysfunction. In addition, most early motor interventions have not been directly linked to l...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150103
Grant
The Development and Validation of the Inventory of Phonological Awareness using Alternative Responses (IPAAR): An Assessment of Phonological Awareness Appropriate for Children with Speech Production Difficulties
The purpose of this study is to develop a computerized adaptive test of phonological awareness, called the Inventory of Phonological Awareness using Alternative Responses (IPAAR). Phonological awareness, the explicit awareness of and ability to manipulate the sound structure of language, is a key predictor of later literacy development. However, there are no standardized, validated tools of phonological awareness suited to meet the needs of children with limited speech production, despite th...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150063
Grant
Explicit Vocabulary Instruction in Automated Listening Centers for Young Children with Language Delays
This project proposed to develop a technology-based curriculum program, Story Friends. The curriculum, which focuses on vocabulary, was intended to supplement a core reading program and be implemented with high levels of fidelity in a variety of preschool settings and instructional programs. Substantial differences in vocabulary skills can exist among children entering preschool. Preschoolers with limited oral language skills are at high risk for reading disabilities. Many early childhood cl...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150132
Grant
Long-Term Effects of the Kids in Transition to School (KITS) Program for Children with Developmental Disabilities and Behavioral Problems
This research set out to examine the long-term effects of the Kids in Transition to School (KITS) Program, an intervention aimed at enhancing the school readiness of young children with co-occurring developmental disabilities and behavioral problems, on children's functioning in elementary school. Children with these co-occurring problems are at particularly high risk for problems with school readiness, which may lead to further negative educational outcomes. In a prior IES-funded study, the...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150149
Grant
CHildren in Action: Motor Program for PreschoolerS (CHAMPPS)
This project proposed to fully develop a class-wide motor skills intervention, CHildren in Action: Motor Program for PreschoolerS (CHAMPPS), for preschool children with developmental disabilities. Many of these children have delays in motor development, yet do not engage in structured motor play and physical activities to improve these skills. Enhancing motor development is an important goal itself, but fundamental motor skills are also linked to the development of cognitive processes and so...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150074
Grant
An Efficacy Trial of J-EMT: Enhanced Milieu Teaching Language Intervention plus Joint Attention, Engagement and Regulation Intervention for Toddlers with Autism
This project will evaluate the efficacy of an early social communication and language intervention, the J-EMT, on toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Social communication skills are particularly important for this population, as a deficit in this area constitutes a core characteristic of ASD. The intervention is aimed at toddlers because the majority of children with ASD can be identified accurately by 24 months and acquisition of communication skills by 36 months is a significant...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A150094
Grant
Development and Validation of a Treatment Integrity Measure of Classroom-Based Instructional Interventions in Early Childhood Settings
Many preschool children exhibit problem behaviors and pre-academic deficits that place them at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Evidence-based instructional practices delivered by teachers in classrooms have demonstrated positive effects for young children with problem behavior. Efforts to implement and evaluate the evidence-based programs (EBPs) for preschool children with problem behaviors across diverse early childhood classrooms face a number of implementation and evaluatio...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A140487
Grant
Advancing Social-Communication and Play (ASAP): An Intervention Program for Preschoolers with Autism
Core diagnostic features of autism include deficits in social-communicative functioning. Two pivotal skills for young children with autism include joint attention and pretend play, which constitute early foundations upon which later social-communicative skills are built. Joint attention (characterized by behaviors such as pointing, showing, and coordinated looking to share attention toward objects or events with another person) and symbolic play (characterized by the ability to pretend), pl...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110256
Grant
Supporting Young Children's School Readiness and Reduced Challenging Behaviors: An Online Course to Enhance Toddler Teacher-Child Interactions
Children who struggle with behavioral problems at school entry are at significant risk for a host of school difficulties. Many of these children will be referred for special education because of adjustment problems in the classroom, achievement problems co-varying with behavioral concerns, or both. Many will ultimately be placed within the special education system. Interventions are available to prevent and reduce these early disruptive behaviors by providing children with high-quality teach...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A130249
Grant
Efficacy of a Comprehensive School-Based Intervention for Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (HFASDs)
Core features of high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) include a significant and pervasive deficit in social skills, and repetitive and restricted behaviors, interests, and/or activities. Associated features include problems in pragmatic communication, comprehension of affective information, and emotional-behavioral functioning. Together these impairments and features interfere with learning and academic performance because classroom learning involves social communication, susta...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A130216
Grant
Developing an Expository Book Reading Intervention for Preschool Children with Language Impairment
Language Impairment (LI) is a common disorder among the school-age population, affecting approximately 7.4 percent of children. Approximately half of the children identified with LI at a young age will go on to be later identified with a reading disability. Young children with impaired language are six times more likely to be identified with a reading disability at school age than non-impaired children. One intervention demonstrating significant and positive effects on preschool children's e...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A130205
Grant
Read It Again! In Early Childhood Special Education
The purpose of this project was to examine the efficacy of an intervention called Read It Again! for children with disabilities enrolled in early childhood special education and their typically developing classmates over the academic year and during kindergarten. Many children in early childhood special education programs exhibit disabilities that place them at high risk for future reading difficulties, including primary speech-language impairment or a general developmental delay in which la...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A130066
Grant
Adapting an Evidence-Based Program for Infants and Toddlers at High Risk for Autism
The purpose of this project was to adapt an evidence-based practice for infants and toddlers at risk for ASD and their families. Infants and toddlers who have difficulties in communication, behavior regulation, and developing early relationships are at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and represent a significant public health challenge. Service providers hesitate to serve very young children with social and communicative difficulties in the hopes that the infants will "grow out" of t...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A140004
Grant
Embedded Practices and Intervention with Caregivers (EPIC)
For children enrolled in Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (early intervention services for children under 3), the role of the early intervention provider is to enhance a family's capacity to meet the developmental needs of the infant/toddler. A substantial gap exists, however, between recommended and actual practice in Part C service delivery, particularly related to interventions that facilitate the caregivers' ability to support their children's learning. Researche...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A130121
Grant
Development of an Empirically Based Intervention for Childcare Teachers to Promote Language Skills in At-Risk Toddlers
Strong oral language skills can lay the foundation for later school achievement. Children who have delayed oral language skills by age three are less able than their typically developing peers to take advantage of preschool readiness curricula and are at risk for later learning difficulties in reading and math. Typical language interactions between teachers and students in early learning environments may not be of adequate quality for reducing language or academic difficulties. The purpose...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110104
Grant
A Parent-Directed Multimedia Early Intervention Tool to Improve Outcomes in Underserved Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Hearing loss is the most common birth abnormality, occurring in approximately 1-2 newborns per 1,000 births. Recent medical advances (e.g., cochlear implants/digital hearing aids) have brought auditory access to children with hearing loss, often at an early age. These advances have been associated with significantly improved academic achievement. However, children of low socio-economic status (SES) have continued to demonstrate significantly poorer outcomes, even with auditory access. Eviden...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110122
Grant
Enhancing Early Learning for Infants with Disabilities: A Responsive Parenting Intervention
Children with physical disabilities associated with spina bifida and cerebral palsy face multiple challenges due to early physical and cognitive difficulties that impact their learning and later academic performance and independence. Parents of these children have the greatest potential for influencing their development due to the number of opportunities they have to interact with their children. However, the field of early intervention often fails to engage parents as active and primary med...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120363
Grant
Early Intervention for Young Children with ADHD: Developing Strategies to Enhance Parent Engagement
The purpose of this project was to further develop and refine a parent education program to increase parent engagement with early intervention for young children with ADHD as well as develop an alternative format (web-based) of parent education to increase parent accessibility and engagement with the intervention. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young children is associated with significant impairment in behavioral, social, and pre-academic functioning, with affected child...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120284
Grant
The Effects of Online Decision Making Support for Home Visitors Using an RTI Approach to Promote the Language Development of At-risk Infants and Toddlers
Children who lack key early language and literacy experiences prior to kindergarten face significant challenges learning to read. Because of impoverished early language experiences, many children are not adequately prepared to benefit from the reading instruction they receive when they reach school. Home visitation is a viable model for improving the home language experiences that are known to promote children's growth in language and early communication. However, home visitors face challeng...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120365
Grant
Joint Attention Mediated Learning Intervention for Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Their Families
The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has grown dramatically in recent years, with advances in early identification now resulting in an influx of toddlers to the early intervention system. Although early intervention providers are required to implement evidence-based practices for this population, few models are available that target social communication, the core difficulty in ASD, at the preverbal stage when neurological development is most malleable. The proposed project direc...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120291
Grant
Men's Parenting Behaviors in Families of Children with Disabilities: Findings from the ECLS-B
Although a rapidly growing body of research has documented the impact of father involvement with typically developing children, little is known about how men approach parenting children with disabilities, and how their involvement impacts child, mother, and family well-being that support child cognitive and socio-emotional development and school readiness. The purpose of the project is to examine the data available in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to investigat...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120174
Grant
Efficacy of the Getting Ready Intervention at Supporting Parental Engagement and Positive Outcomes for Preschool Children at Educational Risk
Despite the efforts of early intervention programs to bolster school readiness, some children arrive in kindergarten demonstrating early cognitive, language, or socio-emotional delays that hinder their progress in school. In addition, despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of planned coordination between home and school, this coordination occurs all too rarely for individual children. This reality, coupled with the unequivocal finding that early relationships matter in a child's devel...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120153
Grant
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children
Students with serious behavioral challenges may experience a host of negative school and life outcomes if their behavior is not addressed early in life. Of students with any category of disability, students with emotional disturbance are at greatest risk for school failure and have the poorest academic records and highest dropout rates. To help improve outcomes for these students, the research team is evaluating the efficacy of a promising intervention to provide young children in preschool ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120097
Grant
Risk Factors and Services for Vocabulary Delays in Early Childhood: Population-based Estimates
Little is currently known about early precursors of academic and behavioral school readiness for children, particularly those with or at risk for disabilities. Evidence indicates that vocabulary knowledge constitutes a potentially malleable factor that, if increased, may improve children's reading, mathematics, and behavioral readiness for kindergarten. Yet these relations have not been convincingly established. It is also critical to better understand the onset of vocabulary delays during a...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120046
Grant
Promoting School Readiness in Preschool-Age Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Children with a history of prenatal alcohol exposure or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders exhibit early signs of developmental delays that are manifested in a host of neurocognitive, behavioral, and social problems throughout life including major obstacles to success in school. These children show deficits in language comprehension, reading, spelling, and math; are at increased risk for learning disabilities and problematic classroom behaviors; and are likely to require special education serv...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120180
Grant
Examining the Efficacy of a Classroom-Wide Model for Promoting Social Emotional Development and Addressing Challenging Behavior in Preschool Children with or at-risk for Disabilities
Researchers have noted that children are entering elementary school without the behavior skills that are necessary for success. Social and behavior challenges that are not resolved during the early childhood years may lead to problems with socialization, school adjustment, and educational success in later grades. Intervention in preschool may help ameliorate the social, emotional, and behavioral challenges that preschoolers can display which may lead to negative outcomes in the future.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120178
Grant
Recognition and Response: Addressing Early Learning Difficulties in Math through an RTI Model for Pre-K
The National Research Council's Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics concluded that while virtually all young children have the capability to learn and acquire core competencies in math, most do not realize their full potential. The Committee attributed this to children's limited opportunities to learn math in either early childhood education programs or through every day experiences at home.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120059
Grant
Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling of Family Capacity-Building Early Intervention Practices
A major premise of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C program is that early intervention builds and strengthens family capacity. This, in turn, has positive effects on parent and child outcomes. The aim of this study is to examine this premise by identifying the relationships between certain intervention characteristics and parent and child outcomes. These characteristics include program variables, such as service intensity and frequency of parent contacts, as well...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110025
Grant
A Randomized Trial of a Tutor-Based Mathematics and Attention Intervention for Low-Performing Pre-Schoolers at Risk for Mathematical Difficulties in School
Mathematical knowledge at school entry is an important predictor of later academic achievement. Children who are especially low performing on measures of mathematical knowledge at the beginning of preschool often show less growth in mathematical knowledge over the preschool year, remain well below school readiness benchmarks for mathematics, and continue to struggle in mathematics in later grades despite receiving high-quality classroom instruction. These students require more intensive int...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A120410
Grant
Relative Effectiveness of Contrasting Approaches to Response-Contingent Learning Interventions
Young children with profound developmental delays often do not draw associations between their actions and the resulting effects. Young children gain understanding of the relationship between their behavior and its consequences through response-contingent learning opportunities. These learning opportunities involve the use of a targeted behavior to produce interesting social or nonsocial responses. Understanding these associations is a building block for future adaptive behaviors, and it is ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110183
Grant
Evaluation of a Comprehensive Community-based Intervention for Toddlers with ASD
Prevalence rates for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have risen dramatically in recent years and children are being identified earlier (i.e., under the age of 3). This has placed pressure on state early intervention systems to serve young children with ASD. However there are few treatment models available that are both feasible across different types of community settings and have demonstrated effectiveness.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110353
Grant
Foundations for Literacy: An Intervention for Young Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Poor literacy outcomes have characterized the deaf population for decades. National data suggest that overall literacy rates of deaf high school graduates remain consistently around the 4th grade level. Although children with less severe hearing loss fare better than children who are deaf, they are still at risk for poorer language and literacy skills than their hearing peers. The purpose of this project is to further develop an early literacy intervention specifically adapted to meet the ne...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110101
Grant
Efficacy Trials with a New Early Literacy and Language Curriculum for Preschool Children with Developmental Speech and/or Language Impairment
Eighty-two percent of children receiving special education services demonstrate a developmental speech and/or language impairment (DSLI) either as a primary diagnosis (i.e., DSLI is the sole impairment) or as a condition secondary to another primary diagnosis (e.g., developmental delay, mental retardation). Regardless of the underlying diagnosis, children with DSLI often fail to develop crucial pre-literacy skills, such as oral language skills, which can lead to later literacy difficulties a...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110048
Grant
Testing an Integrated Preschool Curriculum for English Language Learners
The number of English language learners (ELL) has grown considerably in recent years, and the number of children classified as limited English proficient rose 76 percent in a 10-year span. The ELL population is also impoverished: over three-quarters of Spanish-speaking ELL children in the United States come from low-income families. Many of these children are at risk for developing disabilities and special education referrals. Yet there is a lack of empirically validated instructional approa...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A110079
Grant
Children's School Success Curriculum - Plus (CSS+): Supporting All Children's Progress in the General Curriculum
Curricula that incorporate universal design for learning (UDL) features provide educators with instructional goals, methods, and materials to accommodate multiple learner differences and may improve the participation and progress of children with or most at risk for disabilities. These features provide diverse groups of learners with a variety of formats that may improve their use of resources and materials and may increase their opportunities to engage in classroom activities, express idea...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A100239
Grant
Examining the Efficacy of Banking Time: A Teacher-Child Early Intervention to Improve Children's Emotional and Behavioral Development
Strong and supportive relationships between teachers and their students can be important to academic and social development. Children with significant problem behaviors, though, are less likely to develop close, positive, high quality relationships with their teachers. The purpose of this project is to assess the efficacy of a preschool program called Banking Time with preschoolers most at risk for developing a disruptive behavior disorder and receipt of special education services due to s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A100215
Grant
Efficacy of a Parent-Mediated Intervention for One-Year-Olds at Risk for Autism
Early intervention with children with autism may promote better long-term outcomes and preempt more serious consequences associated with this disorder. There is little research about the efficacy of interventions with infants and toddlers who, at this point, have not yet demonstrated all of their autism diagnostic symptoms. The purpose of this project is to assess the efficacy of an early intervention program called Adaptive Responsive Teaching with one year olds most at risk for autism spec...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A100305
Grant
Validation of the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System for Early Identification for Social-Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Preschoolers
During the last four decades, the number of preschoolers served in center-based programs (e.g., childcare centers, Head Start Programs, publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs, private preschools) has increased dramatically. Concurrent with the expansion of services to young children has been the fact that many young children who are enrolling in preschools exhibit emerging behavioral and social emotional difficulties that are severe enough to impede their social development and education...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A100104
Grant
Assessment of Natural Play for Instructional Planning
Play is a natural activity that young children use to explore and learn about their world, and how to function in it. Young children with delays in cognition, language, and social interaction show delays and limitations in their play activities that correspond to their other delays and therefore do not benefit in the same way as children without disabilities. The central premise of the Developmental Play Assessment (DPA) instrument is that instructional goals for infants, toddlers, and young...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A100100
Grant
Expanding the Reach of Evidence-Based Interventions for Improving Social-Emotional Outcomes for Infants in Child Care
Social-emotional competence and development are central to children's overall school readiness and school success. However, knowledge about infant social-emotional development and about evidence-based practices for supporting positive social-emotional outcomes are often lacking among childcare teachers. The goal of this project is to create and test a professional development program aimed at increasing responsive childcare teacher interactions to promote infant social-emotional development....
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A100041
Grant
Validating the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF) for Use in Accountability Systems for Programs Serving Young Children with Disabilities
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF), a summary tool used by many states in reporting annual child progress for IDEA Part B and C Preschool Programs. The COSF is used by local education teams to synthesize multiple sources of information on how a child receiving special education preschool services functions across settings and situations. As part of COSF, each child is assigned a rating which indicates the child'...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090171
Grant
An Efficacy Trial of Milieu Teaching Language Intervention in Preschoolers with Language Disorders
Children who experience early language delays include children with production delays only, children with both production and comprehension delays, and children who have global cognitive and other disabilities that affect their language development. Considerable research has focused on young children with only delays in productive language and on children older than 4 years with specific language impairment. Relatively less is known about children with co-occurring production and comprehensi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090181
Grant
Building Foundations for Self-Determination in Young Children with Disabilities: Developing a Curriculum for Families
Self-determination is defined as a set of abilities and skills that allow one to define personal and interpersonal goals in life and to take initiative in reaching those goals. A self-determined young person has the ability to identify goals, problem-solve effectively, and appropriately express and advocate for him or herself. Self-determination has been associated with positive academic and post-transition outcomes in adolescents and young adults with disabilities. In the current early chil...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090267
Grant
Building Math Readiness in Young Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Children: Parents as Partners
Despite a national focus on school readiness and mathematics achievement, deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students continue to demonstrate low-levels of achievement in various areas of mathematics involving both computation and problem solving. Although there is limited research documenting precisely when these low achievement levels begin, recent studies indicate that D/HH children may begin formal schooling already performing at levels below their hearing peers. There is a national need to...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090145
Grant
Development of a Three-tiered Model in Early Intervention to Address Language and Literacy Needs of Children at Risk
Language proficiency and early literacy competence are strong predictors of school success. Children who begin school without essential, prerequisite skills are significantly more likely to require remedial and special education services than are their peers who begin school with a solid grasp of essential language skills. Effective, responsive early intervention is critical to minimize the gap between struggling and achieving children upon school entry. Three-tiered models featuring univers...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090075
Grant
Efficacy Trial of Carescapes: Promoting Social Development in Home-based Child Care
Social competence is critical to the development and adjustment of preschool-age children and is linked to later school success. Child care provides an opportunity for young children to develop relationships with other young children, and has the potential to facilitate the development of children's social competence. The quality of the child care environment may have lasting impacts on children's social development, yet many child care facilities fall short of providing an optimal environme...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090044
Grant
Parent-Implemented Social-Pragmatic Communication Intervention for Young Children with Developmental Disabilities
Many young children who have been identified with developmental disabilities including mental retardation, Down syndrome, and autism spectrum disorders, exhibit speech-language delays along with other impairments inherent in their diagnosed disabilities. Various interventions cited in the literature target the communicative and social behavior of school-aged children with developmental delays; however, there is limited information about these types of interventions for very young children wi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A090005
Grant
TEIDS Plus: Integrating Quality Assurance and Data-Based Decision Making To Enhance IFSP Quality, Implementation, and Child and Family Outcomes
Despite being compliant with state and federal requirements, Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP) are often poorly written. They do not provide detailed descriptions of services to be provided, child and family goals, and criteria for determining when a goal has been achieved. More importantly, IFSPs as they are currently written do not guarantee high quality early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. Because IFSPs can be in compliance wi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324B070003
Grant
Center for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood
Reading development depends on language development and pre-literacy experiences prior to formal schooling. Children who have not had many language or early literacy experiences prior to kindergarten face significant challenges learning to read. These children often continue to experience poor reading skills throughout school. With continued failure, many of them may become eligible for special education which may involve services that are "too little too late" and are often very costly for ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324C080011
Grant
Establishing the Efficacy of the "Special Friends" Project
Successful peer interactions lead to positive social and emotional development. Children with disabilities engage in social interaction with peers less frequently than typically developing children do. Children with disabilities who fail to develop positive social relationships with peers are at elevated risk for social maladjustment and academic failure. In addition, they are at great risk of being rejected by their peers. Therefore, effective interventions that can be used in education s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A080071
Grant
Sit Together and Read: Early Childhood Special Education
Children who exhibit primary language impairment in preschool often fail to become good readers. In fact, more than half of these children exhibit a reading disability in second grade. Reading proficiently is a vital skill for academic success and gainful employment. Current practices for preschoolers with language impairment focus on teaching language skills such as vocabulary or grammar. These traditional practices are largely inadequate for improving these children's pre-literacy skil...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A080037
Grant
Building Social Competence for School Success through a Continuum of Positive Behavior Supports (CPBS)
A delay in social skills may interfere with all areas of learning and academic achievement. Problem behaviors not resolved in preschool often continue into elementary school and adolescence. Young children who manifest problem behavior are more likely to drop out of school when they become older, become delinquents in adolescence, abuse drugs and alcohol, join gangs, exhibit violent and abusive behavior in adulthood, and be incarcerated as adults. Therefore, it is important to design inte...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A080016
Grant
A Randomized Efficacy Trial of the Kids in Transition to School (KITS) Program for Children with Developmental Disabilities and Behavioral Problems
Children with disabilities often experience a gap in services during the summer before kindergarten. During this time, they may lose school readiness skills that would have facilitated their transition to early elementary school. This gap in services is a particular problem for children with co-occurring developmental disabilities and behavior problems. These children are likely to have low levels of school readiness and are at risk for academic failure. In addition, their behavior and s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A080026
Grant
Development of an IFSP Form and Process to Maximize Learning Opportunities for Young Children with Disabilities
Adaptations such as adjusting task materials or using assistive technology expose children with disabilities to a wider range of daily living and educational activities and improve developmental and academic outcomes. Although adaptations are frequently used with older children with disabilities, they are not described on Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) or widely used with infants and toddlers. Early interventionists, service providers, and IFSP development teams need support sys...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324B070033
Grant
Individual Growth and Development Indicator (IGDI) Comprehensive Assessment Project
Assessment tools and techniques used in early intervention settings have primarily focused on diagnosis of disabilities and the child's limitations. These tools and techniques generally are not designed to be progress-monitoring assessments that allow intervention providers to measure the child's incremental (short-term) growth. Assessment tools administered to infants and toddlers that are psychometrically sound, feasible to use, and sensitive to change over short periods of time are needed...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A070248
Grant
Examining the Potential Efficacy of a Classroom Wide Model for Promoting Social Emotional Development and Addressing Challenging Behavior in Preschool Children With and Without Disabilities
Although research has established a positive relationship between young children's social emotional skills and success in school, large numbers of young children are beginning their school experiences without the emotional, social, and behavioral skills necessary for academic success. The purpose of this project is to refine the Teaching Pyramid intervention, a multi-tiered intervention to address the social emotional development and challenging behavior of young children with or at risk for...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A070212
Grant
Early Intervention Graduates at Kindergarten: Analyses of Outcomes from the National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS)
The number of infants and toddlers receiving early intervention services under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has more than doubled in the last 15 years. Relatively little is known about the relation between participation in early intervention services and subsequent child outcomes.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A070064
Grant
Developing and Testing an Empirically-based Preschool Language and Literacy Curriculum for Children At-Risk for Reading Disabilities Using a Components Analysis
Language and early literacy skills acquired in early childhood predict reading ability in elementary school. Many children, particularly those with disabilities or who are at risk for reading and learning disabilities, arrive at preschool with limited language and early literacy experience, which in turn affects their transition to and future success in elementary school. To provide a foundation for early reading development, preschool literacy programs that provide intensive, targeted ins...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A070136
Grant
The Infancy to Preschool Early Literacy Connection: Validation Studies of the Early Communication (ECI) Indicator of Growth and Development
Speech and communication impairments or delays are the most frequently reported reason for need of early intervention services. To enable teachers and other service providers to target instruction to young children's specific needs, valid and sensitive assessments are needed that measure incremental growth in early language skills, accurately predict early literacy development, and are easily administered.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A070085
Grant
Parent-implemented Language Intervention for Young Children with Developmental Disabilities
Proficient language is necessary for young children to communicate their needs. It also facilitates their social interactions. However, many young children with significant developmental disabilities are unable to acquire and use language to interact with their surroundings due to their overwhelming inability to produce or comprehend speech. Severe spoken language impairment, coupled with developmental disabilities, has profound consequences for a child's long-term development and success in...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A070122
Grant
Improving Deaf Preschoolers' Literacy Skills
Poor literacy has characterized the deaf and hard of hearing population for decades, with national data suggesting that median literacy rates of deaf high school graduates have remained consistently at around the fourth grade level. Recent advances in both education (scientifically-based reading curricula for hearing children, early intervention for deaf and hard of hearing children) and technology (newborn hearing screening, cochlear implants, digital hearing aids) have created a greater p...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324E060035
Grant
The Development and Efficacy of a Curriculum-Based Language and Early Literacy Intervention for Preschool Children with Developmental Disabilities
The purposes of the proposed investigation are to (a) develop a language and early literacy curriculum called Teaching Emergent Literacy and Language across the Curriculum for use with preschool children with developmental disabilities, (b) to evaluate the extent to which the addition of an explicit oral language teaching protocol (EOLT) further enhances children's gains in oral language, pre-reading, and pre-writing skills, and (c) to determine the intensity of intentional instruction requi...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324E060023
Grant
Improving Language and Literacy Outcomes for Preschool Children at Highest Risk for Reading Problems
Language and early literacy skills are foundational to reading and school success. Effective early intervention during the preschool years for children at highest risk for school failure may improve their chances of learning to read and learning from reading in the early elementary school years. Children with Individualized Education Plans (IEP), children with very low language, and children with low language and high problem behaviors who are also enrolled in Head Start are of high risk for...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324E060088
Grant
Project Early Reading Intervention
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the efficacy and study systematic variations of delivery intensity for the Early Reading Intervention (ERI), a commercial program that is designed for kindergarten children at risk of reading difficulty and used in more than 4,000 school districts in all 50 states. Also, the researchers intend to sample participating schools to capture a broad range of demographic diversity and to evaluate ERI's efficacy in sites distal to ERI developers.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324E060067
Grant
Vocabulary, Oral Language, and Academic Readiness (VOLAR): A Language Intervention for Latino Preschool English Language Learners with Language Disorders
The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate the potential efficacy of a focused vocabulary and oral language intervention for improving the academic readiness (VOLAR) of preschool Spanish-speaking children with language disorders within the preschool curriculum. The VOLAR program was designed to evaluate whether a focused and direct vocabulary and oral language instruction facilitates academic readiness (i.e., vocabulary, oral language, phonological awareness, cognitive, and socio...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324E060073
Grant
A Randomized Trial of Preschool Instructional Strategies to Improve School Performance and Reduce Use of Special Education
The purpose of this project is to compare the value added impact of an intervention focusing explicitly on language, literacy, and cognitive skills, with an intervention explicitly focused on these skills plus self-regulation. Recent research supports the promise of targeted and research-based intervention for preschool age children in language, early literacy, and cognitive skills as a preventive tool to reduce the number of children in need of costly special education services in kindergar...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324E060086
Grant
LEAP - USA (Using Science-Based Approaches)
The purpose of this project is to assess the efficacy of LEAP-USA in achieving positive child and family outcomes as a model of intervention for young children with autism. The researchers intend to examine the differential effects on key outcomes resulting from high-fidelity implementation.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324E060068
Grant
Impact of Professional Development on Preschool Teachers' Use of Embedded-Instruction Practices
The investigators proposed to examine PD approaches hypothesized to be effective for increasing the fidelity with which preschool teachers use embedded-instruction (EI) practices. The use of these practices in inclusive preschool settings is recommended to increase access to the general preschool curriculum, enhance child engagement, and improve child outcomes. The purpose of the project was to (1) develop a PD intervention called Tools for Teachers (TfT), which focuses on specific evidence-...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R324A070008
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