Skip Navigation
Funding Opportunities | Search Funded Research Grants and Contracts

IES Grant

Title: 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
Center: NCSER Year: 2019
Principal Investigator: Bigelow, Kathryn Awardee: University of Kansas
Program: Early Intervention and Early Learning      [Program Details]
Award Period: 4 years (07/01/2019-06/30/2023) Award Amount: $1,400,000
Type: Development and Innovation Award Number: R324A190223
Description:

Co-Principal Investigators: Walker, Dale; Irvin, Dwight

Purpose: 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 language/literacy development. Although there are evidence-based language strategies for caregivers to use with infants and toddlers, many children and families do not reap the benefits of these interventions due to low levels of implementation fidelity among early intervention providers. PD and coaching are key to ensuring effective implementation of intervention strategies. This project aims to improve provider implementation of PC TALK and, in turn, children's language outcomes, through PD, coaching, and additional technology-based tools. Although PC Talk has demonstrated efficacy in community settings, this study expands upon prior findings by developing a PD framework to support implementation of the intervention in more naturalistic home settings.

Project Activities: In Year 1, the research team will develop the PD approach and related intervention components based on user and expert feedback. In Year 2, the team will implement the suggested changes and field test the revised model. In Year 3, single-case design studies will be used to identify the level of coaching needed to best support provider use of PC TALK. In Year 4, a randomized controlled trial will be used to determine the promise of the refined PC TALK intervention – with the new PD model, coaching, and tools – for improving provider implementation fidelity, parent fidelity of language strategies, and children's language outcomes.

Products: The products of this project will include a fully developed PD model for early interventionists and home visitors who implement PC TALK with families and evidence of its promise for improving language outcomes in infants and toddlers with or at risk for disabilities. The project will result in peer-reviewed publications and presentations as well as additional dissemination products that reach education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.

Structured Abstract

Setting: This research will take place in home-based Early Head Start as well as early intervention programs, funded by Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), in Kansas.

Sample: Participants will include 76 providers (Part C early interventionists and Early Head Start home visitors) along with 204 infants and toddlers (ages 10-24 months) with or at risk for disabilities and their families. Of these participants, 60 providers and 180 child-parent dyads will participate in the pilot study.

Intervention: A PD model and associated coaching and tools will be developed to improve implementation of PC TALK. PC TALK is a manualized set of language-promoting strategies and tools that home visitors and interventionists use to guide caregivers in promoting children's communication skills through natural interactions in daily routines. In addition to the manual, PC TALK uses video demonstrations of strategies, poster reminders, activity cards, self-checklists, an observation system to measure fidelity, and use of technology supports (in particular, text message reminders and the Talk Round Town mobile app for real-time, location-specific prompts to use intervention strategies). During this project the overall PD framework and coaching will be developed along with the associated resources and materials. The preliminary model includes group PD sessions, video tutorials, and group coaching with feedback on fidelity. The researchers will also improve the technology-based resources to support implementation fidelity, including a new mobile app to enhance parent-child interaction measurement (for parent fidelity and child communication).

Research Design and Methods: The first 2 years of the project will involve iterative intervention development, including expert and end-user feedback about the intervention's usability as well as field testing that incorporates formative feedback. More specifically, in Year 1, researchers will gather feedback on components of the PD model as well as the feasibility and usability of the critical PC TALK intervention and PD components through surveys and focus groups with expert researchers, early interventionists, and home visitors. In Year 2, the PC TALK intervention and associated PD training, coaching, and materials will be revised based on feedback from focus groups and user surveys, and the refined model will be field tested by providers working with families to determine its acceptability and usability. Researchers will also complete the development of a mobile app to collect data on parent-child communication interactions, the Promoting Communication Observation Tool (PCObs). In Year 3, the research team will conduct two multiple-baseline single-case design studies to test the refined PD framework and determine the optimal coaching frequency for improving provider implementation of PC TALK. In Year 4, the research team will conduct a randomized controlled trial to pilot test the whole intervention and PD framework. Providers will be randomly assigned to the intervention group or to a control group. Those in the intervention group will receive the PD and coaching and implement PC TALK over a period of approximately 9 months. The research team will collect data at 3-month intervals to determine implementation fidelity compared to the control group as well as the associations between provider implementation fidelity, parent fidelity of language strategies, and growth in child language outcomes.

Control Condition: For the pilot study, providers in the control group will participate in general training workshops that focus on child language development and promotion but will not learn the PC TALK strategies or receive coaching and access to related tools.

Key Measures: For the initial iterative development process in Year 1, data will be collected through focus groups and questionnaires. For the field testing in Year 2, the research team will use a variety of measures to assess implementation fidelity, including the Coaching Implementation Checklist for coaching fidelity, the PC TALK Intervention Checklist (coding observations) for provider fidelity, observation of coaching sessions, and web analytics of engagement with video tutorials and use of the mobile app. Focus groups and questionnaires will be used to examine acceptability, feasibility, and clarity of training and coaching. In Year 3, researchers will use the same intervention and coaching implementation checklists as Year 2, as well as a social validity questionnaire that will be collected from providers at the end of the single-case design studies. Measures for the Year 4 pilot study will use the same intervention and coaching implementation checklists and social validity scale, as well as the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale to assess the openness of providers to adopt EBPs, the Promoting Communication Observational Tool (PCObs): Parent Fidelity, web analytics to document delivery of text message prompts, a family demographic interview, and a provider survey to assess professional background. Primary child language outcomes for the pilot study will be measured through the Early Communication Indicator (observational progress monitoring tool), Preschool Language Scale – 5th Edition (auditory comprehension and expressive communication), PCObs: Child Communication (observations of parent-child communication interactions), and Language Environments Analysis (LENA; digital language processor and speech recognition tool).

Data Analytic Strategy: Data from the Year 1 focus groups will categorized, coded, and used to identify themes related to the intervention's acceptability, feasibility, and clarity. Questionnaire data will be combined with the qualitative data to triangulate responses. For Year 2, data from observations, surveys, and focus groups will be compiled and summarized for the research team to use in making revisions. Survey data will also be analyzed descriptively. The single-case design studies in Year 3 will be analyzed using visual analyses and calculation of effect sizes. Multilevel growth curve analysis will be used for the Year 4 pilot study to examine the extent to which the PD and coaching framework improve providers' implementation fidelity, and the relationships between provider fidelity, parent fidelity, and children's language growth.

Project Website: https://talk.ku.edu/


Back