TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamic assessment of narratives among navajo preschoolers
AU - Henderson, Davis E.
AU - Restrepo, Maria Adelaida
AU - Aiken, Leona S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by Grant 90YR0089 (awarded to Davis E. Henderson and Maria Adelaida Restrepo) from the Early Care and Education Research Scholars: Head Start Graduate Student Research (Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and the New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarship (awarded to Davis E. Henderson) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Purpose: This study examined whether the Predictive Early Assessment of Reading and Language (PEARL), a dynamic assessment of narratives that measures language comprehension and production, accurately classifies Navajo preschoolers with typically developing (TD) language or with language impairment (LI). Method: Ninety 4-and 5-year-old Navajo preschoolers were identified as having LI or are TD (n = 45 each) via a 5-measure battery: parent report, teacher report, English narrative, independent educational plan, and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamental Preschool–Second Edition (Wiig, Secord, & Semel, 2004). Children completed a PEARL pretest, a narrative mediation phase providing principles of narrative structure, and a PEARL posttest. A modifiability score reflected responsiveness to mediation. Results: The PEARL pretest and posttest each distinguished children with LI versus TD children with 89% accuracy; modifiability scores identified children with 100% accuracy. The PEARL story grammar subtest at pretest and posttest best distinguished LI versus TD. A revised cutoff score on the PEARL pretest decreased the diagnosis of TD children as having LI; the standard PEARL posttest cutoff was retained. Conclusion: The PEARL is a promising assessment for accurately differentiating Navajo preschool children with LI from those with TD language, particularly with a revised pretest cutoff score.
AB - Purpose: This study examined whether the Predictive Early Assessment of Reading and Language (PEARL), a dynamic assessment of narratives that measures language comprehension and production, accurately classifies Navajo preschoolers with typically developing (TD) language or with language impairment (LI). Method: Ninety 4-and 5-year-old Navajo preschoolers were identified as having LI or are TD (n = 45 each) via a 5-measure battery: parent report, teacher report, English narrative, independent educational plan, and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamental Preschool–Second Edition (Wiig, Secord, & Semel, 2004). Children completed a PEARL pretest, a narrative mediation phase providing principles of narrative structure, and a PEARL posttest. A modifiability score reflected responsiveness to mediation. Results: The PEARL pretest and posttest each distinguished children with LI versus TD children with 89% accuracy; modifiability scores identified children with 100% accuracy. The PEARL story grammar subtest at pretest and posttest best distinguished LI versus TD. A revised cutoff score on the PEARL pretest decreased the diagnosis of TD children as having LI; the standard PEARL posttest cutoff was retained. Conclusion: The PEARL is a promising assessment for accurately differentiating Navajo preschool children with LI from those with TD language, particularly with a revised pretest cutoff score.
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U2 - 10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-17-0313
DO - 10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-17-0313
M3 - Article
C2 - 30304364
AN - SCOPUS:85055612348
SN - 1092-4388
VL - 61
SP - 2547
EP - 2560
JO - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
JF - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
IS - 10
ER -