Language Eligibility Guidelines

Language Eligibility Guidelines

Tiffany L. Barker, MS, CCC-SLPHost: ESC 10

Host Site: ESC 10, www.esc10.net Moderator: Karyn Kilroy Handouts Available for Download

• Language Eligibility Manual• Power Point Presentation• FAQs• SI Eligibility in Texas (generic manual)

Introduction

FAQs

Listen for answers to your questions during the training

Refer to the FAQ – Language Eligibility handout for additional information

Email unanswered questions to [email protected]

CEUs

2.0 hours TSHA continuing education credit available for this training module

Following the session, complete the Online Course Completion Submission Form ◦ Your name, license #, email address, phone #◦ TSHA membership #◦ The name and number of this course Shown on last slide of this presentation

◦ Course completion date◦ 3-questions Learning Assessment◦ CE evaluation of online course

You will receive a certificate of course completion via email

http://www.txsha.org/Online_Course_Completion.aspx

Access to the information is provided at no cost. TSHA Members can receive CEU credit at no cost Not a TSHA Member?◦ $20 fee for CEU credit for this training module◦ Complete the Online Course Completion form◦ Mail $20 check payable to ◦ TSHA 918 Congress Ave, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78701◦ OR make a credit card payment on the TSHA Web site

www.txsha.org


CEUs

This manual is to be used as an extension of or to augment the TSHA Eligibility Guidelines for Speech Impairment, 2009

This information is not intended to be used as a standalone guide

We will refer to the Generic Manual throughout this Language Eligibility Training

Generic Manual

GENERAL INFORMATION

IDEA 2004 DEFINITIONSPEECH-LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT

300.8 (c)(11) Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance

ASHA DEFINITION OF A LANGUAGE DISORDER

Impairment in “comprehension and/or use of a spoken, written, and/or other symbol system. The disorder may involve (1) the form of language, (2) the content of language, and/or (3) the function of language in communication, in any combination (1994, p.40).

Purpose & Use

Provide structure where the SLP can use consistent, evidence-based evaluation practices in accordance with the law

Use in combination with Generic Manual, 2009

Metalinguistics◦ Use of language knowledge

to make decisions about and to discuss language

Semantics◦ The meaning of words and

how words relate to each other

The Language Model

Phonology◦ Sound system of language

& rules

Pragmatics◦ Social use of language

Syntax◦ The way in which the

elements of language are sequenced together

• Address all areas of Language• Assess areas of concern

• Standardized Tests• Informal Assessments• Interviews & Questionnaires• Developmental Scales• Criterion-Referenced Procedures• Behavioral Observations

Comprehensive Language Evaluation

Develop Language Evaluation Plan

◦ Information from the referral source◦ Information from parent or teachers◦ Language skills that are considered important at

that age


•What is not Language?•Response Demand (Modality)•Task Demand

Types of Assessment General Language Syntax Semantics Pragmatics Metalinguistics


Global or Core Standard Score = <77 (>1.5 standard deviations below the mean)

Concurs with Teacher, Parent and SLP info

Document Adverse Effect on Educational Performance

Documenting a Language Disorder


Global or Core Standard Score = <80(>1.25 standard deviations below the mean)

Additional Testing in Deficit Area = <80

Concurs with Teacher, Parent, and SLP info

Document Adverse Effect on Educational Performance


Core Language score from 1global test or2 similar language tests

Always report confidence intervals

Standard Scores cut-off score

Teacher Language Survey Parent Language Survey Other

Documenting Adverse Effect on Educational Performance

Adverse Effect

Academic Achievement

Functional Performance

Need is NOT based on standardized test results.

How do we determine what “education” is in Texas?

TEKS Language Arts Speaking/Listening Reading Writing

Documenting Adverse Effect on Educational Performance

INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS, DATA COLLECTION, & STUDENT SUPPORT TEAM

What is a language disorder? Presentation ideas Classroom considerations

Materials For Teachers & Parents

Teacher Language Survey & Summary Forms◦ PK – Kindergarten◦ 1st – 12th

◦ Concern = Semantics, Syntax, Pragmatics

Parent Language Survey Other district specific forms

Data Collection Forms

STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT OF LANGUAGE

Reminders

Administered by trained personnel Administered in accordance with any

instructions provided by the producer of the assessments

Is only one criteria, regardless of number of standardized tests used

Should cover all areas needing evaluation

General Principles

Standardized Tests must be

◦ Selected and administered so as to not be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis

◦ Are provided and administered in child's native language or other mode of communication

◦ Are used for the purposes for which the assessments or measures are valid and reliable

Misuse of Standardized Tests McCauley & Swisher (1984) listed some specific misuses

of standardized tests.

◦ Using scores as exact measures of performance ◦ One of the reasons a cut-off score should not be used as the only

criteria for eligibility.

◦ Using age and grade equivalents as test summaries◦ Do not report age and grade scores

◦ Profiles cannot be used as descriptions of patterns of impairment◦ Do not look at the patterns as shown on graphs on the front page of

a test protocol and use it as the means of setting goals.

◦ Performance on an individual test item is not an indication of a deficit in the area assessed by that item. For that reason, never select goals from items missed on a standardized assessment.◦ Administer Present Levels of Performance measures to obtain goals.

Psychometric Properties

◦Norming Sample◦ Validity◦ Reliability◦ Usability

Individualized Assessment Battery

Ages tests are appropriate◦ Best to use test where child’s age is in the middle◦ Language Tests By Age – page 47

Comprehensiveness ◦ All areas of language?◦ Areas identified as concern?◦ Select areas which you want to assess rather than

selecting test to give◦ Semantic/Syntactical Areas Assessed by Test – page 55 &

56

Individualized Assessment Battery

Test response demand (modality)◦ Listening or Speaking

◦ Response Required on Various Subtests – page 48 & 49

Test task demands◦ Multiple choice, Generative, Imitation, Etc.

◦ Sample Task Demands of Various Tests – page 54

General Testing Procedures Finding & Interpreting Derived Scores◦ 1.5 SD below the mean - most likely indicates a

language disorder◦ 1.25 SD below the mean – at risk for language

disorder

Interpreting Standardized Tests

Total Quotient Analysis Comparison of Composite Scores Comparing Subtest scores ◦ With Total Quotients or Composite Scores◦ With other Subtest scores

Determining Significant Differences◦ Use manual◦ Need second criteria to validate concern

* Refer to pages 63 & 64 in Manual

INFORMAL ASSESSMENT

Remember

Must be valid Must be reliable Must be replicable Must explain procedures used to obtain Must explain how you interpreted the

data

Language Sampling

Goal: To obtain a sample of language that promotes the use of the most advanced language skills the child has acquired (several samples)

Types of Samples:◦ Conversation◦ Narrative

Use same procedure used in the norms you reference

Conversation Sampling

Balance (children comm. more when there is equal contribution)

Match (children learn best when actions are similar to theirs)

Responsiveness (follow the child’s lead; children respond to those who respond to their subtle behaviors)

Non-Directiveness (children’s comm. increases when the partner is less directive)

Narrative Sampling Types of Narratives◦ Personal◦ Fictional◦ Expository/Oral Narratives/Scripts

Issues to Consider◦ Amount of structure ◦ Content◦ Nature of presentation

Narrative Sampling: Age Guidelines◦ Preschoolers: Story Retelling most

appropriate (Cowley and Glasgow, 1994). Should use visual pictures with story retelling.◦ K-3rd grade: Both Story Retelling & Story

Generation are recommended (Schmidek). Visual stimuli suggested. By 3rd Grade, should use both oral and written forms.◦ 4th grade & up: Both Story Retelling & Story

Generation is recommended but visual stimuli not necessary.

Recommendation: obtain at least 3 samples

Informal Assessment: Syntax

◦ MLU-M◦ Words/T-Unit◦ Clauses/T-Unit◦ Mazes◦ Percentage of Utterances Grammatically

Correct

Analyzing MLU

T-Units◦ Simple Sentences◦ Compound Sentences◦ Complex Sentences

◦ Instructions for counting T-Units on page 71 & 72 of Manual

Segment the following story into T-Units:

“I was going to my grandma’s house and I was driving with my mom and dad and we saw a big truck it had 18 wheels and was going real fast it started to slide it turned over and cows went all over the road and we almost hit them.”

Activity

“I was going to my grandma’s house / and I was driving with my mom and dad / and we saw a big truck / it had 18 wheels and was going real fast / it started to slide / it turned over / and cows went all over the road / and we almost hit them.”

Activity Answers

T-Unit Analysis Each T-Unit is placed on

the T-UNIT ANALYSIS form (page 82) and the morphemes and words are counted.

• The number of total morphemes is then divided by the number of utterances or T-Units to obtain the MLU-M or the Words/T-Unit.

• Rules for counting morphemes -page 73

• Norms on pages 73 & 74

1. Determine whether MLU is below age expectations

2. Determine whether low language production is resulting in adverse effect on educational performance

3. MLU above the cutoff should not be interpreted as no impairment so a qualitative analysis would be done

Syntax: Interpreting Results

Consider the number of errors made Norms are located on page 75

Analysis of Grammatical Errors

Analysis of Inflectional and Certain Free Morphemes

Analysis of Morphemes

• All T-Units are included• A plus (+) or a minus (-) is

placed where the morpheme is used correctly or incorrectly

• Norms located on page 77

Subordination Analysis

Used to determine the language development of children 8 and older◦ Development of complex sentences =

language development1. Noun Phrase Complements2. Relative Clause Transformations3. Adverbial Subordination

Norms are located on page 79 of Manual

Analysis of Mazes

Most common types:◦ Filled Pauses◦ Repetitions◦ Revisions

Narrative Context = increase in mazes

Children 3 to 13:

Mazes in 20 - 41% of narrative samples

Mazes in 15-25% of conversational sample

Norms on page 80 & 81 of Manual

1) Measures of expressive & receptive vocabulary

2) Holding phonological forms in short-term memory

3) Extracting word meaning4) Storage, organization, and access of lexical

items (can use Test of Word Finding – 2)

5) Perceiving and isolating phonological forms

Informal Assessment: Semantics

DELV Type-Token Ratio (TTR)◦ Counts number of words and number of

different words◦ Indicator of vocabulary growth

Expressive & Receptive Vocabulary

Expressive & Receptive Vocabulary

TTR Norms found on page 87 of Manual

1.Determine if student is performing below expected level for age

2.Determine whether there is an adverse effect on educational performance linked to vocabulary

Semantics: Interpreting Results

Phonological Forms in Short-Term Memory

• Strong indicator of semantic learning problems

- Dollaghan & Campbell (1998) procedure for children ages 6.0 –9.9 on page 89

Norms on page 91

Communicative Intent Conversation Oral Narrative Abilities Presuppositions

Informal Assessment: Pragmatics

General Principles Present Level of Performance Definitions Summarizing Findings◦ Checklists (pages 100, 102, 103)◦ Supporting Data (pages 101 & 102)

Communicative Intent

Conversation

• Scope & Sequence on page 105-106• Checklist on page 107-108

Definition◦ Conveys more info than needed◦ Formal sentence structures & intonation◦ Similar to written style rather than

conversational◦ Resemble rehearsed monologue

Procedure for analyzing◦ Checklist (page 110)◦ Summary & Rating (page111)

Conversation: Pedantic Speaking Style

Types of Narratives◦ Fictional Oral Stories Relate fictional events

◦ Personal Narrative Account: listener wasn’t there for the experience

Recounts: shared events prompted by another

Event casts: ongoing activities, reporting factual events, directing others

◦ Expository Oral Narratives/Scripts Instruct or present information

Oral Narratives

Narrative Sampling Procedures◦ Discussed on slides 38 & 39

Eliciting Fictional Oral Stories◦ Story Generation: student is asked to

produce a narrative of events◦ Story Retelling: student is asked to re-

produce previous events◦ Generation = more difficult

Oral Narratives

• See pages 116-117 for procedures• Report how narrative was elicited in FIE

1) Decide on method & gather materials2) Record3) Transcribe (suggested rules by Strong –

page 118)4) Divide sample into T-Units (see Informal

Assessment – Syntax)5) Analyze macrostructure6) Analyze microstructure

Oral Narratives: Analyzing Results

Macrostructure◦ Applebee’s Six Levels Fictional & Personal

stories

• Procedure on page 119• Decision Making Matrix on page 120

• Norms on page 120


Macrostructure◦ Episodic Analysis Fictional stories


• Descriptions of Story Grammar on page 121• Developmental Norms on pages 122-124• Story Structure Levels on pages 124-125• Decision Making Matrix on page 125

• Pages 126-127


Definitions:◦ Information which is not explicit in a message

but must be shared by both partners for understanding to occur◦ Background information that speakers share

during conversations – distinctions are made between new and old information◦ Information that the speaker assumes to be

given or shared

Pragmatics: Presupposition

Curriculum-Based Interventions Students have difficulty with questions from the

higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (pages 129-131 of Manual)

Analyzing: Use Stories, Story Questions and Scoring Sheets on pages 132 - 137

Pragmatics: Presupposition

MAKING A RECOMMENDATION FOR ELIGIBILITY

Guidelines for Determining a Language Disorder

Guidelines for Determining a Language Disorder

2.0 hours TSHA continuing education credit available for this training module

Following the session, complete the Online Course Completion Submission Form

◦ Your name, license #, email address, phone #

◦ TSHA membership #

◦ The name and number of this course

◦ Shown on last slide of this presentation

◦ Course completion date

◦ 3-questions Learning Assessment

◦ CE evaluation of online course

You will receive a certificate of course completion via email

Earning CEUs **Get Ready to Record the Course Name & Course # from the Next Slide


Course Name: SI Eligibility Guidelines for Language

Course Number: Available at the end of the Webinar Listen for the course number at

completion of the event

Earning CEUs

[email protected]

www.txsha.org

Documents

Language Eligibility Guidelines