About the project
Sensitivity to children who could potentially benefit from supplemental language support is a central task of all preschools.
The project “Better Equipped” aims to support Norwegian preschools in this work by developing a valid, well-designed tool to assess children’s language skills from an early age.
Preschool teachers can use this tool to easy and quickly identify children in need of extra language support.
Background
Currently, the extent to which preschools attempt to identify children who need extra language support is unclear. In addition, few tools for identification of language problems are up to date, properly developed and used in preschools.
The current project consists of two main studies.
Study 1 aims to generate fresh insights into the use of language assessment tools in preschools today through a nationwide survey. The goal is to uncover whether and how preschools assess the children's language skills (including why and at what age) and understand how we can support preschool teachers in this important work.
Study 2 focuses on development and evaluation of a screening tool that preschool teachers can use to identify children in need of deeper assessment and extra language support. Through a combination of parent questionnaires, teacher questionnaires, individual testing of children and teacher interviews, we aim to understand how this instrument will function as a screening tool for identification of children at risk for language problems.
Financing
The project is funded by the Norwegian Research Council. Project number 324207.
Collaboration
- University of Houston, for the benefit of the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics (TIMES).
- David Francis, Professor
- Paulina Kulesz, Research assistant professor
