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Purpose This clinical focus article will highlight the importance and role of morphological awareness (MA) across orthographies, in particular, the role it plays in reading development, specifically with bilingual populations. MA supports reading acquisition and development beyond other predictors of reading, such as phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, and rapid automatic naming to name a few. While MA aids in the development of decoding fluency, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension, explicit morphological instruction does not occur regularly in reading intervention. For English learners (ELs), instruction should focus on improving MA, semantic awareness, and orthographic processing, which in turn would exert a positive influence on reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. This clinical focus article aims to provide speech-language pathologists with applicable tasks to measure MA and strategies to guide explicit morphological instruction. Method The role of MA in reading development will be described with regard to its importance beyond other predictors and the role it plays in theoretical models of reading development. Then, MA will be described across orthographies, with a focus on cross-linguistic influences. Finally, measurement tasks will be described, and clinical implications will be discussed in terms of using different strategies and tools to explicitly address MA. Conclusion Clinical implications of morphological instruction should be further explored and incorporated in current practices. With regard to ELs, it is important that we provide effective and specific instruction to better bridge the academic achievement gaps and increase overall language and literacy skills. Morphological instruction should be explicit and provided in conjunction with other domains of language. Equally important is leveraging families of ELs to promote their children's oral language and literacy in their first language.

The ability to express oneself through written language is a critically important skill for long-term educational, emotional, and social success. However, despite the importance of writing, English Learner students continue to perform at or below basic levels which warrants additional efforts to identify specific areas of weakness that impact writing quality. To that end, this study aims to describe the effect of verb accuracy on writing quality ratings of 5th-grade written expository samples. This study examines the responses of 243 students in the 5th grade who differed in English proficiency. The sample included 112 English Learners and 131 English-proficient students. Verb error patterns in written samples by English Learner students are described and compared to the patterns of their monolingual English-proficient peers. Group differences were examined in verb accuracy, types of verb errors, and overall grammaticality. A regression analysis was used to examine verb accuracy as a predictor of writing quality. Findings showed that English Learner students demonstrated more verb errors than their English-speaking peers and the total number of verb errors was a significant predictor of writing quality ratings.

This study compared teacher’s preferences and implementation outcomes for two versions of a supplemental read-aloud curriculum that provides young children with vocabulary instruction and guides for teachers to ask open-ended questions and scaffold conversations. One curriculum was fully scripted and the other trained teachers to make structured adaptations. Kindergarten and Grade 1 teachers (n = 54) were randomly assigned to the Scripted or Adaptive condition. Teacher exit interviews indicated 87.76% preferred the more efficient “softly scripted” version over the adaptive version that required time for teachers to plan modifications. Teachers in both conditions perceived similar and positive implementation outcomes in terms of appropriateness, feasibility, acceptability, and usability. For fidelity, we observed no group differences for adherence or dosage. Teachers’ baseline knowledge and skills for supporting language comprehension related to fidelity of implementation and their perceived appropriateness. These findings suggest that teachers with stronger initial competencies are better positioned to deliver curricular innovations.

Purpose: This study examines the written language samples of fifth grade English learner (EL) students with and without diagnosed language-based learning disabilities (LLDs) in an effort to explore the utility of such supplemental materials for aiding in differential diagnosis of ELs with and without LLDs. Method: This sample of 127 fifth grade students consisted of ELs without identified disabilities (n = 89) and ELs diagnosed with LLDs (n = 38). Written language samples from a classroom-based expository writing task were coded for grammaticality and specific verb type of errors. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) between the groups that differed by language abilities was conducted at two time points to compare the frequency of errors and the average change in grammaticality from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year. Results: EL students with and without LLDs performed similarly at the beginning of the school year. ELs without LLDs showed greater average change in accuracy across the school year. Significantly, higher proportions of verb tense and verb omission errors were demonstrated by ELs with LLDs when compared with their EL peers at the end of the school year. Overall grammatical accuracy was also lower for ELs with LLDs. Conclusions: Group differences at the end of the school year were confirmed in types and rate of verb errors. Results support the potential clinical utility of monitoring verb errors in writing samples over time as a supplemental tool in diagnostic evaluations and assessments for progress monitoring.

In an effort to better understand the language environments of early childhood education (ECE) classrooms with varying proportions of dual language learners (DLLs), we examined the frequency in which adults use various language facilitation strategies. We further investigated the potential classroom characteristics that may predict teacher strategy use and the impact that teacher strategy use may have on DLL children’s lexical and morphosyntactic skills. The study included 21 preschool classrooms and 69 children from a Latine background that spoke Spanish at home. Classroom observations were recorded at three different time points (Fall, Winter, Spring) in one school year. Interval coding was implemented as each observation was randomly divided into three 10-minute segments and coded for frequency of strategy use. A total of 14 strategies were of interest: English-General (n = 5), Spanish-General (n = 5), and DLL-Specific (n = 4) language facilitation strategies.A between-subjects one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the frequency in which teachers are using the strategies did not differ by strategy type; however significant interactions between teacher language status (i.e., English-speaking monolingual and Spanish- English speaking bilingual) and strategy use were found. Due to the nested structure of the data, hierarchical linear models (HLM) were examined to analyze how classroom level predictors are linked to teacher strategy use. Results indicated that the proportion of DLLs has significant positive associations with teachers’ use of Spanish general language facilitation strategies and DLL-specific language learning strategies. Finally, two-level HLMs examining the association between strategy use and DLL language outcomes revealed a significant negative association between the use of Spanish general language facilitation strategies and English lexical outcomes. Further, the analyses revealed significant positive associations between English general language facilitation strategy use and DLL morphosyntactic outcomes. This study informs our understanding of adult-child interactions in ECE programs, classroom language environments for Spanish-speaking DLLs, the frequency of different language facilitation strategies, and the impact that implementation of such strategies may have on DLL children’s language growth. Limitations and implications are discussed.

This study compared teacher’s preferences and implementation outcomes for two versions of a supplemental read-aloud curriculum that provides young children with vocabulary instruction and guides for teachers to ask open-ended questions and scaffold conversations. One curriculum was fully scripted and the other trained teachers to make structured adaptations. Kindergarten and Grade 1 teachers ( n = 54) were randomly assigned to the Scripted or Adaptive condition. Teacher exit interviews indicated 87.76% preferred the more efficient “softly scripted” version over the adaptive version that required time for teachers to plan modifications. Teachers in both conditions perceived similar and positive implementation outcomes in terms of appropriateness, feasibility, acceptability, and usability. For fidelity, we observed no group differences for adherence or dosage. Teachers’ baseline knowledge and skills for supporting language comprehension related to fidelity of implementation and their perceived appropriateness. These findings suggest that teachers with stronger initial competencies are better positioned to deliver curricular innovations.

Abstract Background Physically active breaks and lessons are evidence-based approaches to improving student’s physical activity. Yet, schools and teachers face implementation challenges, requiring the need for effective implementation strategies. Purpose Use Implementation Mapping to develop an implementation strategy for physically active breaks and lessons in elementary schools. Methods With our partner school district, we assembled a planning group with expertise in education, public health, and implementation science. The group completed five Implementation Mapping tasks: (i) conduct needs and assets assessment and identify adopters and implementers, (ii) identify implementation outcomes, performance objectives, and determinants, and create matrices of change objectives, (iii) choose theoretical change methods and select and create implementation strategies, (iv) produce implementation protocols and materials, and (v) evaluate implementation outcomes. We also developed an Implementation Mapping (IMap) Logic Model illustrating proposed mechanisms of action. Results The implementation strategy focused on the principal/assistant principal, instructional coaches, and teachers. The implementation outcome was teacher implementation fidelity (implementation ≥2 physically active breaks/lessons per day). The developed strategy consisted of leadership training, teacher training, a newsletter, resources for teachers, and a parent flyer. The strategy operationalized change methods (theoretical techniques influencing implementation determinants) and practical applications (operationalization of change methods) to address implementation determinants and outcomes. Conclusions Implementation Mapping provided a systematic process for developing an implementation strategy for physically active breaks and lessons in elementary schools. The IMap Logic Model identifies the proposed mechanisms of action for further testing. The strategy has the potential to benefit schools, teachers/staff, and students by enhancing physical activity. An implementation strategy to support elementary schools use physically active breaks and physically active lessons was developed. Lay Summary Physically active breaks and lessons can help students be more physically active during the school day, which is important for their overall health and well-being. However, it can be difficult for schools and teachers to use these approaches. To address this difficulty, our team worked with a partner school district to develop an implementation strategy to reduce the challenges teachers and staff face. We used implementation mapping, which is a systematic process for developing implementation strategies. As part of the process, we first assembled a planning group, which included experts in education, public health, and implementation science. The group helped guide the Implementation Mapping process and key decisions throughout the project. We created an implementation strategy that included leadership training, teacher training, newsletters, resources, and a flyer for parents. The goal of the strategy was to ensure teachers could successfully incorporate at least two physically active breaks or lessons each day. Our approach provides a clear, step-by-step approach for implementation strategy development in schools. The resulting implementation strategy has the potential to help schools create a more active environment for students, benefiting their health and learning.

When promoting family engagement, educators should use strengths-based communication that respects families' unique languages, cultures, and resources. [...]we consider strategies to partner with families that are achievable, use multiple modalities to reach parents and caregivers, and respect diverse family cultures. [...]there are potential, long-term economic benefits for bilingual and biliterate individuals in a variety of fields with high demands for bilingual services such as jobs in education, health care, and science fields. Consider suggesting conversation starters at home that help students learn about their family's background and culture, such as: \"If you could travel back in time to meet your ancestors, what would you want to know about them?\" or \"What is your favorite family tradition?\" Then you can encourage children to draw, write, and talk about these conversations when they are back at school. Because parents are a child's first and most important teacher, challenge yourself to engage families of young children in meaningful conversations that align with topics of study at school.