| Abstract: |
Presented is the final report of Project CHILD, a research effort to develop and validate screening procedures for the identification of language disabled (LD) children, three intervention models for LD children, and a competency based teacher education model. In the two phases of the first study, a battery of screening tests was evaluated with a total of approximately 8,400 elementary grade children. Results led to the recommendation of the LD Screen-Pupil Behavior and LD Screen-Syllabication instruments as efficient screening tests. In the second study, on intervention models, the effectiveness with 210 LD children in 18 classrooms of the following three models was compared: Alphabetic, Phonetic, Structured Linguistic (APSL); Programed Instruction; and Individually Prescribed Program. Results indicated that the APSL approach was slightly more effective with low achieving students and that students in all three programs had positive attitudes. In the final study, a performance based staff development program was evaluated with 14 resource teachers and three regular teachers. Results showed that LD children taught by the teachers in the experimental staff development program demonstrated higher academic achievement and more positive attitudes than students of teachers in the control group. (DB) |