Janet M. Sturm

Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Language, and Literacy: Fostering the Relationship.

Language is the common thread underlying speaking, listening, reading, and writing. For children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), a solid foundation in language and communication is essential to active literacy learning across grades. This article examines the language and literacy relationship for children who use AAC. It describes the language and literacy development of these children, highlights intrinsic and extrinsic learning challenges, examines the communication-based literacy learning experiences of these children, and addresses the important role of language and communication in the literacy curricula of classroom settings. Ideas for fostering AAC, language, and literacy connections are presented.

What happens to reading between first and third grade? Implications for students who use AAC

School-age students who use AAC need access to communication, reading, and writing tools that can support them to actively engage in literacy learning. They also require access to core literacy learning opportunities across grade levels that foster development of conventional literacy skills. The importance of the acquisition of conventional literacy skills for students who use AAC cannot be overemphasized. And yet, one of the critical challenges in supporting the literacy learning of students who use AAC has been a lack of knowledge about literacy curricula and supports to literacy learning for these students. Most students who use AAC do not become conventionally literate and few of those who do achieve literacy skills beyond the second grade level. This article will provide an overview of the most frequent reading instructional activities in first and third grade classrooms. To better understand the foundational experiences important to literacy learning, the results of a survey project that examined the reading activities of general education students and teachers during primary grade instruction are presented, and critical shifts in instruction that occurred between first and third grade are highlighted. The primary instructional focus of core reading activities is also examined, along with adaptations for students who use AAC.

Writing instruction in elementary classrooms: making the connection to Common Core State Standards.

This study used a survey of primary general education teachers to examine the frequency of writing instructional activities and the genres composed most frequently by students in these classrooms. Surveys were completed by first-, third-, and fifth-grade general education teachers, with questions addressing writing activities, writing instruction, instructional strategies, writing genres, and writing environment. Means of teacher responses were calculated for each grade level to determine how many days per school year each activity occurred. To better understand the changes that occur in writing instructional practices and genres across grade levels, these means are compared and shifts are discussed. Results of this study revealed that the frequency of writing instructional practices and genre usage change across the primary grade levels, but that great variation also exists among teachers at each grade level. Links among the survey results, the Common Core State Standards for writing, and best practices for writing instruction will be made.

The Developmental Writing Scale: A New Progress Monitoring Tool for Beginning Writers.

Developing writers make qualitative changes in their written products as they progress from scribbling and drawing to conventional, paragraph level writing. As yet, a comprehensive measurement tool does not exist that captures the linguistic and communicative changes (not just emergent spelling) in the early stages of this progression. The Developmental Writing Scale (DWS) for beginning writers was developed as a tool that can capture evidence of refined changes in growth over time. This measure is a 14-point ordinal scale that defines qualitative advances in levels of a learning progression for beginning writing from scribbling to cohesive (linguistically connected) and coherent (on an identifiable topic) paragraph-level writing. The measure can be used with young typically developing children and children with disabilities at all ages who are functioning at beginning levels of writing. Limitations of current writing measures, in contrast to the DWS, are described. The development of the DWS and techniques for using the measure are described with regard to construct and content validity. Preliminary research on reliability of DWS scoring and validity for 5 purposes support usefulness of the DWS for educational and research purposes, including monitoring the progress of beginning writers with significant disabilities.

Automatic word recognition: The validity of a universally accessible assessment task

In the current study, the validity of a task designed to assess the automatic word recognition skills of persons with complex communication needs was investigated. A total of 78 students without communication impairments in kindergarten through second grade completed a standard automatic word recognition task requiring oral reading of words presented for less than 0.25 s. The same students completed an experimental word recognition task that did not require a spoken response. Results support the validity of the experimental task. For example, the mean performance scores on both tasks decreased in the expected direction, and there was a significant correlation between the standard and experimental tasks. Other results suggest that the same trait was being measured by both tasks. The data highlight directions for future research and development of the experimental task, while leaving us enthusiastic about the future of the experimental task as a valid means of assessing automatic word recognition for persons with complex communication needs.