Examining the use of recommended language intervention practices in early childhood special education classrooms

Two studies were conducted to describe the extent to which recommended language intervention practices were implemented in preschool classrooms serving young children with disabilities and to investigate the relationships between children's observed level of exposure to those practices and their language outcomes. Study 1 was a descriptive study of the amount and type of language training received by 59 children in 26 preschool classrooms. Repeated observations of these children over a 4-month period revealed that children exposed to higher levels of recommended practices had higher rates of engagement and verbalizations. Study 2 was a process-product study that examined the relationship between children's gain on language measures and their level of exposure to recommended practices. Results showed that children who made greater language gains were more likely to be in classrooms that provided more frequent exposure to recommended language intervention strategies. Implications for training and research are discussed.