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Practice-based research (PBR) involves gathering information from practice, to answer questions arising from practice, to inform future practice. Given the concern that research findings are not being implemented into practice, PBR is a unique approach that brings research and practice together. In partnership with clinicians, this project used a PBR approach to address questions regarding a purpose-designed kindergarten assessment and intervention program being provided by the school-board. In phase 1, children identified as requiring language intervention (n=108), and their typically developing peers (n=121) completed the assessment tool in November and in May. Following revisions to the assessment tool, a phase 2 validation project was completed. Children with a range of language abilities completed both the revised assessment tool and standardized measures of phonological awareness, narrative retell, and working memory. Results revealed significant correlations between the kindergarten assessment tool and the standardized measures with higher correlations between similarly-targeted tests. This project provides an example of an effective collaboration between educational speech-language pathologists and researchers to address practice-related questions. This research was supported by a SSHRC partnership-development grant to Lisa Archibald. |
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