Oral Narrative Instruction in the Classroom (ONIinC): Considerations for Scaling Up Effective Professional Learning and Development from a School Trial to Community-Level Implementation

Abstract

This project drew upon evidence in the field of professional learning and development (PLD) in education to create and evaluate a PLD program to foster the use of narrative intervention evidence-based practices by classroom teachers working with students with language and literacy difficulties (LLD) in Grades 3 through 5. The primary aim of the PLD was to improve students' oral narrative proficiency and reading comprehension outcomes. Four important components of the PLD were (1) the central role of the speech-language pathologist in modeling the use of narrative evidence-based practices in the classroom, (2) the use of aligned instructional materials and progress monitoring tools, (3) the integration of PLD activities focused on content and pedagogy, and (4) the supportive role of administration for carrying out the year-long project. A secondary aim was to evaluate the reliability of an automated transcription and scoring application of the Monitoring Indicators of Scholarly Language (MISL) tool for analyzing oral narrative samples from school-age students. Two teachers and a speech-language pathologist were assigned to the experimental group and engaged in a PLD program spanning five months. Two additional teachers and their students served as control classrooms. There were 23 students in the experimental group and 24 students in the control group who ranged in age from 8;3 to 11;7. The students attended a school for students with language learning disabilities. The PLD resulted in significant changes in teacher practices and in student outcomes related to oral narrative production and reading comprehension. The PLD has been maintained, modified, and expanded by the educators at the school, which provides evidence of the promise of the model for wider community implementation. The MISL prototype was associated with reliable scores when compared to expert assigned scores; however, some adjustments to the algorithms are planned to improve item-level accuracy.