The evidence base is extensive, but contains few high quality studies with generalisable messages about the effectiveness of portfolios. There is, however, good evidence that if well implemented, portfolios are effective and practical in a number of ways including increasing personal responsibility for learning and supporting professional development. Electronic versions are better at encouraging reflection and users voluntarily spend longer on them. Regular feedback from a mentor enhances this success, despite competing demands on users' time and occasional scepticism about the purpose of a portfolio. Reports of inter-rater reliability for summative assessments of portfolio data are varied and there is benefit to be gained from triangulating with other assessment methods. There was insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on how portfolios work in interdisciplinary settings.

Significant gains in language scores were shown by 71% of the children over 12 months. There were no statistically significant differences in child language scores between the two therapy groups at any assessment point. However, the HPP was twice as intensive (in terms of therapist time) as clinic therapy based on average group size, which has resource implications. CONCLUSIONS. Results suggest that there are parent and child factors that need consideration when choosing an appropriate intervention programme for a child with language impairment. Parental expectations, existing interaction style and the level of child language may be important influencing factors.

The COAST is a patient-centred, practical and reliable measure that can be used to assess self-perceived communication effectiveness for people with aphasia and/or dysarthria. Further testing on construct validity and responsiveness to change is needed before the measure can be firmly recommended for use within clinical practice and research.

Although these results need to be interpreted cautiously, the evidence is thought to warrant the use of non-word repetition tasks in clinical practice.

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