Reading aloud has been referred to as "the single most important activity for building knowledge required for success in reading" (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985, p. 23). By reading aloud to children at early ages, adults facilitate the development of valuable skills that support later reading development, particularly print knowledge and oral language skills (

We examined how educating paraprofessionals in preschool classrooms on dialogic reading (DR) affected their storybook reading and effects on children’s single word vocabulary. Through a single-case multiple-probe across participants design including four paraprofessionals and eight preschool children, we identified a functional relation between educating paraprofessionals in DR and implementation of the CROWD prompts; yet, no functional relation was observed for the implementation of the evaluate, expand, and repeat strategies. Data collected on children’s expressive near-transfer vocabulary showed all but one child made minimal gains from baseline to intervention, whereas receptive data remained stable for six participants. Results suggested that paraprofessionals implemented the strategies of DR with variable fidelity following a singular training and in-text supports. Additional supports may be necessary for all aspects of the intervention and generalization to be implemented with fidelity and for improvement to carryover to both receptive and expressive vocabulary skills for children.

Family routines provide young children with predictable, repeatable, and functional contexts for learning about the world. Participating in family routines is a critical pathway by which all children learn. While the use of family routines in caregiver-implemented interventions (CIIs) is supported by theories, research, and recommended practices, few investigations examine the degree to which interventions take place within routines across developmental domains in early childhood intervention research. We conducted a scoping review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist to examine an interdisciplinary body of CIIs. We coded 42 articles for the presence and types of routines, child and family demographics, developmental targets, and how routines were identified within CIIs. Autism spectrum disorder was the highest represented disability; many studies included play routines or a combination of play with another routine. In this article, we discuss the importance of family routines in CIIs, how to jointly identify a range of routines with caregivers, and we describe the need for research on family routines in CIIs across disabilities and diverse family backgrounds.

Latin American families’ history and life experiences impact the priorities and values they have for their children with disabilities. It may be beneficial for EI providers to explore and integrate Latin American families’ backgrounds to improve EI services. We completed a qualitative interview study using a collective case study analysis to (a) learn about Latin American families’ parenting values and (b) explore families’ experiences with a statewide early intervention model. Three mothers with young children who had received EI services completed two interviews. We found that each family had unique histories, compositions, support networks, and priorities that impacted their experiences with a statewide coaching model. Families revealed how their funds of knowledge were, at times, integrated into the EI they received. Our study describes a valuable method of learning about Latin American families’ cultural backgrounds so that EI providers may sustain families’ cultures within the services they provide.

Adolescent pregnancy can impact the educational attainment of adolescent mothers and language development of their children. However, support services and interventions can mitigate these risk factors. Adolescent mothers have shown success in implementing various language facilitation strategies (LFS) with their children when coached. We developed a triadic language intervention in a facilitated playgroup context to support adolescent mothers’ use of language strategies when interacting with their children. The current pilot study utilized a pre-test, post-test descriptive approach to analyze differences in adolescent mothers’ language use and parenting behaviors and their children’s language use after participation in facilitated playgroups. All adolescent mothers demonstrated enhanced parenting practices. Changes in mothers’ and children’s language from pre- to post-test were variable across participants. While this pilot study shows promising evidence of the utility of a triadic intervention situated in playgroups with adolescent families, further research is required to address the limitations of this study.