Evaluating resources required to evaluate child outcomes following indirect services in early childhood education centres: A scoping review

Abstract

Issue Addressed Speech‐language pathologists (SLPs) may provide indirect services focusing on the promotion of rich communication environments in early childhood education centres. Evaluating children's outcomes following SLP‐led professional development in early childhood education centres is challenging. The aim of this scoping review was to identify how child outcomes were measured in studies exploring SLP professional development in early childhood education. Methods A systematic search of seven databases was conducted to identify studies that included the provision of an indirect SLP service and measurement of child outcomes. Twelve studies were identified that met all inclusion criteria for the scoping review. Information about the research design, professional development training provided and child outcome measures collected were all extracted from the identified studies. Results Half of the identified studies relied on the direct assessment of child language and seven studies utilised video‐recording of interactions between educators and child/ren in their care. Conclusions Evaluating child outcomes following SLP professional development in early childhood education centres is not only challenging but also expensive. Considerations for the allocation of suitable resources to evaluate indirect services are discussed. So What? SLPs may need to demonstrate the impact of indirect services focusing on health promotion through the evaluation of child outcomes. The findings of this investigation outline the challenges identifying appropriate tools to capture the outcomes of children.