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Translating research into school-based practice via small-group, language-focused comprehension intervention

Award Number: R01DC018823
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2025

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Translating research into school-based practice via small-group, language-focused comprehension intervention - PROJECT SUMMARY The long-term goal of this research is to translate years of federally-funded basic science on comprehension processes and interventions to provide elementary-age children with strong, school-based language stimulation to improve reading comprehension. The short-term goal of this proposal is to stimulate language and comprehension skills in Grade 1 children at risk for reading comprehension failure by testing the efficacy of a modified, small-group, version of the Let's Know! intervention, which has shown to be efficacious as a whole- class curriculum. Let's Know! systematically targets lower- and higher-level language skills to improve both language skills and listening comprehension. Delivering small-group instruction affords a targeted focus on those children with low language abilities who are most at risk for poor reading comprehension, many of whom have Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). To accomplish our goal, we have three specific aims: (a) determine the efficacy of Let's Know! as a school-based, small-group, language-focused comprehension intervention for promoting the lower-and higher-level language skills of Grade 1 children who are at risk for comprehension difficulties due to low language, (b) determine the efficacy of Let's Know! for promoting the comprehension skills of children who are at risk for comprehension difficulties due to low language, and (c) determine the extent to which intervention effects are moderated by dosage, initial language skill, DLD status, word reading skill, nonverbal IQ, and family socioeconomic status. The proposed project involves a collaborative and multi-disciplinary partnership among researchers who study basic developmental processes pertaining to language and reading acquisition as well as school-based prevention and intervention to support language and reading skills. We use a three-phase approach to accomplish this clinical trial. Phase 1 encompasses key research activities to ready the intervention for implementation in Phase 2's randomized controlled trial (RCT). Phase 2 comprises a multisite RCT to determine the efficacy of Let's Know! as a small- group, language-focused comprehension intervention when implemented at children's respective schools. The RCT will meet guidelines for high-quality efficacy trials in education and prevention science. Phase 3 will comprise analyses of impacts on children's language and comprehension skills, in both the short- and long- term, from Grade 1 through Grade 3 as well as moderation of effects. This proposal is innovative in three primary ways. First, the proposal focuses on prevention of reading comprehension failure, in children most vulnerable to failure, in a crucially important area of reading instruction that is weak or missing in most US schools – explicit and systematic teaching of language and comprehension skills. Second, the study builds on decades of basic research on comprehension processes and evidence-based pedagogical practices to translate these into a practical intervention that fits squarely within the US educational system. Considering that evidence-based practices are rarely implemented due to research-to-practice gaps, building the intervention to fit in the current educational system increases its chance of implementation, if found to be efficacious. Third, the proposal considers longitudinal impacts of the intervention and moderators of the effect, which has both clinical and theoretical implications for comprehension processes and interventions.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $617,759 )
2025	2025	THE MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.	36 1ST AVE	CHARLESTOWN	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	5	3/21/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2025	2025	THE MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.	36 1ST AVE	CHARLESTOWN	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	12/31/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$555,984
2025	2025	THE MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.	36 1ST AVE	CHARLESTOWN	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	002	5	4/23/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$61,775
														Subtotal = $617,759

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $626,760 )
2024	2024	THE MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.	36 1ST AVE	CHARLESTOWN	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	4	12/13/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$564,084
2024	2024	THE MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.	36 1ST AVE	CHARLESTOWN	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	4	5/2/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$62,676
														Subtotal = $626,760

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $652,741 )
2023	2023	MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.THE	36 1ST AVE	BOSTON	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	12/13/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$587,468
2023	2023	MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.THE	36 1ST AVE	BOSTON	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	3	1/13/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$65,273
														Subtotal = $652,741

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $662,017 )
2022	2022	MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.THE	36 1ST AVE	BOSTON	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	2	4/22/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$66,202
2022	2022	MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.THE	36 1ST AVE	BOSTON	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	12/15/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$595,815
														Subtotal = $662,017

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $690,696 )
2021	2021	MGH INSTITUTE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS, INC.THE	36 1ST AVE	BOSTON	MA	02129	SUFFOLK	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	1/1/2021	NEW	$690,696
														Subtotal = $690,696

Grand Total All Awards = $3,249,973

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Translating research into school-based practice via small-group, language-focused comprehension intervention

Award Number: R01DC018823

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2025

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