title: Targeting the specific vocabulary needs of at-risk preschoolers: a randomized study of the effectiveness of an educator-implemented intervention.
abstract: This randomized study examined the effectiveness of a preschool stimulation program created to teach words that had been selected by considering the needs of the target population of children. Twenty-two educators and their group of at-risk preschoolers (N = 222, M age = 4.27 years) were assigned to one of two conditions: control or intervention. In the latter condition, educators had to read specifically developed storybooks to their group and conduct stimulation activities. Despite the training and support they received, educators implemented the intervention with varying degrees of fidelity. Nonetheless, intent-to-treat comparison of the two conditions indicates that children in the intervention condition learned the meaning of a much greater number of words than their peers in the control condition. In addition, efficacy subset analyses that took into account fidelity of implementation show that the greatest gains were made by children who had an educator who had implemented the intervention reliably. Strategies for scaling up the intervention and optimizing its implementation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Département d'éducation et formation spécialisées, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vuattoux
authors.affiliation: Département d'éducation et formation spécialisées, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada. japel.christa@uqam.ca.|DEFS, UQAM, C. P. 8888, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3C 3P8. japel.christa@uqam.ca.
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Japel
authors.affiliation: Département d'éducation et formation spécialisées, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dion
authors.affiliation: École de psychoéducation, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dupéré
mesh_terms: D057191:Capacity Building; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000193:education*; D004519:Education, Special / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012307:Risk Factors; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014825:Vocabulary
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