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Purpose: The purpose of this scoping review was to document how the literature reports morphological awareness instruction and interventions delivered by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and/or educators in classroom settings for kindergarten to Grade 3 students. Method: We followed the Joanna Briggs Institute's methodology for scoping reviews and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews reporting guidelines. Six relevant databases were searched systematically with article screening and selection completed by two reviewers calibrated for reliability. For data charting, one reviewer extracted content and a second reviewer verified it was pertinent to the review question. Charting for the reported elements of morphological awareness instruction and interventions was guided by the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System. Results: The database search yielded 4,492 records. After removal of duplicates and screening, 47 articles were selected for inclusion. Interrater reliability for source selection exceeded the pre-established criterion of k = 0.61. Our analysis generated a comprehensive description of the elements of morphological awareness instruction as reported in the included articles. Conclusions: Our findings provide school-based SLPs and educators a systematic means of reviewing the literature to identify key elements of morphological awareness instruction in published articles for application of evidence-based practices with fidelity, thus helping to close the research-to-practice gap. Our manifest content analysis revealed reporting of the elements for classroom-based morphological awareness instruction was varied, and in some cases, underspecified in the articles included in our study. Implications for clinical practice and future research to advance knowledge and promote implementation of evidence-based practices by SLPs and educators in today's classrooms are discussed.

Background: Measuring, assessing and managing outcomes in school practice environments is difficult due to the complex nature of school communities as well as the recent shift in service-delivery models towards tiered approaches. In tiered approaches, multiple levels of service are offered to better match students' needs. Each level of service may require different outcomes and management techniques. Research to date on outcomes has focused on measuring outcomes in medical settings, leaving a substantive gap in the literature regarding practice in schools. Aims The first aim was to explore how school-based speech-language therapists approached outcomes management as their clinical programmes transitioned to tiered service-delivery models The second aim was to describe the successes and challenges in outcomes management reported by clinicians in this context. Methods & Procedures: A secondary deductive-inductive content analysis was performed using qualitative interviews with 24 clinical managers and senior therapists from schools across Ontario, Canada. Using a framework of outcomes measurement, assessment and management in schools based on previous research studies, data were grouped into broad categories deductively, and then the content of each category was further explored using inductive coding. Iterative peer debriefing and reflexive journaling were key strategies to increase the trustworthiness of the results. Findings & Results: Participants reported measuring and qualitatively assessing seven key outcomes for school-based practice. These included: (1) student progress and achievement, (2) student participation and inclusion in the school community, (3) stakeholder perspectives, (4) 'buy-in', (5) expanded capacities, (6) responsiveness to needs and (7) accountability to systems. Participants reported more challenges than successes in outcomes management during this transition to tiered services. Challenges were attributed to idiosyncratic organizational barriers, the transition to tiered models and the philosophy of working within the educational system.

Purpose: Derivational morphology and compounds are important aspects of academic vocabulary. However, investigation of the development of expressive derivational and compound morphology using language sampling is sparse. This cross-sectional study used three types of language samples to investigate quantitative and qualitative changes in the spontaneous production of derived words and compounds in early and late elementary-age children as a function of age and discourse type. Method: Twenty-three children in two age groups (early elementary, n = 12; late elementary, n = 11) participated. Three types of language samples were elicited: conversational (10-min conversation with an adult examiner), narrative ("I tell-you tell" narrative with single picture stimulus combined with a story stem narrative), and expository (explanation of how to play a favorite game or sport with text-based topic prompts). Language samples were transcribed using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (Miller & Chapman, 2012) conventions with the addition of researcher-created codes to identify derived words and compounds. Quantitative measures (number of derived words, different derived words, number of compounds, and different compounds) were calculated as percentages of total words or number of different words to control for differing sample length. The types of derivational morphemes and compounds produced by children in each age group were listed and qualitatively analyzed for evidence of a sequential development of specific morpheme types, variation in complexity, and productivity. Results: Developmental change in quantitative and qualitative measures of derivational and compound morphology was evident across early and late elementary-age children in the language samples. Lists of derived words and compounds produced provided a rich source for analyzing developmental patterns in expressive morphology. Conversational and, to a lesser extent, expository discourse generated the greatest number and diversity of multimorphemic words. Conclusions: This research provided new insights into academic vocabulary development in elementary school-age children. The clinical usefulness of language sampling to quantitatively and qualitatively assess derivational morphology and compounds was demonstrated.

Background: Complex syntax is affected by developmental language disorder (DLD) during the school years. Targeting areas of syntactic difficulty for children with DLD may yield useful assessment techniques. Aims: To determine whether wh-movement can be measured in language samples from typically developing mono- and bilingual school-aged children, and, if so, to provide preliminary evidence of validity by comparison with traditional measures of syntax in a cross-sectional, known-groups design. Methods & Procedures: Participants were 48 typically developing children recruited from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia in four groups--monolingual English and bilingual French-English children in early (7-8 years of age) and late (11-12 years of age) elementary school. Language samples were collected and analysed with mean use of wh-movement, mean length of utterance and clausal density. These measures were compared for effects of age, bilingual development and elicitation task. Outcomes & Results: The results from all measures closely paralleled each other, providing preliminary evidence of validity. Wh-movement-based and traditional measures demonstrated similar age-related and discourse genre effects. Neither demonstrated an effect of mono- versus bilingual development. Conclusions & Implications: The results confirm research interest in syntactic movement as an area of language assessment. Further research is required to understand its application to clinical populations.

This review aimed to synthesize knowledge about multi-criteria decision analysis methods for supporting rehabilitation service design and delivery decisions, including: (1) describing the use of these methods within rehabilitation, (2) identifying decision types that can be supported by these methods, (3) describing client and family involvement, and (4) identifying implementation considerations. We conducted a rapid review in collaboration with a knowledge partner, searching four databases for peer-reviewed articles reporting primary research. We extracted relevant data from included studies and synthesized it descriptively and with conventional content analysis. We identified 717 records, of which 54 met inclusion criteria. Multi-criteria decision analysis methods were primarily used to understand the strength of clients' and clinicians' preferences (n = 44), and five focused on supporting decision making. Shared decision making with stakeholders was evident in only two studies. Clients and families were mostly engaged in data collection and sometimes in selecting the relevant criteria. Good practices for supporting external validity were inconsistently reported. Implementation considerations included managing cognitive complexity and offering authentic choices. Multi-criteria decision analysis methods are promising for better understanding client and family preferences and priorities across rehabilitation professions, contexts, and caseloads. Further work is required to use these methods in shared decision making, for which increased use of qualitative methods and stakeholder engagement is recommended. Multi-criteria decision analysis methods are promising for evidence-based, shared decision making for rehabilitation. However, most studies to date have focused on estimating stakeholder preferences, not supporting shared decision making. Cognitive complexity and modelling authentic and realistic decision choices are major barriers to implementation. Stakeholder-engagement and qualitative methods are recommended to address these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scoping review synthesized existing qualitative studies to provide conceptual clarity to "parents' perspectives" in speech, language, and communication interventions for children. Peer-reviewed articles published between January 2009 and June 2019 were reviewed in accordance with the steps recommended by Arksey and O'Malley. In total, 1883 unique records were screened, and 40 studies met inclusion criteria. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze the research questions and major themes reported in studies. The included studies were conducted across geographical regions and included parents of children of different ages and clinical diagnoses. Eight aspects of parents' perspectives were identified: access, decision making, implementation, relationship, roles, impact, expectations, and general experience. In addition, a subset of studies explored parents' opinions regarding technologies used in therapy. Findings from this review suggest that parents' perspectives have been explored across a range of geographical locations on interventions for various clinical populations. The identified categories provide some conceptual clarity for clinicians and for future research on this topic. Future studies should (i) better adhere to qualitative study reporting standards; (ii) explore parents' perspectives regarding the context of speech language therapy; and (iii) include all parents' perspectives in speech and language interventions. Parents' perspectives in communication interventions are complex and multifaceted. Clinicians and researchers can consider parents' perspectives using the eight, broad thematic categories identified in this scoping review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Stroke drills to be used by swimming instructors to teach four competitive swim strokes are described. The drills include: one arm swims; (2) alternative kicks; (3) fist swims; and (4) catch-up strokes. (JN)