UROP Project

collaboration, education, speech-language

Research Mentor: Mrs. Anne Reed, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Communication Science and Disorders, Communication and Information
Contact Email: acreed@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: education
reading education
special education
curriculum and instruction
audiology and speech pathology
communication science and disorders
early childhood education
child development
open to all majors
Project Location: Warren Building (not far from campus), 201 W. Bloxham Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 depending on the phase of the project,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Tuesday, Sept. 3rd from 5-5:30 pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/8891231397)
Wednesday, Sept. 4th from 1:30-2 pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/8891231397)
Thursday, Sept. 5th from 3-3:30 pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/8891231397)
Friday, Sept. 6th from 12:30-1 pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/8891231397)

RECORDING for those who can't attend one of the times above:
https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/play/Kv8XUbgcgbNF7O64wrP5Gxher8yDYNDhCwFKzSB6-rAfzHZcF5j4FgDyBZLqETzm52jhU5Zr-yBT9sJD.gvmNA929Nq6XsBPX

Project Description

Many children start kindergarten with speech that's not super clear or with difficulty understanding or using language. These difficulties, for some children, mean a greater risk for identification of a reading disorder in later grades. Therefore, kindergarten teachers must possess knowledge of speech-language development and its connection to later reading development (Perfetti & Hart, 2002). Collaboration between kindergarten teachers and school-based SLPs has the potential to impact not only students with speech and language impairments (SLI), but all students in the general education setting. There is limited evidence related to HOW school-based SLPs and kindergarten teachers collaborate and whether factors such as self-efficacy impact collaboration, specifically for students with SLI. A better understanding of current views and practices paves the way for more effective collaboration between school-based SLPs and kindergarten teachers. I have three aims for the present study using an explanatory sequential (quant-QUAL) mixed methods design. The first aim is to advance the understanding of collaboration between school-based SLPs and kindergarten teachers and the extent to which, if any, factors, such as self-efficacy, impact collaboration. Second, I aim to generate further insights into collaboration between school-based SLPs and kindergarten teachers through improved knowledge of the shared and divergent knowledge of each group. Finally, I aim to use the findings of this mixed methods study to inform the creation of professional development materials to be used in a future research practice partnership meant to address knowledge gaps in grades K-2 teachers in the area of speech-language development and phonological processing through effective collaboration between SLPs and general education teachers. This project will use quantitative and qualitative research methods to answer our questions.

Research Tasks: data collection: weekly monitoring of survey responses in Qualtrics for matches, email unmatched survey responses, manage random selection of incentive recipients and email, schedule one-on-one interviews (all emails will be managed through a gmail account created for this study)
data analysis: assist with data cleaning and analysis of survey responses, use MAXQDA software to analyze one-on-one interview transcripts
Assist in creating tables and figures of data findings

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: required:
organizational skills necessary to manage multiple tasks
strong communication skills
basic knowledge of excel, powerpoint, word