Eye Tracking

We are interested in understanding the pupillary response to reading different stimuli. Currently, we are investigating whether word-level factors impact pupillary response. In the long term, we plan to investigate whether pupillary response to literacy stimuli can predict risk for dyslexia and be used as a physiological marker of gains associated with literacy instruction.

Social Media

Many parents receive very little instruction on how to engage their children with literacy. We have developed a curriculum called Social Media Accompanying Reading Together (SMART) which uses brief daily videos sent to parents via social media platforms to promote interactive reading strategies. Preliminary results indicate that parents increased their use of interactive reading strategies when presented with videos, and children engage more during reading sessions. Future research will investigate long-term impacts on children’s reading development.

Publications

Social Media Accompanying Reading Together: A SMART Approach to Promote Literacy Engagement

Educational Technologies

Although many educational apps are readily available for mobile devices and computers, very little research has investigated the efficacy of these tools for improving children’s language and literacy skills. Thus, we are interested in better understanding the educational value of these instructional apps and how they are used by educators.

Publications

Speech-Language Pathologists’ Feelings and Practices Regarding Technological Apps in School Service Delivery

Literacy Acquisition in Special Populations

We are interested in understanding how factors such as chronic illness and multilingualism influence acquisition of key language and literacy skills.

Publications

The Intersection of Education and Healthcare: Supporting Children with Chronic Health Conditions

Who is Centered? A Systematic Review of Early Childhood Researchers’ Descriptions of Children and Caregivers from Linguistically Minoritized Communities

A Systematic Review of Phonological Awareness Interventions for Latino Children in Early and Primary Grades

Parents’ vocabulary instruction with preschoolers during shared book reading

Research Design and Implementation Science

In the CALL Lab, we are interested in both obtaining statistical significance and clinical significance in research design. We want to make sure research reaches end-users and can be incorporated into educational and clinical practice.

Publications

Measuring Stakeholder Perceptions: A Review of Social Validity Reporting in ASHA Journals

Indexing Effects in Single-Case Experimental Design by Estimating the Percent of Goal Obtained

Collaborating with an Expert Panel to Establish the Content Validity of an Intervention for Preschoolers with Language Impairment

Effects of Explicit Vocabulary Interventions for Preschoolers: An Exploratory Application of the Percent of Goal Obtained Effect Size Metric