Project 2: Online video training for teachers to improve reading skills in children using augmentative and alternative communication
This project consists of two parts where the first is a validation of a reading assessment adapted for students with intellectual disabilities who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and the second is a Digital video-based training for teachers aimed at improving the reading skills of students who use AAC.
Project information
This project is lead by doctoral research fellow Marthe Bilet-Mossige.
The supervisors and project members are professor Hugo Cogo-Moreira, professor Anders Nordahl-Hansen, associate professor Kenneth Larsen, and assistant professor Line Britt Ulriksen.
Funding: 9 995 000 NOK, by the Research Council of Norway through the Collaborative Project to Meet Societal and Industry-related Challenges.
Collaboration partners: Østfold University College, University of South-Eastern Norway, Universidade Federal De São Paulo (Silvana Bommarito Monteiro), and a number of Norwegian municipalities.
Studies in the project
Description
This project consists of two parts. In part one we conducted a validation of a test material which assesses early reading skills, adapted for students with intellectual disabilities who use augmentative and alternative communication. The test material is based on the reading material “Reading for All”. A total of 1026 students participated in the study, divided into two groups: Group 1 consisted of 921 typical development students aged 5-7 years, while Group 2 included 105 students with ID who use AAC.. For Group 1, assessments were administered in a classroom setting by the students' regular teachers. Each student completed the tasks independently using a pencil and individual test booklet. Group 2 received one-to-one teaching. These students responded either by pointing to their answers or by using their AAC-systems. An example from the “Sound blending” illustrates the procedure: the teacher provided the verbal instruction, “point to sss-uuu-nnn”, and students in both groups were asked to select the correct symbol.
The aim of this project is to examine the validity of an assessment tool designed to measure early reading skills in students with ID who use AAC. Specifically, the study investigates whether the test accurately assesses the constructs it is intended to measure (the validity).
Part two: This cluster randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the effects of an online video training platform versus in-person tutoring designed for teachers to support the improvement of early reading skills for students with intellectual disabilities and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder who use augmentative and alternative communication. Schools have been randomly assigned into two groups: the intervention group, teachers have been exposed to online video training platform tutoring of the reading intervention “Reading for all”. In the control group, teachers have been exposed to the same intervention through in-person tutoring. In this study, 74 students are participating, and the intervention will be finished in March 2026.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov.NCT06766188
The Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (Sikt) approved the project in December 2023, Sikt registration number: 689536.
The study received ethical approval from the institutional ethical advisory commission at Østfold University College (PRE-FER number: 3/24). The Regional Ethics Committee (REC) has confirmed that “approval from REC is not required to carry out the project.