Promoting Caregiver Implementation of an Effective Early Learning Intervention

Promoting Caregiver Implementation of an Effective Early Learning Intervention: Sit Together and Read (STAR)

The goal of this study is to examine the impact of a caregiver-implemented shared reading program, Sit Together and Read (STAR), on children ages 4 to 5 with developmental language disorder. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• how much STAR impacts children's literacy skills in the short-term and long-term--up to two-years after completing STAR.
• how do caregiver supports in the form of small monetary rewards or encouraging texts help caregivers to implement STAR at its intended frequency of sessions per week.

Caregiver participants will be assigned to either a control group or one of three STAR groups. Children's skills related to literacy and learning will be assessed before the intervention starts, at the end of the intervention, and every six months post-intervention for two years.

Researchers will determine the short term and long term impacts of STAR compared to the control group. Researchers will compare the three STAR conditions to see if the rewards or encouragement helped parents to follow through with completing more STAR sessions.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Developmental Language Disorder; Reading; Difficult
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Sit Together and Read (STAR); Behavioral: Monetary Reward; Behavioral: Text Encouragement

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 320
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jennifer M Bostic, MA; Phone Number: 614-292-5715; Email: bostic.18@osu.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Laura M Justice, PhD; Phone Number: 614-292-1045; Email: justice.57@osu.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43205
      • Recruiting
      • Nationwide Children's Hospital
      • Contact: Jamie B Boster, PhD; Phone Number: 614-722-8756; Email: jamie.boster@nationwidechildrens.org
      • Principal Investigator: Jamie B Boster, PhD, CCC-SLP
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43201
      • Recruiting
      • Schoenbaum Family Center; Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy
      • Contact: Jennifer M Bostic, MA; Phone Number: 614-292-5715; Email: bostic.18@osu.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Laura M Justice, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Rebecca Dore, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Hui Jiang, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• receiving or on waitlist for speech services
• primary complaint of impaired language skills
• receptive, expressive, or mixed language disorder
• primarily communicates in English

Exclusion Criteria:

1. No known additional diagnoses causal of developmental language disorder including

   1. autism spectrum disorder
   2. hearing loss
   3. severe intellectual disability
2. Is not attending or has completed Kindergarten

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Untreated Control; Caregivers read to child as usual over 15 week period.
Experimental: STAR Only; Typical implementation of Sit Together and Read (STAR)	Other: Sit Together and Read (STAR); Sit Together and Read (STAR) features an explicit, systematic sequence of 15 objectives that target four dimensions of print knowledge: print organization, print meaning, letters, and words. These objectives are explicitly targeted in the context of repeated adult-child shared reading sessions and are systematically cycled over an intervention period so the child has repeated opportunities for acquiring the targeted print objectives. STAR is a manualized 15-week intervention.; Other Names: STAR Read-Aloud Practices; Read-Aloud Practices
Experimental: STAR + Reward; Typical implementation of Sit Together and Read (STAR) plus additional small monetary incentives for caregivers	Other: Sit Together and Read (STAR); Sit Together and Read (STAR) features an explicit, systematic sequence of 15 objectives that target four dimensions of print knowledge: print organization, print meaning, letters, and words. These objectives are explicitly targeted in the context of repeated adult-child shared reading sessions and are systematically cycled over an intervention period so the child has repeated opportunities for acquiring the targeted print objectives. STAR is a manualized 15-week intervention.; Other Names: STAR Read-Aloud Practices; Read-Aloud Practices; Behavioral: Monetary Reward; Caregiver receives a monetary reward of $0.50 for each session logged (up to 60 sessions) and audio-recording completed (up to 15 audio recordings).
Experimental: STAR + text encouragement; Typical implementation of Sit Together and Read (STAR) plus caregivers receive encouraging text messages	Other: Sit Together and Read (STAR); Sit Together and Read (STAR) features an explicit, systematic sequence of 15 objectives that target four dimensions of print knowledge: print organization, print meaning, letters, and words. These objectives are explicitly targeted in the context of repeated adult-child shared reading sessions and are systematically cycled over an intervention period so the child has repeated opportunities for acquiring the targeted print objectives. STAR is a manualized 15-week intervention.; Other Names: STAR Read-Aloud Practices; Read-Aloud Practices; Behavioral: Text Encouragement; Caregiver receives three tailored encouraging text messages specific to each week of the Sit Together and Read intervention.; Other Names: SMS Messaging

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Preschool Word and Print Awareness (PWPA)	Standardized criterion-referenced measure of children's knowledge of 15 basic print concepts	Pretest before intervention and post-test immediately following intervention
Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS): Alphabet Knowledge and Name Writing	PALS-Preschool is a scientifically-based phonological awareness and literacy screening and progress measure that assesses preschoolers' developing knowledge of important literacy fundamentals. The assessment reflects skills that are predictive of future reading success. We administer two subtests that measures name writing ability and upper-case and lower-case alphabet recognition.	Pretest before intervention and post-test immediately following intervention
The Reading House (THR)	A direct screening tool developed for use with pediatricians that allows a variety of providers to identify children who may be at risk for reading difficulties. It is a direct, book-based screener grounded in the concept of emergent literacy. TRH assessment examines 1) print knowledge, 2) alphabet knowledge, 3) letter-sound knowledge, 4) phonological awareness, 5) vocabulary, and 6) emergent writing.	Pretest before intervention and post-test immediately following intervention
Woodcock Johnson Test of Achievement- IV (WJ-IV): Word Attack and Letter-Word Identification	We administer two subtests of the norm referenced, standardized WJ-IV, Word Attack and Letter-Word Identification. Measure of child literacy and reading skill. We will explore avenues for data reduction, including use of a latent-variable modeling strategy.	Completed at all assessing timepoints. Pretest, immediate post-test, 6 month follow-up, 12 month follow-up, 18 month follow-up, 24 month follow up.
Woodcock Johnson Test of Achievement- IV (WJ-IV): Spelling, Passage Comprehension	We administer two subtests of the norm referenced, standardized WJ-IV, Spelling and Passage Comprehension. Measure of child literacy and reading skill	6 month follow-up, 12 month follow-up, 18 month follow-up, 24 month follow up.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ohio State University
• Collaborators: Nationwide Children's Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Laura M Justice, PhD, Ohio State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 10, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 29, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 16, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): February 23, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 30, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 24, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Randomized Control Trial; literacy; early literacy; Print Knowledge; Reading Outcomes; behavior-change strategies
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Specific Learning Disorder; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Communication Disorders; Language Disorders; Learning Disabilities; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Signs and Symptoms; Communication; Dyslexia; Language Development Disorders; Literacy
• Other Study ID Numbers: R01DC020958 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No