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Irla Lee Zimmerman, P.h.D., one of the authors of the Preschool Language Scale (PLS), sat down with us last month at The American Psychological Association’s annual convention. We asked her about how she got into the field of speech-language pathology, and for some insight about additional ways you can use the information you get from PLS-4.

Dr. Zimmerman would love to hear from you about why and how you use PLS– she says so at the end of this video clip! Let her know in the comments section below.

The fourth version of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT–4 instrument) will be released in November 2006. The most widely used norm-referenced test of receptive vocabulary, this edition continues a nearly half-century tradition of providing unparalleled vocabulary assessment.

The renowned PPVT assessment was created by Dr. Lloyd Dunn, who died in April 2006. His son Dr. Doug Dunn is the coauthor of the fourth edition and is eager to continue his father’s well-known practice of providing reliable, valid, and comprehensive assessment tools and educational programs for children.

“What makes this version of the test especially noteworthy is that it is Dad’s last,” said Dr. Doug Dunn. “It was his overwhelming desire to see that everything was done as well as possible—the art, standardization, norming, even the manual. Dad’s legacy to the future is a true focus on building a quality product. He wanted each version to be better and more useful.”

“Dad’s legacy to the future is a true focus on building a quality product. He wanted each version to be better and more useful.”
—Dr. Doug Dunn

The PPVT–4 instrument includes several new features. The format of the portable easel is a larger 8 ½ in. by 11 in. Core vocabulary has been updated with more stimulus words (now 228 per form). Users will find better representation of word types across all levels of difficulty, including very easy items to strengthen the floor of the test. What’s more, the PPVT–4 scale features updated, realistic art, now in full color.

“Dad always wanted a version in color,” says Dr. Dunn. “The color was carefully done to be very appealing. The balance of pictures—the ethnicity and gender role models—is greatly enhanced. Nothing was overlooked. For instance, to accommodate those with color blindness, the colors are vivid, and there are dark outlines around the art.

“Today, subjects are more engaged in media than ever before, as are teachers and other administrators. I believe the color in the PPVT–4 will go a long way toward holding interest and attention, which in turn will help provide a better assessment of vocabulary achievement.”

“I believe the color in the PPVT–4 will go a long way toward holding interest, which in turn will help provide a better assessment of vocabulary achievement.”
—Dr. Doug Dunn

As with previous editions, the PPVT–4 instrument is well suited for a wide range of users. Designed for ages 2 years 6 months through 90+, and to meet the needs of general and special education professionals, this versatile instrument is appropriate for screening and diagnostic purposes, progress monitoring, and meeting Reading First goals. The test is also applicable to all three tiers of the response to intervention (RTI) model. And like its predecessors, the PPVT–4 scale is quick and easy to use. It can be given in just 10 to15 minutes and requires no reading or writing.

Dr. Dunn says, “In this version, virtually everything is improved, including the packaging. For users who are itinerant, the newly designed carrying case makes it easy for them to travel with everything they need. And for those who work in one location, the packaging also works well on a bookcase.”

“In this version, virtually everything is improved, including the packaging.”
—Dr. Doug Dunn

A trained statistician, Dr. Dunn says, “It has been great to work with Dr. Mark Daniel and look at all aspects of the data analysis, including measures of bias and performance.”

A dedication to meeting cultural sensitivity goals has always guided the development of the test. Building on this commitment, special attention was paid to ensuring a balanced representation of sex and race/ethnicity in the illustrations. All items were reviewed by a panel of 15 professionals, and any items showing evidence of bias were eliminated.

Dr. Dunn adds, “The breadth of data in the norming sample matches the U.S. Census (with less than a 1% variance between the norms and the general population). As it was, we had more cases than we needed in some sections of the sample—we didn’t have to extrapolate information in any cross section of the population. This makes the test very current. Besides increasing items at the lower end, we also added items at certain critical levels to match vocabulary growth patterns. The basal and ceiling rules remain the same so that there will be no increase in the time to administer the test.”

Other new features were introduced to make it easier to measure progress, a practice that has gained increased emphasis in professional and government guidelines. Specifically, there have always been two parallel forms to facilitate retesting. However, this version of the test, as well as the PPVT-III instrument, now includes a growth scale values (GSVs), a new metric for measuring progress over time.

The ASSIST™ scoring software has been rebuilt, allowing the user to include an unlimited number of examinees in one database. Significantly enhanced ASSIST reporting options let users run reports by age and grade, as well as by a wide variety of subclassifications.

Dr. Dunn says he looks forward to personally adding to the growth and quality of the test. “In the years to come, I hope to contribute enhancements in the area of ‘mechanization of process’—in other words, technology solutions that focus on the administration, scoring and reporting of the test. Think speed. Think of making the test available to all teachers and other administrators using the best of mechanization.

“Dad built the foundation on which the test has been developed, and he was involved in the PPVT–4 all way to the end. He looked at everything, literally up to the last week of his life. His vision was truly ongoing.”

n the first part of this interview, you met Michelle Eral, MS, CCC-SLP, creator of TheraSimplicity. In part two, you will learn the story of TheraSimplicity from the beginning, to the present day and beyond.

From the Beginning…

As you read in the first part of this interview, Michelle Eral came up with the initial concept for TheraSimplicity based on her own intervention needs in 1997. In its infancy, TheraSimplicity was beta tested in CD format in three prominent clinical settings: Gillette Children’s Hospital, The Mayo Clinic, and Courage Center. A pretty big step for a little idea, to be sure. Michelle’s intention from the onset was that TheraSimplicity would be Internet-based for the most convenient delivery. In 2000, this goal was accomplished, and TheraSimplicity was released as an online product.

TheraSimplicity was created by an SLP for SLPs, and Michelle is quick to reinforce the importance of professional collaboration to the success of the resource. “TheraSimplicity recognizes what a deep talent pool we have in the SLP community.” An important part of this, as Michelle points out, is that from the beginning, they never intended to “tell people how to treat their clients.” Instead, the creators “simply wanted to put as many resources out there as speech-language pathologists would need to help them apply their expertise in the most effective way possible.”

TheraSimplicity is designed for use in all settings in which SLPs work. It is very visual, intuitive, and easy to use. This means making sure everyone has the chance to contribute to the tool that they are using every day. “We can most effectively serve our customers by finding out what people do best and cultivating that knowledge to make the TheraSimplicity environment better.”

To the Present Day…

TheraSimplicity was created to be a living product. This means that it is continuously updated, so the most current information and resources are always available to users. When it became an online tool, it also became a convenient subscription-based service. Members renew yearly for access to its wealth of resources. Online delivery also means that users never need to worry about software upgrades or patches. One of the key components built into the resource is relevance—users know their peers in the speech and language community are behind all the content on the site. In addition, users can create and customize intervention materials. TheraSimplicity also lets users save their work, so it’s always there when needed.

TheraSimplicity is packed with materials that users can customize, like worksheets, activities, flashcards, slideshows, and games. Users can also utilize precreated resources “as-is” for their specific treatment needs. It’s up to the individual user.

TheraSimplicity makes serving and supporting customers a top priority. For example, password support is available 24/7. Sometimes users just need a better idea of how TheraSimplicity works, which the team accommodates with a phone call or consultant visit—whatever is needed. This commitment to the user is one reason Michelle believes TheraSimplicity is a phenomenal resource.

This invaluable resource has been enthusiastically greeted within the SLP community since it first became available in the late 1990s. The world outside the SLP community has also taken notice. TheraSimplicity was nominated for Microsoft’s Small Business Solution of the Year two years ago. Quite a dramatic entry into a simple product idea’s adolescence!

…and Beyond

Two exciting new components are coming soon to the TheraSimplicity environment. First, an AAC section will allow users to create communication boards, story boards and sequencing boards. They can either import images, or use any of the images on the TheraSimplicity site. Michelle is excited about this addition, and is quick to point out that the “images in this area are tremendous and unique in the speech and language community.” Second, a new autism section will meet a growing need in the field and many requests from professionals. Users will be able to create “About Me” books, which work to educate others, transition clients, and promote clients’ self-advocacy efforts.

Feedback from professionals helps TheraSimplicity grow and improve, and frequently results in improvements to the TheraSimplicity environment. This is part of the “you ask for it, you get it” approach that keeps TheraSimplicity relevant. For example, if an SLP has a different treatment approach than one offered on the TheraSimplicity site, that person is encouraged to create a new TheraSimplicity page and publish what they think and why. In its next stages of life, TheraSimplicity wants to continue to remain as flexible and current as possible. By all accounts, TheraSimplicity seems to be on the right path!

Click here to visit the TheraSimplicity product page.

Meet TheraSimplicity (and Michelle!) at the ASHA Schools conference, July 8-10, booth #63.

Michelle is looking forward to attending the ASHA Schools conference, where TheraSimplicity will partner with AGS Publishing. When asked what she likes about conferences like this, she said, “they are so reaffirming to me, especially on the development side. After attending a conference like ASHA Schools, I really feel like I’m doing something right.” In addition, she always enjoys hearing stories about how TheraSimplicity has helped SLPs be more effective. As Michelle states with conviction, “I truly believe in TheraSimplicity and its ability to make the lives of speech-language professionals easier.”

All in all, that’s quite a story.

Relevant, customizable, advanced, invaluable. TheraSimplicity is a unique, online collection of high-quality Speech and Language intervention materials: images, activities, and reference materials. TheraSimplicity combines a wide variety of content and functionality in one easy-to-use application. It is completely customizable based on your needs. TheraSimplicity gives you access to a trunk load of materials and all you need is an Internet connection!

In part one of this two-part interview with Michelle Eral, creator of TheraSimplicity, we learn about who Michelle Eral is and how her own intervention needs as an SLP led her to create TheraSimplicity.

Michelle Eral lives in the small town of New Richmond, WI, with her husband, Joe, and her three children, ages 16, 12, and 3. Michelle has always been focused on education—she graduated from high school at age 15! Michelle received her B.S. in Speech Pathology from St. Cloud State University, in Minnesota, and her M.S. from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. After college, Michelle worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist specializing in the rehabilitation of patients with brain injuries. She still works in this field today. One of the things she loves about working in this fascinating field is the tenacity of her patients. “I’ve always found in my patients such a desire to function,” Michelle says with conviction.

In the eight years since TheraSimplicity first came into being, Michelle has continued her work as an SLP in private practice. As TheraSimplicity took off, Michelle chose to continue working in the field on a contract basis, which allows her the flexibility to devote most of her time to TheraSimplicity and achieve an important balance in her life: “I value the opportunity to keep contact with patients, while continuing to improve TheraSimplicity,” she says.

About a year ago, Michelle’s commitment to TheraSimplicity led her to partner with AGS Publishing. Michelle’s fellow SLP, Tina Eichstadt, is a Product Manager at AGS Publishing who has always shared Michelle’s vision for the value TheraSimplicity provides to the SLP community. After many conversations with Michelle and her husband Joe, Vice President of Sales for TheraSimplicity, the partnership finally achieved success. Joe describes the partnership as an obvious phase in TheraSimplicity’s life. “AGS Publishing is a highly respected company within the speech-language-hearing community,” Joe said. “With a long history of well-known tests, they’re recognized as a leader in the assessment of speech and language disorders. Our focus on innovative, customized therapy tools makes this a very natural partnership. Together, we can offer the speech-language-hearing professions reliable solutions for prevention, diagnosis, intervention, or monitoring.”

Michelle is a self-admitted perfectionist and quite meticulous when it comes to treating her patients. From the beginning, she always liked her materials to look professional and customized. She would often go “above and beyond” to make sure they did. For example, if she were using pictures that had been photocopied over and over again, she would often scan those pictures into her computer, clean them up, and reprint them. Another example comes from her work with community reintegration for people with brain injuries. One part of her treatment practice was to compile memory books for her patients-a kind of planner that allows memory—impaired individuals to customize things like schedules, calendars, address books, and personal information to compensate for their memory loss. Michelle got these materials from many different software programs, which was quite time consuming. This book also became a popular resource with her colleagues, however each time someone wanted to use it, Michelle had to gather and print materials from up to seven pieces of software! Her desire for an easier way led Michelle to consider the feasibility of creating a software program that combined multiple materials and resources in one convenient place. After conducting market feasibility studies, and closely studying the competition, TheraSimplicity was born.

Stay tuned for part two of this interview.

Mrs. Hartman and her third-grade class

What happens when a real-life author meets his readers face to face . . . and three generations inspire each other? Magic, of course.

This particular author visit occurred just outside of Nashville, Tennessee at Edmondson Elementary School in Brentwood. Jane Hartman’s third-grade class invited Dr. Ronald Goldman, co-author of the Sounds & Symbols Early Reading Program, to read a story and answer questions. He also happens to be the father of Jan Eddleman, the parent reader, and the grandfather of Kimberly Eddleman, Jan’s own daughter who is a third grader in the class.

A loveable character

As a former remedial reading teacher, Mrs. Eddleman enjoys sharing the Sounds & Symbols stories with Mrs. Hartman’s students. The main character, High Hat, “is the loveable character kids gravitate to,” she explains. “He can present educational materials that are irresistibly fun to learn.” She thought it would be a great idea to bring her dad, the co-creator of High Hat, to meet the children.

High Hat’s appeal is real, according to Mrs. Eddleman. High Hat wins friends easily with his popping eyes and bottle-brush moustache. He always solves the problem of the day by pulling something wonderful out of his tall hat or deep pocket.

Instilling a passion for learning

Mrs. Hartman prepared her students in advance for Dr. Goldman’s visit. For her, teaching is a mission. With 30 years of teaching experience behind her and two Teacher of the Year awards, she views “third grade as a magical year, because each day students learn something new about their world or about life.” She adds, “It’s an age of independence, when children want to discover and learn on their own.”

More than anything, Mrs. Hartman believes educating is about creating an environment where children are challenged and able to develop the skills and desire to become life-long learners. “I want my students to be excited about coming to school, so each day I begin with the words, ‘You picked a great day to come to school.’”

Meeting the author

Story hour happens every day in Mrs. Hartman’s class. Before Dr. Goldman’s visit, the children drew pictures of Hat Hat and wrote letters with their own questions for the author. In their letters many of the students asked why Dr. Goldman became an author, how long it took him to write a book, and how High Hat was created. They were definitely curious about the writing and illustration that went into the creation of Sounds & Symbols. Click here to view students’ letters.

Mrs. Hartman and Mrs. Eddleman staged Dr. Goldman’s visit as a “meet the author” event. When he arrived, it was indeed a great day for the children to be at school. Dr. Goldman read Marty Mouse from the Sounds & Symbols storybook. Then he described how High Hat was created thirty years ago at Vanderbilt University to help children read and learn all the sounds. About 20 students participated in the event and had their picture taken with the author!

Inspiring new stories

Dr. Goldman definitely made an impression on the class. After his visit, Kimberly Eddleman was inspired to write and illustrate her very own High Hat story. She titled it, “Milky Moo,” using the “m” sound. Her mother, Mrs. Eddleman, commented that when students finish reading all the High Hat stories, that’s the perfect time to encourage them to write new ones.

Milky Moo
Written and illustrated by Kimberly Eddleman, age 8

One day High Hat was taking a stroll by the farm when he spotted his friend Milky Moo sitting down and crying. “What’s wrong Milky Moo,” asked High Hat? “I stopped giving milk and my owners Matt and Mandy are going to turn me into meat.”

“Don’t worry. I have the most magificant thing in my magic pocket. Here is a milk maker. All you do is attach it onto your tail and magically you will be making marvelous milk.”

Milky Moo attached the milk maker on his tail and once again he was making milk. High Hat walked away merrily, because more than anything else he likes to make people happy.

The ideas keep on coming

Kimberly Eddleman with her teacher, Mrs. Hartman

As a former remedial reading teacher, Mrs. Eddleman has seen the High Hat stories spark creativity in many children. That’s why she continues to use the Sounds & Symbols storybooks as a parent reader. She explained, “Back in the classroom I would dress up like High Hat and use the materials in unique ways to reinforce the core concepts.” She would also post the particular character card of the week on the bulletin board and use the character cards in group games.

Recently Mrs. Eddleman wrote a High Hat story herself—about Mrs. Hartman and her class. “I thought the students would appreciate having a story written especially for them,” she said. “It’s just one more great idea for encouraging children to use their imaginations!”

You never know how High Hat and his fabulous stories will inspire you . . .

High Hat’s Holiday Handbook and Helping Hand
By Jan Eddleman
Illustrated by Kimberly Eddleman

Dedicated to Mrs. Hartman’s third-grade class. If you can imagine it, you can create it. So let your stories imagine all possibilities!

Horrified Hannah in Mrs. Hartman’s class had a horrible headache. Feeling helpless she replied, “I have too much happening. I hardly know how I will complete all I have to do. Not only do I have handball, but also Mrs. Hartman handed me too much hard homework on the holiday, Halloween. Thinking about all my happenings hurts my head! This is a hazard to my health. I hope I don’t have to go to the hospital.”

“I hate to hear this,” said High Hat, handing Hannah a hanky. “How heartbreaking! We must put this horrible hassle to a halt in a hurry.”

High Hat reached into his handbag and handed Hannah the Holiday Handbook for Mrs. Hartman. “Here,” said High Hat, “hopefully this will help with your hassles.” High Hat continued, “In the handbook it states that it is too harsh to have homework on a holiday.” With that helpful hint, High Hat said, “we must get my friend Helping Hand to put Mrs. Hartman’s homework to a halt.” High Hat handed Helping Hand the Hotline and called Mrs. Hartman.

Mrs. Hartman was happily eating ham in her hanging hammock when she received the heartbreaking headlines. “I hate to have you handle a problem on a holiday,” said Helping Hand, “but Hannah and the rest of your class are not happy. They are all horrified that they were handed huge hunks of homework on a holiday.”

Hearing the news, Mrs. Hartman was heartsick; she hurriedly headed to her homemade calendar to check the date. She said to herself, October 31st, what a mistake! Hearing how this would affect the children’s holiday horrified her. But because she has such a big heart and is so loving and helpful, she said, “This can not happen! How horrible to have homework on a holiday. All homework assignments must come to a halt in a hurry. I will handle this hassle so my class will once again have harmony on this holiday. Helping Hand can you help? Call all the children on your Hotline in a hurry. Tell them homework on a holiday is not healthy and to come to my house for a Halloween party.”

The children were as happy as can be. Mrs. Hartman the hip hero had helped make this a happy and harmonious holiday. High Hat placed his hat on her head, but the children thought she deserved a halo instead. Like High Hat, more than anything else, Mrs. Hartman likes to make her class happy.

Dr. Donna Geffner—Professor, private practitioner, presenter, and past president of ASHA, Dr. Geffner speaks to the SLP Forum about her work and the changes she’s seen over three decades in the profession.

SLP Forum: Tell us a little about your work. Looking back, what has changed over the years?

Dr. Geffner: The field has grown and expanded so much. It’s a different discipline from the years when I was a student, and that’s very exciting. Our technology is so much better. We have access to information in seconds.

At the same time, though, there’s still much to understand about language processing, and the impact on learning and learning disabilities. As an educator, I feel it’s critical to learn more about language processing, reading problems, writing and spelling problems—how they all interact and affect a child’s growth.

SLP Forum: How do you see speech-language professionals incorporating new findings in these areas into their work?

Dr. Geffner: With reading, as an example, we’ve learned how phonological awareness, children’s ability to discriminate sounds, and their acoustic skills all affect their ability to learn, decode, and learn to read. So we can’t operate in a vacuum. We have to collaborate and participate in support teams, to interact with teachers so that the work we do with students is relevant in the context of the classroom.

I have a private practice, too, so I’m really aware of how crucial and how difficult it is to find time to communicate with teachers and other professionals involved in the child’s care. They’re busy and we’re busy—but we have to find ways to talk, consult, and work together to ease the burden on the children.

Some of our students are walking around with a huge burden of guilt; they don’t know why they are not processing the information, and why they’re not succeeding in the classroom. They’re confused, and they think it’s somehow their fault (feeling “I am stupid.”). It’s like they’re wearing a big backpack, and we have to work together to lift that pack off their back. We have to let them know that it’s not their fault, they are not stupid, and that we can address the problems they’re facing and help them learn and succeed. Sometimes we have to find their learning styles. We know from brain scans and f MRIs that the brain can adapt and develop new learning patterns because of neural plasticity.

SLP Forum: Describe your experience as president of ASHA.

Dr. Geffner: I loved every minute of it! I had the brightest, most hard-working, most dedicated team. It was exhilarating to get to know so many others committed to the profession. I met wonderful people from all over the country and even international members. I made new friends.

There were some real challenges. I learned about government regulations, lobbying, federal law guidelines, and so much more. There was a lot of responsibility, a lot of travel time, which took a great personal toll. Fortunately, I had an understanding husband, faculty, and students who realized the importance of what I was doing. I was gone a lot—even missed my brother’s big birthday celebration.

But there are great rewards. I’ve taken away friendships that will be lifelong. And I’m very proud of some of the things we accomplished during my watch. We championed universal infant hearing screening, achieved a moratorium on the Medicare cap for rehabilitation services, accomplished reciprocal certification with Canada, and reciprocal continuing education credits for ASHA and AAA conventions, and so much more. We made inroads to the Health Care Financing Administration regarding fees for services.

And I have some really wonderful memories. I’ll always remember Kirk Douglas speaking at Convention, with thousands of people in the audience. Do you want to know how I got him to come to ASHA Convention in San Francisco? I got his home address from a friend and sent him a letter. He’s played a hero, a champion so many times, and I implored him to use his stature to champion people who have suffered strokes, as he has done. He responded through his publicist and insisted on coming to make the address. He volunteered to speak to us, and never charged us a speaker’s fee.

SLP Forum: So you’d recommend the experience of working for ASHA at an organizational level?

Dr. Geffner: Yes! I have to tell our younger members—I remember when I was starting in the profession. I looked at the members of the executive board, and wanted to be among them, helping my colleagues, the organization, the profession. So I want to tell younger members: If you want something, it can happen. If you want to effect change, you can. In the profession, we make a difference every day. I get calls from parents telling me that my suggestions have helped their child. That makes me feel good, it gives me a sense of inner peace. What a wonderful feeling.

SLP Forum: Do you see any special challenges facing the profession right now?

Dr. Geffner: There are many. First, we as an association still have to be recognized by third party payors. We need to continue our vigilance in seeing that provisions are made so that kids can get services they need and professionals can be paid equitably.

We need to continue expanding our knowledge base, to learn more about the relationships between language disorders, learning, and reading to understand how we can help children succeed in the classroom.

We need to fight to maintain the status of audiologists with other associations. Right now, physicians are training techs to do audiology work for less pay. That’s dangerous for us and for the patients. Audiology needs to unite, to put aside our differences to work together to resolve this issue.

And we need to continue helping hearing impaired people. We need to find affordable devices to reach more people and help them in their day-to-day lives.

SLP Forum: What about you—what challenges have you taken on recently?

Dr. Geffner: Well, I’m finally getting to finish my book on what Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists need to know about ADHD, and I’m working on a listening test. Since I’ve finished serving on the ASHA board, I have been able to develop an Au.D. consortium for St. John’s University with Adelphi and Hofstra Universities. I’m concentrating on writing and speaking and putting thoughts in print. Workshops are still a joy to do and I love to meet our colleagues around the country. Right now I want to put my ideas down on the page. I want to translate my years of direct clinical services into something that can help others. I also want to enjoy my students. Some of them have become dear and special friends to me and I have learned from them. They are tomorrow’s hope.

Author Kathleen Williams, PhD, NCSP. January of 2000 she decided to take figure skating lessons. She was looking for a way to get a break, some exercise, and to clear her mind.

Everyone has a story. Author Kathleen Williams leaves a lasting impression when you meet her. The amount of her accomplishments overwhelms the mind. You wonder what motivates her and where her energy comes from. Her reflections resonate for all who long for something more than a day-to-day existence—a real purpose.

The early years

In 1970, with her audiology and speech science undergraduate degree in hand, Williams began her career at Michigan City Area Schools in Indiana. She first taught mentally handicapped students and later second grade. She also designed a summer reading program. Two years later she took a job in her field as a speech and hearing clinician in Valparaiso, Indiana. At the time, most speech-language pathologist positions were itinerant, working for three or more school districts, especially in rural areas.

Williams was responsible for serving kindergarten through grade 12 students from seven schools in the Porter County Special Education Cooperative. She explains, “These massive co-ops were created prior to Public Law 142, as states were moving towards mandatory special education services. I served across three school districts with three different superintendents and three different ways of doing paperwork. You found yourself doing very little real speech therapy.”

Williams loved the work, but found balancing family responsibilities difficult as an itinerant speech-language pathologist. “It’s hard for the babysitter to track you down,” she adds. Wanting to return to a saner schedule, Williams obtained a master’s in education in 1974, focusing on reading at the elementary level. For the next few years she taught first grade and remedial reading, and worked as a speech-language pathologist serving preschool children with disabilities.

Going back to school

In 1986 after her third child was born, Williams returned to school to pursue another master’s degree, this one in educational psychology from Ball State University. Shortly thereafter, she worked on a doctorate in school psychology. Williams recalls writing her dissertation with her young son under her desk. “I thought I wanted a college teaching position to have more time for my family. However, it didn’t work out that way.”

As a doctoral school psychologist intern, Williams served gifted and at-risk children in Muncie, Indiana. She remembers one girl in particular who did not speak by choice, an “elective mute.” This child was temporarily homeless, living in a car with her mother. Williams administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) to her and was amazed by the girl’s high score. She explained, “The PPVT is very unobtrusive. A child just points to a picture when you say a word. Despite this girl’s very deprived environment, she somehow learned the vocabulary of the world. You don’t do that unless you’re very smart. Here’s this bright penny. We’ve got to make sure we polish it.”

Developing tests

The next phase of Williams’ career took a new turn in 1989—towards test development. “The general consensus is that no one goes out there and says, ‘Boy, I want to major in psychometrics and be a test developer.’ It just happens,” she explains. She first worked as a project director for the Psychological Corporation in Texas and in 1992 moved to AGS Publishing in Minnesota starting as associate director of assessment services and later was promoted to director of product development. In 2002 Williams was named the vice president of product development for AGS Publishing.

Test development clearly matched Williams’ personality and work style. “I’m very detail-oriented and like working independently. Nobody has to give me a schedule. I don’t need an imposed structure. There is an inherent structure to test development, but it’s very iterative. Lots of times it feels as though you’re on shifting sands,” she says.

Change is a constant when developing tests. So, too, is problem solving. Williams found solving problems one of the most fulfilling aspects of her job. “It’s rewarding to put together all my practical experience from my earlier years. It’s interesting to be older and able to connect the dots when you’re working on a project with a team and trying to find a solution. Your past experiences are helpful. Now you can show others how to pull information together, without being directive about it,” she adds.

Williams’ past experiences as a speech-language pathologist, reading teacher, and school psychologist are invaluable in the field of test development. She knows firsthand how difficult those jobs can be. She continues, “I was there . . . The job gets harder every year that money shrinks and paper work gets heavier.” With her background she is able to integrate the user’s point of view into the tests that her teams develop.

Williams describes how the contribution she’s making has changed. “I make a difference in a broader way now because I’m developing materials that help more people and children. If the tests are more user-friendly for speech-language pathologists, if the assessments I help develop only identify those kids who need services and don’t hang a label on a kid incorrectly, then I feel good.”

In her current position she spends a lot of time with human resource issues, schedules, and budgets. Besides supervising the development of tests, Williams has authored several tests herself, such as the Expressive Vocabulary Test, Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation, Reading-Level Indicator, Group Math Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation, and Math-Level Indicator.

On the road

One of Williams’ favorite activities is presenting to groups at conferences and other venues. She feels it’s vital to stay connected to speech-language pathologists and others in the trenches. “If I just stay in my office and try to direct the development of assessments and curriculum materials, I might turn into one of those people who wouldn’t know a real kid if they tripped over one. I need to have a feel for what’s going on out there.”

Williams admits that public speaking is not easy for her. Her advice is to “over prepare, over prepare, over prepare.” She is known to rewrite a presentation three or four times before being satisfied. “I remember sitting through a lot of talks and thinking that they weren’t worth my time. So I try hard to know my audience beforehand and give them something useful. It’s very humbling.” She believes that when a presentation is well prepared, it appears more fluid and effortless to the audience.

Williams also makes it a priority to keep a pulse on the issues facing speech-language pathologists and other professionals. “While I’m speaking, I listen. And not just during the question and answer period, or during the comments afterwards. I listen to the way people react to pieces of information I present,” she says.

Managing time

Even though Williams works many evenings and weekends to keep up with her workload, she is able to maximize every hour of the week. She explains, “Because I’m still authoring tests, there’s got to be a portion of my day that’s spent on projects, such as writing test items or designing analysis.”

Williams is a strong believer in the Swiss cheese technique. “I’ve used it the majority of my life. If you’ve got ten things to do and you’re waiting until you have a block of time to work on each one, you’ll never get anything done. Somehow I try to touch each thing that needs to be finished every day,” she says. “Five minutes here. Ten minutes there.”

Under the spotlight

It’s also important to have an outlet beyond the workplace, according to Williams. In January of 2000 she decided to take figure skating lessons. She was looking for a way to get a break, some exercise, and to clear her mind. “In the beginning, I just wanted to do one thing on skates, like skate backwards. Today I’m up to the Freestyle 3 level.” At that level Williams can perform a salchow, waltz jump, toe loop, a one-foot spin, among other elements.

As an older skating student, Williams cherished the younger skaters’ show of support at a recent competition. While she was warming up for her program, the girls cheered, “Go, Kathleen!” and “You rock.” During her Freestyle 3 program Williams skated to Moonlight Serenade. Then, for her spotlight performance, she skated to a Roxy Heart song wearing a red sequined costume and a feather boa.

“I have a great time skating. You have to have a little fun in your life.”

The next chapter

Another door has opened for Williams. She recently accepted a position as vice president for product development at the College Board in New York. She will be leading the development of the new SAT and other tests and programs.

This new job might be like mastering the change foot spin in figure skating—an exciting new challenge that will encourage her to further stretch her skills.

The last word

When asked which achievements throughout her career stand out from the rest, Williams replies without a pause: “Of all my accomplishments, there are four that mean the most to me; Doug, Melinda, and Robert—my three talented, brilliant children—and my wonderful husband, Doug. At the end of the day, I know I have their love and support. What else could someone want?”

Everyone from the SpeechandLanguage.com staff and AGS Publishing extend our heartiest congratulations to Kathleen Williams on her new position. We will miss her greatly and her multitudinous contributions.

Author Kathleen Williams, PhD, NCSP.

Many educators and community members are debating the use of high stakes testing as required by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. They’re asking tough questions like, “Will schools begin to focus on basic math and reading skills to the exclusion of other subject areas?” and “Why not provide schools with the resources they need, instead of closing schools down when they don’t measure up?”

Kathleen Williams, test author and vice president of product development at AGS Publishing, believes children should not be reduced to a single test score. She’s concerned about the lack of funding for schools. “People in this country say they value education, but we don’t spend enough money on it.” She refers to statistics compiled by Market Data Retrieval. They show U.S. state spending for textbooks ranges from 2.3 percent to 0.5 percent of total education expenditures. On average .95%—less than a penny on the dollar—is spent on educational materials. “I find that statistic hard to believe, but unfortunately it’s true. It’s very discouraging,” says Williams.

While budgets are being slashed, standardized test results determine the fate of our schools. She adds, “I do believe in assessment as a diagnostic tool, but I’m concerned about the way NCLB is set up.” According to Williams, NCLB does not adequately address what she calls the three T’s—Transiency, Truancy, and Translation—as real-world roadblocks to learning.

Transiency

NCLB has established a benchmark called “adequate yearly progress” for measuring school performance. Williams explains that it’s impossible to get a true picture of adequate yearly progress with a highly mobile student body. “Transiency is the biggest problem. A teacher starts with 22 students in the fall and ends up with 22 students in the spring. By the end of the year only two of those students are the same.”

She elaborates, “The problem is you’re not measuring the same kids. People move. Families leave because they need to find work or a better job. Children in these situations do not have a consistent curriculum. We’re blaming a lot of things on schools and teachers, which aren’t their fault.”

Williams points out that if transience rates could be lowered, measurements of adequate yearly progress might be more meaningful. She shares ideas on how to encourage families to stay in their school districts, such as recruiting parents as volunteers. “One principal I read about requires parents to give 40 hours of their time a year,” she says. “When you feel good about doing something for your child’s school—like stuffing envelopes or reading stories to children—are you going to be so quick to move out of the district?”

She presents another simple idea: offer parents their own room at school. “School is not the happiest or most inviting place for a lot of people. A parent room can be a safe place to leave your coat or purse before going off to listen to first graders read for 30 minutes.” Also it’s the perfect location to post upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and announcements. In essence, a parent room can help parents stay connected.

Williams knows firsthand how a negative volunteer experience can leave a lasting impression. “Parents need to feel welcome and appreciated, too.” A few years ago she volunteered to supervise the lunchroom at her son’s school. “All the times I came to volunteer, nobody ever said, ‘hello’ or ‘you may park here.’ Nobody ever said, ‘the Student Council is going to feed all the volunteers donuts and orange juice on Monday at eight o’clock.’” Showing gratitude in simple ways can make a real difference in keeping parents involved.

Truancy

Williams explains that in order to make adequate yearly progress goals, the issue of truancy also needs to be addressed. “The absentee rate is miserable. There’s a saying, ‘Teachers can teach if the kids are in the seats.’” She recommends doing two things every day: take roll call and tell students you appreciate their being in class.

She continues, “The truancy rate could be cut if kids felt welcome in their schools. I tell teachers to throw away their seating charts. Call roll every day. Say a child’s name every day. I don’t care if the kid is five or eighteen.”

When Williams taught a study skills class for college freshmen, she had almost 100% attendance by calling roll and telling students she was glad to be teaching them. Williams elaborates, “If you personally connect with each student, they’re going to give you their attention. They want to be in school. Discipline problems also decrease if students sense their teachers want to be with them and view them as individuals.”

Translation

A third issue vital to learning is “translation.” Williams illustrates, “When I speak about translation, I’m referring to oral language. And I’m not just talking about ESL/ELL students. All kids are coming to school with a paucity of the background vocabulary and knowledge required to comprehend.”

For example, she notes, if a teacher talks about robbing from the rich to give to the poor, many children would not know this refers back to the 12^th century English legend, Robin Hood. “These kids wouldn’t know Robin Hood from a man in the moon,” asserts Williams. “We have a translation problem in this country. Kids lack the background knowledge they need to make connections in order to learn the lesson.”

Williams believes the picture is indeed grim. “Today children don’t start with enough vocabulary and background knowledge to prepare them for reading. To be a successful student, you need to come to school with 5,000 words in your vocabulary. Kindergarten teachers tell me that it’s laughable. Children have so few words in their repertoire.”

This ability to make connections is fundamental to early reading. Williams cites Keith Stanovich, who refers to the influence of vocabulary growth as the Matthew Effect. “According to him,” she says, “no one ever teaches you every word there is to learn. You use the initial vocabulary you know to comprehend initial reading material. The more you read, the more vocabulary you learn. The more vocabulary you know, the more you can read and comprehend.” The term “Matthew Effect” gets its name from the Gospel of Matthew, which presents the principle, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

The Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL), contains a test in the supralinguistic category that probes for information on a child’s background knowledge and ability to make inferences. This test can help educators determine if a child has “translation” difficulties. For example, an item in this test might describe the building of the Empire State Building in the 1930′s as surprising. A child who hasn’t heard of the Great Depression would not understand why constructing such a building during this era would be unusual. “Background knowledge along with a strong vocabulary are essential for linking pieces of information together and comprehending oral or written language,” Williams concludes.

All in all, Williams feels the intent of the NCLB legislation is positive, but believes other issues such as transience need to be highlighted. “Moving children out of one school into another will not solve the problem. What kids really need is more consistency.”

Dr. Ron Goldman

In the United States one out of five school-age children suffers from reading failures. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, poor reading and writing skills can have a devastating impact, as shown by high rates of reading problems in high school dropouts and young adults with criminal records.

Addressing the issue of literacy

Finding ways to improve literacy has captured the attention of educators and policymakers, alike, for the last few years. Speech-language pathologists have also addressed this challenge. In 1999, ASHA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Reading and Written Language Disorders adopted a significant position. They recommended that speech-language pathologists play a critical and direct role in the development of literacy in children and youth who have communication disorders.

A steadfast advocate

Dr. Ron Goldman, author and professor emeritus from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been a literacy advocate in the Speech-Language profession for many years. Strongly committed to the issue, Dr. Goldman reflected on how far the profession has come.

“It wasn’t so many years ago when speech-language pathologists weren’t even talking about their role in literacy. Many of them avoided it and were afraid to get involved. They didn’t understand the nature of their experience in dealing with literacy. We forgot how knowledgeable we were in the area of language and we let other specialists deal with it.”

Identifying the speech-language pathologist’s role in literacy

That changed, said Dr. Goldman, especially after ASHA published its guidelines on literacy. “However,” he added, “speech-language pathologists are still uncomfortable with getting involved and not sure of how to insert themselves in that role.”

Dr. Goldman has been working to address this problem. He continues to speak on the topic of “The Speech-Language Pathologist’s Role in Literacy.” His next presentations will be held in Kentucky and Mississippi.

In these discussions, Dr. Goldman promotes the need for the speech-language pathologist to have a relationship with the school system. “We can input by being an adjunct to both the teacher and the reading specialist. The school setting is an ideal vehicle for that. Our ultimate goal is to get the teacher, reading specialist, and speech-language pathologist working as a team. It’s also important to make sure parents are involved.” All in all, Dr. Goldman believes speech-language pathologists have the expertise and experience, and should be more fully utilized in addressing reading skill problems in our schools.

Phonics makes a comeback

Dr. Goldman spoke about Sounds & Symbols to this lucky class.

Dr. Goldman remembers, “Back in the 1970′s, Martha Lynch, and I were convinced that one of the best ways of teaching articulation was through the process of reading. That’s when we developed the Goldman-Lynch Sounds & Symbols Development Kit, which used the visual modality as a major technique for teaching articulation. We discovered that if you could get very young children into a strong phonics program as an introduction to reading, their articulation skills improved dramatically. Although, we didn’t focus on the gains that took place in reading initially, we couldn’t help but notice a significant improvement.”

Dr. Goldman noted that phonics has traditionally been an area of controversy. “Phonics was like a fashion coming in and out each year. There were periods of time when the whole-word approach dominated.”

Times changed, however. Now the Department of Education and the National Reading Association recommend phonics training as integral to literacy. “Becoming a Nation of Readers: The Report of the Commission on Reading,” states that phonics instruction improves children’s ability to identify words. The report recommends that phonics be taught early and kept simple.

“It’s no longer a question of whether or not a child should be taught phonics. The issue is how phonics should be taught,” said Dr. Goldman. He continued, “Studies have demonstrated that speech sound awareness, letter knowledge, and phonics are indispensable components of early reading instruction.”

The benefits of an early reading program

Dr. Goldman and AGS Publishing friends at the 2003 ASHA Convention

When Dr. Goldman presents on the topic of literacy, he explains how early reading programs can be a vital part of the language training and remedial process.

For example, many speech-language pathologists and classroom teachers throughout the nation currently use the updated version of the Goldman-Lynch kit, Sounds & Symbols Early Reading Program. It addresses the five building blocks of early reading development as outlined in Reading First and Early Reading First: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Text Comprehension.

“Sounds & Symbols is a highly structured program that provides a format of how you can teach reading and articulation skills at the same time. So if you are dealing with a population of children who have speech-language disorders, this is a specific program for tying these skills together,” he said.

Through his work, Dr. Goldman has seen the development of spoken language provide the foundation for reading and writing. As frequently cited in the literature, children who have problems with spoken language often tend to be the same ones who have difficulty with reading and writing. “Sounds & Symbols teaches children to recognize individual sounds and pair them with their grapheme counterparts. The program not only teaches how to discriminate them, but how to blend them together to make words and sentences.” In addition, Sounds & Symbols encourages parent involvement and carryover of skills with fun, take-home worksheets.

Dr. Goldman explained that a program based on sound research alone is not always enough. “With Sounds & Symbols, our goal was to develop an engaging vehicle of speech improvement that would also provide phonic training and phonic awareness. At the same time we made sure that it was interesting and entertaining for young children.” In the program stories and the High Hat puppet bring sounds and symbols to life.

The literacy pioneer knows his audience well.