Dynia, J.M. (2018, July). The association between emergent-literacy skills and child-specific teacher self-efficacy for children with autism spectrum disorders. In E. Solari (Chair). Language, reading, and writing development in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Symposium conducted at the Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Brighton, UK.

1. The association between emergent-
literacy skills and child-specific teacher
self-efficacy for children with autism
spectrum disorders
Jaclyn M. Dynia, PhD.
Crane Center For Early Childhood Research and Policy

2. Children with ASD
 General term used to describe a spectrum of
biologically based neuro-developmental disorders.
 DSM-5 (2012) delineates two core features:
 Social Communication/Interaction deficits
 Restricted, Repetitive Behaviors & Interests
 Expressive Language is no longer considered a
defining core feature, but is still a crucial dimension
for clinicians, educators, and researchers to evaluate.
 Prevalence estimates:
 1 in 68 (CDC, 2014)
 69% have IQ in average range
(Lord & Jones, 2012)

3. Emergent-Literacy and Children
with ASD
• Much of the literature focuses on older
children with ASD
• Profile of strength in word reading and delay
in reading comprehension (Nation et al., 2006)

4. Emergent-Literacy and Children
with ASD
• Young children with ASD have a strength in
alphabet knowledge and a weakness in global
reading skills (Dynia et al., 2014; Dynia et al., 2016; Lanter, Watson,
Erickson, & Freeman, 2012)

5. Early Intervention
• Growth over two years shows that the gap is not
closing
• Early intervention is necessary

6. Research Questions
• To what extent were children’s gains in print knowledge impacted by
a scaled-up version of a whole-group book reading intervention?
• To what extent did gains in children’s print knowledge relate to
children’s disability status (i.e., ASD)?
• To what extent does the association between gain and child-specific
teacher self-efficacy (CSTSE) differs for children with ASD compared to
the other children in their classrooms?

7. Participants
• 77 ECSE teachers and
721 children
• Male and Caucasian
• Variability in total
family income
• 36% of children had an
IEP

8. ECSE Classrooms and Teachers
• Online intervention
• Online PD: 8 modules
• Teachers assessed children

9. 3 Ingredients of the
intervention
1. Print-rich books
2. Explicit references to print
3. Scope and Sequence

10. Scope and Sequence
Adults explicitly
teach children about
print using the 30
books (as well as
other books of their
choosing).
Follows a systematic scope
and sequence to target
specific print-related skills over
30 weeks of reading.
The program
follows a cyclical
pattern so that
targets are repeated
throughout the 30
weeks of
instruction.
1 2
3

11. Scope and Sequence

12. Scope and Sequence

13. Scope and Sequence
Target: There are two print
targets per book. We
suggest reading the book
four times per week,
focusing on both print
targets during each book-
reading session. Draw
attention to each target 2-3
times per session.
Low Support
Examples:
There are three
strategies that STAR
suggests for low
support scaffolding:
reasoning,
generalizing, and
predicting.
Script: We provide a
script for you to use during
the book reading if you
want some inspiration!
Context: If you want to
use this exact example,
here is where to find the
page in the book.
High Support
Examples:
There are three
strategies that STAR
suggests for high
support scaffolding: co-
participating, eliciting
the answer, and
reducing choices.

14. Measures
• Phonological awareness literacy screener (PALS)
• Child Specific Teacher Self-Efficacy

15. Descriptives
Measure M SD M SD
Fall Spring
Letter ID 18.53 18.16 32.06 18.11
Book and Print 4.09 3.06 6.91 2.81
Name Writing 3.56 2.51 5.34 2.11
CSTSE 5.20 0.95

16. Research Questions
• To what extent were children’s gains in print
knowledge impacted by a scaled-up version of a
whole-group book reading intervention?

17. Results – Question 1
• Propensity score matching with a control group
from larger dataset
• 109 children from large dataset
• Male, Caucasian, variable total family income,
92% had an IEP

18. Results – Question 1
• Optimal matching design
• Matched on: baseline skills, age, gender, race,
IEP status, and annual household income
• Matched sample balanced with all variables
within ±.20 Cohen’s d range (Lomax & Hahs-Vaughn, 2012)

19. Results – Question 1
• Main effects MANCOVA model
• 2.5 points higher on lowercase alphabet
knowledge
• 1.9 points higher on uppercase alphabet
knowledge

20. Results – Question 1
• Evidence that this intervention is effective

21. Research Questions
• To what extent did gains in children’s print
knowledge relate to children’s disability
status (i.e., ASD)?

22. Results – Question 2
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
UC Alphabet Knowledge LC Alphabet Knowledge Print-concept Knowledge
ASD
Pretest
Gender
**
*
*

23. Conclusions
• Children with ASD lag behind their peers on
print-concept knowledge
• Participation in an evidence-based intervention
for an academic year
• Children with ASD score about 2 points lower

24. Research Questions
• To what extent does the association between
gain and child-specific teacher self-efficacy
(CSTSE) differs for children with ASD compared
to the other children in their classrooms?

25. Results – Question 3
M SD
TD (n = 523) 5.40 0.75
IEP (n = 303) 4.84 1.14
ASD (n = 33) 4.18 1.24

26. Results – Question 3
• Letter ID – CSTSE not related
• Book and Print – CSTSE was positively related
•
• Name Writing – CSTSE was positively related
• ASD status was not a moderator

27. Conclusions
• Teachers rate their confidence in teaching
children with ASD significantly lower than
their peers
• Although this does not seem to relate to their
gains in emergent-literacy skills

28. Implication for Practice
• Research to Practice Gap
• Intensive
• Individualized
• ASD symptomology