Training in interaction, communication and Literacy (TICL): Effects of a 10 week professional development program on early childhood educators and the children they teach.

A 10 week professional development program will be delivered to early childhood educators by speech pathologists. The program is known as the Training in Interaction, Communication and Literacy (TICL) program and aims to improve the language and early literacy skills of children by up-skilling their educators. The TICL program covers the following skill areas known to facilitate improved language and literacy skills in preschool-aged children (El-Choueifati, McCabe, Munro, & Purcell, 2008; El-Choueifati, Purcell, McCabe, & Munro, 2012); *Developing positive and responsive adult and child interactions *Explicit literacy instruction *Developing storytelling skills *Encouraging all children in a group to participate *Fostering peer to peer interactions *Developing responsive family involvement in language and literacy The program includes 1x1 hour small group workshops and 1x1 hour coaching sessions facilitated face-to-face by a speech pathologist. These sessions occur once a week for 10 weeks. El-Choueifati, N., McCabe, P., Munro, N., & Purcell, A. (2008). What do early childhood workers want from speech pathology based professional development activities? El-Choueifati, N., Purcell, A., McCabe, P., & Munro, N. (2012). Evidence-based practice in speech language pathologist training of early childhood professionals. Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention, 6(3), 150-165. doi:10.1080/17489539.2012.745293